Notes |
- STRIKE: 13 gals @ 175F (collect 9 gals)
- SPARGE: 6.5 gals @ 205F (collect 6 - 6.5 gals)
BOIL:
- Pre-boil S.G. (total volume):
*Added all 4oz Hallertau to Belgian Dark Strong @ 60 mins*
* Saison: Added 1/2 gallon ziplock bag of fresh-picked Willamette and Glacier hops @ 60 mins + 1oz Willamette pellets*
- Post-boil S.G.:
BREW NOTES:
- Only ended up with about 4 gals of Saison in fermenter
- Got 8 gals giant awesome Belgian Dark Strong
FERMENT:
- Carboy 1 (Belgian Strong Dark): One pack Wy3787 - Trappist H.G. + One pack Wy3538PC - Leuven Pale (combine both packs into 4L starter wort)
- Lag time of about 4 hours. Checked at 8 hours from pitching to see full churning activity and 1.5" krausen (gotta love them yeast starters)
- add dextrose to carboy after 1/2 - 2/3 total sugar depletion
- Carboy 2 (Saison): One pack Wy3711 French Saison (2L yeast starter)
TASTING NOTES:
- 48 hours: Belgian quad down to 1.060. Tastes fantastic (but still quite sweet, of course). Raisins, plums, almost a slight light-roast coffee character, figs.
- 72 hours: Belgian quad down to 1.053. Tastes almost apple-cider-esque (like the dark, unfiltered, non-alcoholic kind).
- 9/6/15 (8 days into ferment): Saison down to 1.004. Lightly sweet, tastes a tad thin. Quite easy to drink, but quite bland (only fermented at 72-ish because I was thinking the warmed mash temp would leave a high F.G. Guess I was wrong. May add some fruit or dry hops to perk it up a bit. Not a bad beer, just tastes pretty bland.
Blegian quad is at 1.034. Added .5lbs ea. of Dextrose, Cane sugar, and Brown sugar + .75lbs Raw Honey + 3-ish oz. Molasses. (All simmered for 10 mins, then cooled and added to bucket). *Churning ferment w/ rapid airlock activity started back up within 2 hours of adding*
9/9/15: Quad is down to 1.021. Churning activity stopped from what I could see. Swirled bucket to resuspend yeast; hopefully it will drop a few more points.
9/11/15: Down to 1.020. I doubt it will drop any more, but I'd like another point or two lower. Gravity sample tastes very good, complex, though a tad sweet (and a bit of fusel alcohol, because it's so young). Aroma: caramel, vanilla, raisin, fig, dates, molasses, leather, grapes, fusel alcohol). Flavor: Caramel, fig spread, curry spice, brown sugar, pepper. Everything is a bit blurred at the moment, with the beer being so young. Very complex, quite well balanced, subtle heat from alcohol on finish. Very excited to try this as it develops.
True O.G. (including sugar additions during ferment): about 1.114, putting this at a 12.3% ABV. |
