Reading through the style guidelines and I think this a style that I would really like to brew soon. Who’s got a good recipe?
I don’t really know where to start but it seems that I can get away with Pilsner malt as the base with some belgian biscuit and some type of crystal malt.
Right off the bat I am thinking something super simple like:
90% belgian pils
5% belgian biscuit
5% caramunich
That looks good to me. You can also use a pale ale malt. Great Western Pale Ale is a good one that is pretty easy to find. An English malt would work well too, and obviously a Belgian Pale malt would be traditional.
I like the Wyeast 3522 Ardennes yeast for this kind of beer. Not super aggresively “Belgian”, especially at lower temperatures and is one of the only Belgian yeast that drops out for a clear beer.
Thanks. Yeah I will probably go with a belgian pilsner or pale depending on what they have at my LHBS. I know they have Castle Pils so that might be the winner. I have heard great things about 3522 so might give that a go. I have some T58 on hand which I think would work for this style since it is reasonably mild for a belgian strain.
Thanks. So I guess the next step would be hops. I would probably shoot for the higher end of the range and try to get as much hop character as permissible. I am not too worried about brewing strictly to style but I would like it to be close.
What kind of hop schedule should I go with? Can I dry hop?
I’d go with English hops. EKG’s would work well. I wouldn’t load up too heavy on late hops and I wouldn’t dry hop. You can get a moderate amount of hop aroma to play with the yeast, but too strong and they clash, in my opinion.
Styrian Goldings are a nice choice for a BPA. I also like to use D-45 Candi Syrup instead of caramel malt. It gives a similar caramel/toffee note, but ferments dry like a sugar addition.
Thanks for the help. I suppose I should be more conservative with the hops than I was planning. It probably isn’t traditional but I will probably bitter with Magnum and use some type of Goldings for later additions.
Maybe I will bitter with Magnum at 60 and use some Goldings for FWH. I have been enjoying that lately and I can do a later addition of Goldings are 20 minutes or so…