Belgian Ale Help

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Juniper Hill
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Belgian Ale Help

Post by Juniper Hill » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:07 am

Made my first AG brew on Friday. First brew in 15 years. Quite a learning experience. Did the Belgian Ale from BCS using BIAB (thanks Jimmy).

Target ABV ~5%:

Cara Munich 60L 340g
Biscuit 25 L 113 g
Pilsner 5.1 kg

Kent Goldings 5% 1oz 60 mins, 0.6 oz at flameout
WLP 545 yeast (Belgian Strong Ale)
Boil 90 mins.

I used Maple Sap (9 gallons) instead of water. My outdoor burner crapped out, so I had to split the batch into two pots and boil inside :pow: . The Bittering hops ended up in the pot for 2+hrs and I forgot to add the finishing hops :smackhead: . The ferment is going great with a 2l starter, starting to slow down. I ended up with 6 gallons of 1.060 wort (a little high).

Questions:
1. The wort tasted a little bitter and astringent. Is this unusual or due to my screwed up hopping? Should I be concerned, and if so is there a fix?
2. Should I dry hop (small amount) given that I didn't add any aroma hops? If so, when should I add the hops? Should I rack a secondary at end of fermentation or go strait to keg once finished?

Thanks,

Neil

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mr x
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Re: Belgian Ale Help

Post by mr x » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:54 am

Wort can taste odd before fermenting.

I wouldn't dry hop.
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Juniper Hill
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Re: Belgian Ale Help

Post by Juniper Hill » Tue Apr 02, 2013 12:40 pm

mr x wrote:Wort can taste odd before fermenting.

I wouldn't dry hop.
Thanks.

I'll leave it alone then, and hope for the best.

Neil

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Re: Belgian Ale Help

Post by Juniper Hill » Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:19 pm

Just racked to keg last night. Seriously tasty Belgian Style Ale. I'm pretty happy with my first AG attempt. :D

chalmers
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Re: Belgian Ale Help

Post by chalmers » Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:08 pm

Excellent news!

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