Skip to main content

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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In the Fermentor: Flaming Pumpkin

I'll admit that I'm not a huge Pumpkin Beer fan. I didn't have one on my brewing calendar for this year and didn't have my sights set on one for next Fall either. Then my niece came along and threw down the gauntlet. She asked me to brew her a pumpkin beer and I accepted the challenge. I did a lot of reading to see how to best go about using pumpkin in beer. Some people mash it with the grains. Others add it to the brew kettle during the boil. Some add it to the primary or secondary fermentor. The consensus from professional brewers appears to be adding it to the mash, so I took the same approach. The pumpkin was cooked ahead of time by my girlfriend to soften it, convert some of the starch and help release some of its sugars. It then joined the grains in the mash. I really want the pumpkin pie effect here, so I've thrown in all of the requisite spices toward the end of the boil. I've also gone with just enough bitterness to balance the sweetness of the ...
4 comments
Read more

Birthday Brewing: Dark Session Saison

I've been asked to brew all of the beer for my friend's Birthday. It's in mid-August, so I have to get everything going right now . There will be five beers in all: Dunkelweiss, Wit, Saison, Dark Saison and Kölsch. Rather than post all of the recipes at once, I'm going to spread them out into separate posts. My Session Saison and SMaSH Kölsch were already underway before I was asked to brew the other beers. The Dark Saison below is an extension of the Session Saison. I've expanded the original recipe to make a darker beer. CaraMunich Malt adds a little caramel sweetness, while Carafa II brings a light dark chocolate edge to the brew. The rest of the beer is as it was before, with the same hops and yeast. Adding extra grains does push the alcohol content up a bit, but the beer still shouldn't break the 5% ABV mark. I'm anxious to try my two Saisons out side by side and taste the difference that two extra grains can make. For five gallons: Grai...
Post a Comment
Read more

Out of the Cellar: Old Man's Chest

2014 I can't believe it's been a year since I bottled my last Old Ale . I suppose time flies while you're having fun. Anyway, it's time to see what's taken place in the last 12 months. Things have changed quite a bit the last 12 months. First off, the flavors meld better than they did before. This is still a complex flavored beer, but the balance of the different pieces is more cohesive. Bitterness has faded just a bit, but still carries the black tea bite that was there before. 2013 The rum-like qualities have really cut through with time. There's an almost vinous quality to the beer that wasn't around before. This is especially true in the nose. A slightly heavy body persists that is drier than before. The beer finishes with lingering toffee and rum flavors. Overall, I'm quite happy with how this beer aged. I'd still tweak the recipe if I brewed it again, but time has made for a much more cohesive brew.
Post a Comment
Read more