Golden Monkey

Just wondering if anyone has brewed a clone of this recently and what recipe they might have used.

I’ve come across Denny’s recipe.  Anyone brew it?  Any thoughts?  Anything you’d change?

Not sure how soon I’ll get around to brewing it, but the Monkey is one of my current favorites.  Unfortunately, I can drink 'em like they were a session beer… at least until they catch up to me.

Man, it’s been years since I brewed that recipe.  I’ll have to try to find it in my notes and see if I have any comments.

That would be cool.

Thanks.

Not a problem.  It was a long time ago, so it may take a while to find my notebook with the recipe.

ETA:  OK, found a recipe online that looks like mine…

Denny’s Golden Monkey Homage

12.5 lb. pils malt
0.5 lb. flaked barley
6 oz. Belgian aromatic malt
4 oz. Belgian biscuit malt
1.5 lb. cane or beet sugar
0.7 oz. Horizon 13% 60 min.
0.3 oz. French Strisselspalt pellets 4% 10 min.
0.5 oz. freshly ground coriander 5 min.
Wyeast #3522 Ardennes yeast

Mash at 150F
OG ~ 1.080

I don’t know what the OG of GM really is, but I’d bet mine is too high.  All I can really recall is that I was surprised at how much this tasted like GM, but as you notice I call it an “homage” and not a clone.

I think Golden Monkey was one of the first craft beers I ever drank. I remember being amazed at how good beer could taste after a lifetime of BMC.

I’d be curious to hear of Gordon has any input on this.

Thanks, Denny.  That’s the same recipe I came across on-line.

I’ll certainly give it a shot.  When is the only question.

It would be nice to hear from anyone who may have brewed it.  All the other posts I can find are several years old and veer rapidly off topic…

Denny - I may brew this recipe on Sunday.  I’m trying to get one last session in before child #3 arrives.

I’ve got a long list of bottling, kegging, brewing, etc. for the weekend, so we’ll see.

If I get it brewed, I’ll post back eventually on the results.

Thanks!

I’d love to heat what you think, Joe.

Any thoughts on using 1762?  I’ve got a yeast cake of that sitting under 5 gallons of beer, which I could reuse.

Or I could stop being lazy and go get the Ardennes yeast…

I haven’t had it in awhile.  Last time I think I tried it was when I reviewed it in Zymurgy.  I remember thinking it used to be fairly sweet (a common fault with tripels) but that the one I sampled had dried out nicely.  It went on the BJCP examples list in the next version after that tasting.

Your recipe looks fine.  Mine is a bit more simple.  See p. 36-37.  I’m shooting more for a La Rulles Tripel than a GM, so who knows how the balance might work?

1762 is Rochefort yeast.  Should work fine.  Sometimes it’s a slow starter, but if you have a proven slurry, that should be fine.  I think the Ardennes yeast (Achouffe) would work, as would the Westmalle or Orval yeasts.

A little coriander is ok.  Westmalle uses that (or at least used to, not sure if they still do).  Many Belgian ales use it.  Just go light.  It gives a lemony aromatic character.  You shouldn’t be able to pick out the spice as coriander.  It should just add complexity.

Not sure how many IBUs this has.  I’ve had Tripels that have seemed sweet even though they are well-attenuated.  The problem is the IBUs are too low.

But that’s my taste.  Some people like tripels to taste like big belgian Blond ales.

I do recommend not going huge on the OG, otherwise the FG would be too high.

In a moment of weakness and/or inspiration, I picked up a 6 of GM at lunch.

For the cause, I’ll have one or two tonight and attempt to culture the yeast.

I’ve not had outstanding results culturing from commercial beers, but I will give another go.

Worst case, I’ll re-use the yeast cake that’s just waiting in hibernation.

If it was weakness, you would have picked up a 6 of GM for lunch.

Oooof.  I had about six two Sundays ago when the Cubs were rained out.

I don’t need to do that again anytime soon.

Ran out to the LHBS at lunch today.

They had no Horizon hops - recommended Yakima Magnum, which I bought.

They had only one ounce in the Strisselspalt bin and it had no label… They gave it to me, but didn’t know for sure what it is.

Any recommendations?  Go for it with the mystery hop?  Or substitute?  I have a ton of hops in the freezer at home.

Any particular identifying scent for strisselspalt?

To me, Strisselspalt is kinda floral.  If you had to, you could sub Hallertauer or Mt. Hood and at least be in the ballpark.

They most definitely use Coriander at Victory.  They also use acidulated malt.  I took a tour there and we went into the brewers’ office where the brew log was opened to a page with the latest batch of Golden Monkey… I should have taken a picture.

Kegged this batch yesterday.

It was tasty, clean and strong.  I cultured the yeast from a couple bottles of Golden Monkey and it took the gravity from 1.085 down to 1.010.  Fermented around 68, topping out at 72 during fermentation.

I’ll have to see what it’s like when it is carbonated, but I was surprised that the Victory yeast did not produce more esters.  It was a very clean flavor. Not that I’m complaining, just not what I typically expect for a Belgian style.  It also had a sweet flavor, which I did not expect since it attenuated pretty well.

Thanks for the recipe Denny!

IIRC, Victory bottles with a different yeast than the fermentation strain.  I’m not positive about that, though.

I thought that might be the case, based on the results.

According to an old post I just found (and did not find prior to brewing) they ferment with the Belgian yeast, cold condition with a standard ale yeast, and bottle with a lager yeast…  So who knows what I just fermented with.

Whatever yeast it is, it did the job.  It’s tasty beer, if not quite a GM clone.  I’ll have to pick up some GM and do a taste test in a couple weeks.

And perhaps I’ll try again with a Belgian strain and see how that turns out.