Drink Belgian or nothing at all!!!!

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:49 am

So I was talking last night and it sounds like there is interest in balancing out the bad beer in the world by getting a bunch of us on independent Westvleteren projects.

I have plans within plans within plans for world domination through the enticement of Trappist ale.

I have these two beers of Westvleteren hanging out at my place. I have already bought trappist yeast to do my next 10.1% Belgian dark strong but at some point in the near future, I'd like to know who would be interested in sharing the yeast from the bottles I brought home to do various beers off it.

What I was thinking about is that we should try different styles. I am extremely interested in making a 6% Blonde from the yeast and I would assume someone else might be interested in doing the 8 or 12. So we pop the cap, pour and share the sacred monk juice, make a yeast starter and then a couple days later, use that starter to make several more startes for everyone to take home on their projects. Sound good? Can I hear a praise the lord?

Ok so if you're in, let's think of a date and what you are wanting to make. My conical will not be available for this until, earliest, the middle of December and like I said, I'm thinking 6% blonde. I also have a friend with a degree in theology if you need him to stir the mash for you.

Chris Norrick · Post by **Chris Norrick** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 4:04 pm

I like the sound of this plan!

Chris Alvey · Post by **Chris Alvey** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 2:44 am

I, for one, welcome our new Belgian overlords.

I'm definitely in. I'm thinking Dubbel and Dark Strong with that WV12 yeast.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 6:44 am

Count me in!! I see a dubbel or tripel in my near future.

Chris Alvey · Post by **Chris Alvey** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 6:43 am

Here's what I have in mind ... more like a WV12 lite.

NOTE : CHANGED to reflect 1.081 OG & 39 IBU

WV (12)
1.081/1.019 (If i'm lucky) - 39 IBU

7# 2 Row Pale (more body, wanna conserve my pils)
6# Pilsner
1# CaraMunich
1/4# Pale Chocolate (NOTE: SRM=225)
2# Table Sugar
1.5# Belgian Dark Candi Syrup

2oz Liberty 60 min
1oz Sterling 60 min (added)

Magical Yeast - big starter
Plenty of Oxygen
Regular in-boil yeast nutrient and maybe some Fermaid K at the start of fermentation.

Dwayne_Delaney · Post by **Dwayne_Delaney** » Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:05 pm

I like it.

Chris Alvey · Post by **Chris Alvey** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:30 am

As it turns out, WV12 is actually around 1.081 or so in OG, so the recipe above is, unwittingly, too high. I thought the "8" and "12" were referring to the gravity, and they may have been at one time in history, but this apparently still doesn't hold true for the current incarnations of the beers (i guess.)

From Brew Like a Monk:

Westvleteren Blond 1.051 (12.6 P) 5.6% 84% 9 EBC 41 IBU
Westvleteren 8 1.072 (17.6 P) 8.3% 88% 72 EBC 35 IBU
Westvleteren 12 1.090 (21.5 P) 10.2% 86% 79 EBC 38 IBU

The book also lists it at 38 IBU, so I added some hops.

changes are made in the recipe above.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: it turns out I was wrong about the book being right - so I was doubly wrong. I happened to be looking in the errata page of the book and, lo and behold, the very chart I had originally posted had the wrong gravities listed. The new one has been reposted.

This is a beer karma lesson - the Belgian beers do not like to be classified! I will be making a dark like beer and that's the last word on that

Chris Norrick · Post by **Chris Norrick** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:55 am

I've got a bottle of that Dark Belgian Syrup that I've been holding for a Strong Dark.

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:33 pm

WV12 is more like 1.1 I believe and the IBU is near 60. It's all so well balanced it's hard to pick it all up.

Jim W · Post by **Jim W** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:20 pm

I, for one, welcome our new Belgian overlords.

I do not have anything meaningful to add to this stream, as you are all way over my head (although I would happily drink your Monkian productions), I just think that is the coolest quote I have ever heard.
I am with Chris......A heartfelt and reverential welcome to our new Belgian overlords!

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:29 am

I forgot to tell you guys something else on the Lambics. They are using standard quantities of hops as you'd find for low hop belgian's, but they are aged. They want the preservative quality without the bitterness in other words. So if we want to think about us all trying out some Lambic styles next year, we may need to start thinking about getting some hops out of the freezers now!

They typically are aging their hops for 2 to 3 years. But then again, beer does not survive in my house long enough to worry about all that to that degree. I'll probably age some hops 6 months, use a lower rate then they do, chuck some raspberries into the late secondary, and party on Wayne!

I don't know how easy it is for us all to organize group projects like the WV at once and Lambic at once, so forth....but it could just save us $$$ by sharing yeast starters.

I've also found some readings that point to Westmalle and Westvleteren using the same yeast which is what was isolated on the Wyeast 3787 Trappist. That's good news because that's what I was using for my 12!

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:00 am

We need to wear these at our meetings for now on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xZp-GLMMJ0

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 7:37 am

Here is the store in Amsterdam that had the WV12s I picked up.

But this link is for the Cantillon I mentioned in the meeting.

http://www.crackedkettle.com/store/inde ... cts_id=814

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:24 pm

Cool vid of the shop. Across the street is Gollum which was a sweet pub with everything you can imagine.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=n81LQiiuYJY

sirgiovanni · Post by **sirgiovanni** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 9:22 am

Saturday from 9ish am to 2 pm is a safe bet for when I'll be brewing the Trappist 12 clone if anyone is interested. I'm kegging the 7.8% blond tomorrow so it should be drinkable Saturday night but it will be in diapers.