Articles
Belgian Ales
By Keith Klemp 4/99
No country produces a more fascinating array of brews than does Belgium. Their beers can best be described as quirky and idiosyncratic and often they are impossible to easily classify. While they produce many all-malt beers they have little regard for the Reinheitsgebot . It is a culinary culture unto itself and they take great pride in flaunting it. That also happens to be what makes them fun to brew. Funky flavors add a romance to their beers that most other brewing countries find offensive. Their yeasts tend to leave a deeper and more unusual footprint than do the others. Their approach to malting pays homage to the great maltsters of Germany and England in the base malts. Their specialty malts however, are typically Belgian in that they do things out of the ordinary.
Malt
While any malt can be used for these brews, there is a great selection of authentic, versatile Belgian malts available here. These malts work great for all beers, for example, the Special B is excellent in Porter and the aromatic is great in Scottish ales and dark English ales.
For an overview of malts, here's the poop from The Schreier Malting Company, importer of DeWolf Cosyns Belgian malts:
DWC Pilsen (1.4-1.8o L): An excellent base malt for many styles, including full flavored lager, Belgian ales and European style wheat beers. Consistently low total protein results in a remarkably clean and light finished product.
DWC Pale Ale (2.7-3.8o L): Fully modified Belgian 2-Row malt, easily converted by a single temperature mash. Preferred for full flavored ales.
DWC Wheat (1.6-2.0o L): Produced from European wheat noted for it's plump berries. Low in protein. Best for full flavored, classic wheat beers.
DWC Munich (5-7o L): A true Munich malt that has undergone a special malting process. Retains sufficient enzymes for 75% of the grist, more frequently used at a rate of up to 50% of the total malt content in lagers for its full, malt flavor and aroma.
DWC Aromatic (17-21o L): A highbred Munich malt. At a rate as low as 10%, will lend a distinct, almost exaggerated malt aroma and flavor.
DWC Caramel Pils (4-8o L): Due to dextrin, this malt will lend body, mouth-feel and palate fullness to beers, as well as foam stability. Must be mashed with other kilned malts, due to its lack of enzymes.
DWC CaraVienne (19-23o L): An excellent all-purpose true caramel malt. Used under 15%, will not bring too much sweetness to beer. Good to use in conjunction with Munich and Pils malt for a Marzen base.
DWC CaraMunich (53-60o L): Used for a deeper color in ales and lagers. Will lend a fuller flavor, contribute to foam stability, adds caramelized sugars, and contributes a rich malt aroma.
DWC Special B (100-130o L): A unique malt that is produced by a cross of methods between dark caramel and light roasted malt. Can contribute a ruby red color. Similar to a brown malt. Flavor and aroma is sharper than caramel malt.
DWC Roasted Wheat (8-12o L): Lightly roasted and similar in style to DWC Biscuit Malt. The nutty and bread-like flavors will enhance a variety of beer styles. Recommended applications include dark ales for increased color and head retention and all wheat beer styles for greater personality and distinction.
DWC Biscuit (23-26o L): Another unique malt that is slightly roasted. Designed to improve bread and biscuits, or toasted flavor and aroma characteristics to beer. It possesses the flavor and aroma of saltine crackers.
DWC Chocolate (375-450o L): The least roasted of
Hops
As Belgium is not known for its hop-growing, necessarily, they tend to borrow from other countries. Perhaps the most commonly used hop is Saaz. This is a great hop for general use. Low alpha-acid hops used as a bittering hop contribute a great refined flavor to beer that you can't get with the turbo-hop strains. If you prefer a higher alpha acid hop for bittering try Perle or Northern Brewer, both grown in Germany. English Kent Goldings, Styrian Goldings and any of the other German hops frequently find their way into Belgian beers. I have read that Duvel uses a combination of Saaz, Styrian Goldings, and East Kent Goldings. American Saaz, Tetnangs, Halletauers, and Goldings work well also, as do German stock Mt. Hoods and Liberty.
Yeast
Yeast becomes a more whimsical choice when brewing Belgian beers. In some cases, there are yeasts that are pretty specific, such as the Wyeast 3944 used primarily for witbiers. In most cases however, the choice is not so absolute. Wyeast has on their website, www.wyeastlab.com, full descriptions of all their yeasts, and their applications. Look over the descriptions that they provide and decide for yourself if you want a high-attenuater, a banana-like estery brew, or a softer, spicier character.
If you are versed in simple culturing techniques, try pilfering some yeast from a bottle of Belgian beer. Many are bottle-conditioned and have live sediment. Chimay and Knight's ale yeasts are quite viable. You may want to ferment a pilot one gallon batch with the yeast first to check its character.
Other belgian yeasts can be ordered from Brewtek in California for those of you who want to try something even more different. Check out their website, www.brewtek.com, and see what they have. Of particular interest to me is their Saison yeast. This is a style I have brewed on occasion. It's a particularly fun brew because many Saison brewers add spices such as anise, coriander, and black pepper. Sounds like a good yeast for the yeast bank.
Other alternatives include TOC ( Top of Can ) yeast. A favorite of southeastern homebrewers. It is very versatile and inexpensive and is used to produce a variety of Belgian Specialties including all of the styles mentioned below. Easy to use, it can be substituted for any of the Wyeast or Brewtek strains and is available through various suppliers.
Putting it all together
For excellent detailed despriptions on brewing Belgian beer, check out the Phil's specs on the Homebrew Digest, http://www.hbd.org/brewery/library/mashtun/belg.html. He not only discusses style, but also common problems in brewing these sometimes fickle beers. His tips on formulating recipes are excellent and coincide rather neatly with the AHA guidelines. Extract substitutions are covered also.
Based on these guidelines, here are some basic grain bills to get you going. Remember, a pound of sugar will add about 8 gravity points to your wort for 5 gallons.
Belgian Ale or Belgian Pale Ale (DeKonnick )
1.044-1.054, 4-6% ABV, 20-30 IBU,3.5-12 SRM
80% pilsner malt
20% vienna malt
8% caravienne malt
2% chocolate malt
Belgian Strong Ale
1.062-1.120, 6-12% ABV, 6-30 IBU, 3.5-20 SRM.
90% pale ale malt
10% caravienne or caramunich ( note SRM range )
1.5# dextrose, candy sugar or turbinado sugar per 5 gallons
Dubbel ( Chimay, La Trappe )
1.060-1.070, 6-7.5% ABV, 18-25 IBU,10-14 SRM
25% munich malt
50% pilsner or pale ale malt
10% malted wheat
10% caramunich malt
3% special B malt
1# dextrose, dark candy sugar or tubinado sugar per 5 gallons
Tripel
1.080-1.095, 7-10% ABV, 18-25 IBU, 3.5-5.5 SRM
95% pilsner or pale ale malt
5% carapils
1.5# dextrose, candy sugar or turbinado sugar per 5 gallons
Witbier or White Ale ( Hoegaarden, Celis White, Bruges de Blanche )
1.044-1.055, 4.5-5.5% ABV, 15-22 IBU, 2-4 SRM
50% pilsner malt
45% raw wheat ( I use bulgar wheat which is pre-cooked )
5% raw oats
1 oz of freshly ground coriander per 5 gallons,
boil 10 minutes or less
0.5 oz orange peel, boil for 20 minutes or less
Saison ( Saison de Pipaix )
O.G.: 1.048 - 1.080; Alcohol: 5.5 - 7.5%; IBU's: 20 - 40; SRM: 3.5 - 10
25% munich malt
65% pilsner malt
10% caravienne
experiment with coriander, black pepper, anise and cammomile
Strong Golden Ale ( Duvel )
O.G.: 1.060 - 1.070; Alcohol: 6.5 - 8%; IBU's: 20 - 30; SRM: 3 -5
95% pilsner malt
5% malted wheat
1.5# dextrose or light candy sugar per 5 gallons
So there ya have it - not dogma, but not a bad start. Bruce Pitner has always done well with Belgian beers in competition, so I suggest you pick his brain when you get the chance. For those of you bold enough to brew lambic, I will include some references and recipes in a future issue of the TRUBune. I would suggest reading the following books to get some more info on these intriguing brews: Michael Jackson's The Great Beers of Belgium and The Beer Companion, Pierre Rajotte's Belgian Beer in the classic styles series, and Brew Classic European Beers at Home by Roger Protz and Graham Wheeler. All are excellent reading for the beer geek and outstanding guides for homebrewers.
Resources
The September 1998 issue of All About Beer Magazine is dedicated to Belgian beer.
Here are a couple of other websites that feature Belgian beer:
Everything you'd ever want to know about the real beers of Belgium, including classic examples of style, and a pronunciation guide.
Belgian beer importer Vanberg and Dewulf take you through their selection as well as introducing you to American breweries now concocting Belgian style beer.
American Breweries producing Belgian-style Beer:
New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins CO
Omangang Brewery, Cooperstown NY
New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus WI ( recently named one of the top ten breweries in the world by the Beverage Tasting Institute )
Celis Brewing Co., Austin, TX
If you can get your hands on any of these delicacies, indulge yourself.