I’ve switched from American Ale yeast to Belgian Ale yeast. As my first Belgian style beer, I was a little in the dark. This resulted in a beer that was um, dark. Which is ok, but I was thinking more of a Belgian Pale Ale. Looking at the grain bill now, I’m thinking, “of course this was going to be dark”. I also tried this new Motukea hop, which sounded like it would go nicely in this beer. The problem was that I didn’t add enough, or just not at the right times. This beer came out dark and sweet and a little heavy. I should have mashed at a lower temperature and moved the second hop addition to 45 minutes and then added a 15 minute addition. It would have been less heavy and more balanced. I don’t mind it being darker than intended. It still has nice color and clarity. This is my first Belgian attempt, and not my last. Next up is a Light Belgian Wheat. We’ll see how that does.
Belgian Not-So-Pale
OG: 1,072
FG: 1.023
ABV: 6.5%
IBU: 25
SRM: 21
3.75 lbs. Pilsner Malt
.6 lbs. Belgian Aromatic
.7 lbs. Belgian CaraMunich
.7 lbs. Belgian CaraVienne
.5 lbs. Honey Malt
8.5 lbs. Pale Liquid Malt Extract
.8 oz. Motukea (NZ) [6.7 aa] @ 60 minutes
1 oz. Motukea (NZ) [6.7 aa] @ 25 minutes
Safbrew S33
