Sunday, September 28, 2014

#110 Affligem Noel

Affligem, in the hop growing area of Aalst, is the oldest abbey in Flanders, founded in 1074. It is said that the Benedictine monks of this abbey introduced hops to Belgian brewing. Their brew house was destroyed in World War II and the brew master asked a nearby brewery, Brouwerij De Smedt to brew their beer. Because De Smedt had modern brewing equipment, the abbey s brew master, Friar Tobias tailored the Affligem beers to be brewed the modern way. This is called Formula Antiqua Renovata , (Ancient Recipe Renewed).

The Christmas Ale, brewed once a year is a potent, warming beer, dark and chocolately like the Dubbel, buttery and full of honey like the Tripel. It enters with a creamy, tightly beaded head with Belgian lace and a lovely deep garnet color. The nose, a complex blend of alcohol, malt, subtle hops, spice (cinnamon) and chocolate promises the flavor, which mimics the aroma. It finishes dry, with a hint of chocolate and cinnamon. A wonderful Belgian beer to celebrate the holiday season.

The following is based on the recipe from Beer Captured by Szamatulski.

Ingredients
Steep 155 for 45 minutes
1.75 lb Belgian Pale Ale Malt
4.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (26.0 SRM)
2.0 oz Chocolate Malt
8.0 oz Cara Munic Malt
2.0 oz Honey Malt
Boil (60 min Boil)
7 lbs Extra Pale Extract
1 lbs Clear Candi Sugar
2 lbs Extra Light DME


4 oz Malto Dextrin


60.0 min
0.75 ozStyrian Golding (some suggest .93 oz)
0.50 ozChallenger (some suggest adding this at 90 mins instead)
15.0 min
2 lbs Extra Light DME
0.50 oz Styrian Golding
some suggest 1/8 tsp cinnamon
5.0 min
0.50 oz Styrian Golding
Fermentation
1.0 pkg White Labs Trappist Ale 500
WLP545


BV: 9.1%, IBU: 26



Belgian Strong Ale

#99 New Glarus Brewing Wisconsin Belgian Red

Wisconsin Belgian Red BeerAdvocate ScoreWisconsin Belgian Red LogoThis is a great fruit beer that is worth trying if you ever get to Wisconsin.  This is the top rated fruit beer on Beer Advocate. Wanting to make this at home, I have search the internet for the best recipes and have brought the information from those site here to allow other to compare.  I make no claim of ownership of these and have given proper reference to each of these so that you can also use the original sources in your desire to make a great beer.

My 1st batch didn't really have the amount of Cherry flavor that I was hoping.  It is still a nice drinking beer.  I will probably try to add some dried sour cherries to the next attempt.


1st Batch
2nd batch
3.00 lbsWheat Malt 3.00 lbsWheat Malt
2.50 lbsDME Golden Light 2.50 lbsDME Golden Light
6.0 ozCrystal 40L 6.0 ozCrystal 40L
0.5 ozRoasted Barley0.5 ozRoasted Barley
1 ozHallertauer pellet (60 min.)
aged 2 hrs 150*
1 ozHallertauer pellet (60 min.)
aged 2 hrs 150*
1 eaTrappist Ale WLP 500 1 eaTrappist Ale WLP 500 
32 ozCherry Juice Concentrate 49 ozVintners Harvest Sweet Cherry Puree
80 ozKirkland Tart Montmorency Dried Cherries





Steep @ 150ºF - 20 minutes

FermentationFermentation
Ferment at 65ºF - one week.
Secondary cherry juice concentrate
Secondary fermentation at 65ºF 
Add oak chips during the final week to 10 days.
Ferment at 68ºF - 14 days.
Secondary Cherries -  14 days

Add oak chips during the final week to ten days.
Included below are the the best Wisconsin Belgian Red recipes that I have found to date:
Microbus Brewery has a good write up from brew day.
Zymurgy July/August 2007
All-Grain Extract
5.0 lb Two-Row Pale Malt 4.0 lb Light Malt Extract
2.0 lb Wheat Malt 1.5 lb Wheat Malt Extract
6.0 oz 40L Crystal Malt 6.0 oz 40L Crystal Malt
0.5 oz Belgian Roast Barley 0.5 oz Belgian Roast Barley
1.0 oz Hallertau aged hops (1 year) 1.0 oz Hallertau aged hops (1 year)
4.0 qt Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice 4.0 qt Knudsen Just Tart Cherry Juice
0.25 oz Boiled, toasted oak chips (optional) 0.25 oz Boiled, toasted oak chips (optional)
Belgian Wheat Ale or Ale Yeast Belgian Wheat Ale or Ale Yeast
Directions
Mash @ 156° 60 min
Sparge and Lauter - 4.5 gal
Steep @ 150° 30 min
Fermentation
Secondary with cheery juice and ferment for 1 week
Chill to 32-35 and lager for 4-6 weeks
Oak Chips during last week
Bottling
Heavy champagne-styl 750ml bottles with .75 cup of corn sugar/ 5 gallons
BitBucket from Kirkland, Washington on ratebeer
3.50 lbsPale 2-Row
1.50 lbsCrystal 20L
2.00 lbsWheat
0.50 lbsSpecial B
1 ozHallertauer leaf hops* (60 min.)
1 eaAbbey Ale yeast - White Labs WLP 530 - or - Wyeast 1762
32 ozMontmorency Cherry Juice Concentrate
8 ozBlack Cherry Juice Concentrate
.25 ozFrench or Hungarian Oak Chips
Note
* The hops should be aged. If aged hops are not available, substitute by heating new hops in an oven over low heat (150 degrees) for 2 hours, then let them rest for 24 hours before use.
Mash
Mash @ 154ºF - 60 minutes
Don’t run off more than 5.25 gallons. You’ll need headroom when you add the concentrate.
Fermentation
Ferment at 65ºF - one week.
Secondary cherry juice concentrate, avoiding any aeration.
Secondary fermentation at to 65ºF until fermentation is complete
Add oak chips during the final week to ten days.

Total concentrate should be enough to make 2.5 gallons of juice. This translates roughly to the pound of Door County cherries in each 750ml bottle. You could bump the malt up a bit if you want a higher alcohol brew.
Michael from the Brewing Network
6 lbsPale Ale malt (your choice) or use 100% Breiss Wheat extract
4 lbsWheat Malt (your choice) or use 100% Breiss Wheat extract
8-9 HBU hopping (I use Crystal and Willamette)
1 ozCrystal @ 20 min
1 ozWillamette @ 20 min
1 tspkettle finings at 10-15 @ min
1 ozCrystal @ 7 min
1 ozWillamette @ 7 min
Close lid at KO for 15-20 min, then chill to 60°F
Wyeast 3787 Belgian Trappist Ale yeast (at least 5-6 oz per 5 gal)
Secondary
20# of dark red cherries per 5 gallons *OR*
1 can Oregon Fruit Co. Sweet Cherry Puree
 Age 1 month 


Wisconsin Cherries

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