YAB (Yet Another Belgian)

The last Belgian turned out pretty well, and it's a very good beer that I like to keep on-hand.  So, having some of the yeast that really makes this one turn out quite nice, I brewed up another batch on a rainy Sunday.

Brew Day: 16 Sept 2018

Partial Mash:
12 oz Munich
2 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
8 oz table sugar

Hops - 14 g German Hersbrucker (at the beginning of the boil)

Yeast - BE-134

*I followed all of my usual procedures.

Addendum, 23 Sept: Completely spontaneous dry hop onto 14 g of Cashmere hops today.

Addendum, 27 Sept: Racked the beer to secondary.

Addendum, 28 Oct: Bottled tonight; got 8 good bottles and one partial fill.

Addendum, 11 Nov: Taste test.  Terri tried it without me telling her what the beer was; she guessed that it was a Belgian but also said that there was a smoothness to it, as well.  I told her that I'd dry hopped the beer with the cashmere hops, and that the hops was described as imparting "coconut".  With the IPA, I'd gotten that not as a straight coconut flavor, but more an impression, based on mouthfeel; there was a slight sweetness and a smoothness that I'd associate with coconut milk. I tried it, as well, and found that I really enjoyed it.  This may be "the new thing"...dry hopping a "normal" beer to impart a little something different.  Some options might be Huell Melon, for a hint of strawberry, in a Belgian or a hefeweizen. 

Belgian

I recently read about a new dry yeast available, BE-134, and wanted to give it a shot.  My wife likes Belgian style beers a bit more than I do, and I like to make her beer that she likes.  This particular yeast seems to have some really good characteristics, and I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Brew Day: 31 Jan 2018

Partial Mash:
1.5 lb Munich malt
2 oz Carapils

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
4 oz table sugar

Hops: 14 g German Perle (@ 20 min)

Yeast: BE-134

I followed all of usual procedures in prep, boil, cooling the wort, and pitching the yeast.

Addendum, 7 Feb: Transferred to secondary today; due to my schedule, this is going to sit for just over a month before I do anything more with it.

Addendum, 28 Mar: Bottled today, on 2 1/2 T of sugar dissolved in 1/2 c of boiling water.  Got 9 good bottles out of it.  During bottling, this one smelled as if it might be pretty close to the Belgians that Terri likes!  Can't wait to see what this one tastes like!

Addendum, 20 Jun: Finally, after a couple of months, my wife stopped reaching for her Leffe's in the fridge and grabbed one of these, and she was glad she did!  Her first comment, after her first sip, was how much this one tasted like a Leffe!  Later in the evening, she wanted another beer, but only a half pour, so I split a bottle with her, and I have to say, this one is very close to a Leffe.

Yet Another Big Belgian

My previous Belgian Beauty was a hit, and still is; we had one last night.  My wife and some of our friends really like it...a lot.  Since we're just about out, no time like the present to make some more...

Brew Day: 19 Nov 2016

Partial Mash:
1 lb Franco-Belge Vienna Malt
1.5 oz flaked wheat

Boil (20 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME
8 oz corn sugar
7 g Saaz (AA: 6.5%) hops @ 20 min

Yeast: T-58

Addendum, 6 Dec: Transferred to secondary tonight.  I'll probably let it sit for another week to 10 days before bottling.

Addendum, 17 Dec: Bottled today, with 0.6 oz table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water.  This one will be ready for New Year's Eve.

Addendum, 2 Jan 2017:  My wife tried the beer last night; she really liked it.  She tried the partial fill and said that it tasted different; not that it was more or less carbonated, but it tasted different.

Belgian Golden Ale #2

My first Belgian Golden Ale turned out REALLY well...I opened one recently for my wife and almost didn't give it to her, I wanted to just keep smelling the aroma coming off of the head of that glass!  Once she had it, she wasn't about to let me have another one!

This time around I wanted to try something a bit different, by doing a first wort hop of LemonDrop (AA: 4.4%) hops.  I also wanted to use up the rest of the Clarity Firm I had available.

Brew Day: 30 Jan 2016

~ 15 hrs after pitching yeast

Partial Mash:
9 oz Belgian Munich Malt
3 oz GoldPils
1.5 oz flaked wheat

I followed my usual partial mash procedure.

Boil (60 min):
1 lb Munton's Extra Light DME
4 oz corn sugar
7 g LemonDrop hops (FWH)
Clarity Firm

Yeast: T-58

I followed my usual process for pitching the yeast (and Clarity Firm).

Addendum, 31 Jan: I added the picture (above) of the fermenter about 15 hrs after pitching the yeast.  Lots of activity, and a rhythmic "thumping" of the bubbles in the blow-off bottle.  The yeast has plenty to eat and keep it happy with this one.

Addendum, 2 Feb: Things are moving along nicely, replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock today.

Addendum, 13 Feb: Bottled with 1 oz of table sugar dissolved into 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Got nine good bottles out of it.  Really looking forward to trying this one in a couple of weeks.  I'll need to remember to hold on to one of the first Belgian Golden Ales to do a side-by-side comparison, and see the difference between the hops, and the hopping method.

Belgian Golden Ale

I was doing some reading last week and found a recipe for a Belgian Golden Ale (about the middle of the page, second recipe), and I figured that I have some T-58 yeast, so I'd give something like it a shot.  I don't have the exact hops to match the recipe, so I just used some Czech Saaz that I had available.

Brew Day:  21 Dec 2015

Partial Mash:
8 oz Rahr Pale Ale Malt
4 oz GoldPils
3 oz Gambrinus Honey Malt
1 oz CaraPils

*I followed my normal partial mash process.

Boil (60 min):
1 lb Pilsen DME (@ 60 min)
3.5 oz corn sugar (@ 60 min)
 7 g Czech Saaz (@ 60 min)

Yeast: T-58

*I cooled the wort and pitched the yeast using my usual process

12 hrs after pitching yeast

Addendum, 22 Dec: It's been about 12 hrs since I pitched the yeast, and the bubbles flowing through the blow-off tube into the bottle are beating out quite the rhythm!  I also noticed that the color lightened out a bit...with the honey malt, the partial mash wort came out a little darker than I would've liked, but I knew it would lighten up a bit in once I added it to the boil with the DME.  Overall, the yeast seems to be pretty happy...you can't see in the picture to the right, but there thousands of little bubbles rising up through the fermenter to the foam at the top.

Addendum, 4 Jan: Bottled tonight, with just a bit more than an ounce of table sugar dissolved in 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Ended up with 9 bottles.  I'm looking forward to trying this one...it's not the first time I've used the T-58 yeast, but I'm looking at bottling some variation of this recipe (or a hefeweizen) near the summer in small soda bottles, so I can take them with us while tubing.

Addendum, 19 Jan: Tasting.  Wow, this one turned out really well!  Nice golden color, good carbonation, very light lacing.  Smells and tastes like a Belgian ale.  On the next rendition, I'm going to take a look at backing off of the malt bill for the partial mash just a bit, and do a first wort hop with about 7 g of German Perle hops.  The T-58 yeast handled the extra sugar very well; by the time I got to the bottom of my glass, I knew I'd had a Belgian-style ale.

Addendum, 22 Jan: Opened another one of these for my wife tonight; got an AMAZING banana nose right out of the bottle, so much so that I almost kept it to myself just to smell it!  She really likes this beer, much more so than some of the stuff I've brought home from the store.  Definitely a keeper.

Addendum, 30 Jan: Went to pour one for my wife tonight, while she was watching TV in the evening.  I came around the end of the couch, and she was out cold.  Oh, well...one for me.  Definite scent of banana, and a bit of booziness from the alcohol content.

Addendum, 24 Feb: A chilly, rainy day, and an evening of coding and writing ahead.  Delicious beer, very tasty, like a smoother, less spicy Leffe blonde.  Still excellent body and flavor.  I'm going to hold on to one of these to try along side the LemonDrop variant when it's ready next week.