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In the Fermentor: Abbey Quad Round 2

I've been doing some research on everyone's favorite Trappist beer: Westvleteren XII (a.k.a. Westy 12). Rumor has it that the beer's grain-bill is fairly simple. No specialty grains, just a couple of Belgian base malts. The real key fermentable is the Candi Sugar the monks use. It apparently provides much of the beer's complex dark fruit, chocolate and coffee flavors.

This provides the perfect opportunity to experiment some more with Candi Sugar making. Since I'm using the Westvleteren beers as inspiration, rather than trying to clone them, no one can tell me I'm doing it wrong. Instead, I'm going to have some fun and hope that the end results are worthy of sharing with friends.

The experimental part here is that you're not simply boiling sugar and water for a set time and calling it good. Instead, you get to rely upon your senses to tell you when the desired sugar is achieved. Since my senses aren't the same as everyone else, my idea of the "perfect" sugar will probably be different from yours. Also, there's far more flexibility with the finished product than will ever be obtained using off-the-shelf sugars and syrups. As an added bonus, you can make up to five pounds of your own Candi Sugar for the price of a pound of the stuff at the homebrew shop.

My first experiment is with making darker sugars. One of the biggest thing I noticed is that after nearly two hours of boiling, the sugar wasn't getting much darker. I feared letting the syrup boil long enough to get really dark would result in undesirable burnt flavors. A little online research told me I was actually on the verge of making caramel. Since I didn't use any dark specialty malts, I'm probably going to have the palest Quad ever. Only time will tell.

The recipe below is also part of a broader experiment that I'll be writing more about in a future blog. I actually started this beer a few weeks ago so it would be ready during Lent, which seemed appropriate given its monastic pedigree. Here is the recipe for five gallons:

Grains:
7 lbs Castle Pilsen
6 lbs Castle Pale Ale

Hops:
0.25 oz Magnum (14.9% a.a.): 90 min
1 oz Styrian Golding (3.8% a.a.): 20 min
1 oz Styrian Golding (3.8% a.a.): 7 min

Extras:
3 lbs Homemade Candi Sugar: 5 min

Total Boil Time:
90 min

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Mash Schedule:
Protein Rest: 124F for 20 min
Saccharification Rest: 150F for 60 min
Mashout: 168F for 15 minutes

Original Gravity:
1.090
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.020

IBU: 21

Fermentation Schedule:
2 Weeks Primary
2 Months Secondary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Quadrupel Cost: $20 per case
Commercial Equivalent: Avery Reverend: $80 per case
Savings: $60
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