Extract Belgian Single
Along with my extract hefewezien I wanted to get another quick extract batch off to put on tap in my keggerator. I settled on another yeast forward style, Belgian Single (Enkel). These are beers traditionally made for the daily consumption by the monks at Trappist monasteries. They are normally pale, dry, and hard to come by outside they walls of the monastery. Some examples include Westmalle Extra, Westvleteren Blonde, and Chimay Dorée. Some are pretty hoppy like the Westvleteren and some are spiced like Dorée, but they all are fermented with the estery/phenolic house strain from their respective brewery. There are some secular versions, like Smuttynose Star Island Single, if you can't make the trip to Belgium.
The recipe I went with was modified from one posted by Homebrew42 on the BeerAdvocate forums. He called for dry pilsner extract, but I used liquid extract because that is all the homebrew store had. I also used the White Labs equivalent of the Wyeast strain he called for (both are supposedly from Chimay). I also doubled the hops because I felt that 12 IBUs was too low for the style, it also served as a good way to further differentiate this beer from the hefeweizen. Finally I switched the cane sugar to corn sugar as I had some extra on hand for an upcoming experiment (the poll will give you a clue to what I am planning).
Nothing too interesting about this batch except that it came out very pale (I did a full boil with half of the extract added late) and seems like it will be very tasty once it is fully carbonated (spicy, peppery, almost saison like now). I'm planning on doing a full tasting of both this and the weizen next week once I get back from a long weekend in Massachusetts and before I head to Pennsylvania to visit Bullfrog Brewing, Selin's Grove, and probably a few others places for BrewLocal.
Lazy Monk's Single
Recipe Specifics (Extract)
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Batch Size (Gal): 4.75
Total Extract (Lbs): 7.22
Anticipated OG: 1.054
Anticipated SRM: 6.4
Anticipated IBU: 20.8
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Extract/Sugar
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6.60 lbs. Briess Pils LME
0.63 lbs. Corn Sugar
Hops
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2.00 oz. Hallertau Hersbrucker (Pellet 2.30% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. Hallertau Hersbrucker (Pellet 2.30% AA) @ 5 min.
Extras
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0.50 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 Min.
1.00 Whirlfloc @ 10 Min.
Yeast
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White Labs WLP500 Trappist Ale
Water Profile
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Profile: Distilled Water
Notes
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9/12/09 Made a starter to be split with the barrel aged single.
Brewed 9/18/09 by myself
Brought 5 gallons of distilled water to a boil. Added 1 can of Briess Pilsen Light LME. Brought to a boil and added 2 ounces of Hallertau (adjusted down from 2.8% AA because they are about a year old). Boiled for 50 minutes. Added the corn sugar, yeast nutrient, and Whirlfloc. Boiled 5 minutes. Added the second can of LME. Brought back to a boil and added the last ounce of hops. Chilled to 75.
Bitterness should be slightly higher than calculated because of the lower gravity of for most of the boil (~26 IBUs).
Placed in the freezer set to 64 degrees. After several hours of cooling I gave it 60 seconds of pure oxygen and pitched the last half of the starter.
Good strong fermentation, but it never developed much of a krausen.
9/19/09 Boosted the temperature up to 68 to make sure fermentation finishes out.
9/24/09 Dropped the temperature down to 35 to help clean the beer up.
10/01/09 Racked to a keg and put under 11 psi to carbonate. Stole 1/2 gallon to top-off the barrel aged single.
10/14/09 1st tasting, great yeast character. The beer ended up around 1.012. Not too bad at 78% AA, but I would have liked to see it a few points lower.
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Recipe based on this recipe from Homebrew42:
3 lbs Pilsen DME (60 min)
1 oz Hallertauer (60 min)
3 lbs Pilsen DME (5 min)
1/2 lb Table sugar (5 min)
1/2 oz Hallertauer (5 min)
Wyeast 1214 Belgian ale
Posts
4 comments:
Hit up Troegs for a fantastic beer:
http://www.troegs.com/
We may swing by there, but for BrewLocal we are trying to stick to very small places. Mostly brewpubs and places that don't distribute much.
I've brewed the Northern Brewer Patersbier twice now-- it's a single based on Westmalle's table beer for the monks. It's really fantastic: a smash hit homerun with everybody, both beer geeks and those who don't tend towards craft beer. I'm amazed at how simple a recipe yields such a complex and balanced beer.
Also, just wanted to say that Selin's Grove is my favorite brewpub ever. I stop by when I'm passing through PA on I-80 to and from school each semester. Definitely try their oatmeal stout, IPA, and tripel if they have them. Everything they do is good across the board, and it's all very cheap, with a cozy atmosphere and tasty, simple food. I always order a big soft pretzel with mustard right away to go with the beer, because service can be a bit slow and the main course could take a while to get to you-- I need something in my stomach before I get too many of their tasty beers down.
I made a variant of this and it turned out fantastic. I used DME and also 0.5lbs of Carapils steeped for some extra body\mouthfeel and Wyeast 3787. Highly recommend!
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