Tue Oct 12, 2010 7:26 pm
PhillyBrewer wrote:I'm looking into brewing a Belgian dark strong in the near future. I'm using the BCS recipe as a base although I'm going to scale it down to 8-9% ABV so it's ready sooner and can be quaffed more easily. I have been reviewing forum topics about the Belgian dark strong style and it seems like there are a lot of proponents for the D2 syrup. I'm not sure, but I believe the BCS recipe may have been created before D2 really became popular.
Should I just brew the BCS sans D2 or should I try to tweak it to incorporate this syrup? If the latter, any input on how the recipe could be tweaked? Here is just the grain bill for reference:
Batch Size: 6.00 Gallons
Total Grain (Lbs): 23.00
Anticipated OG: 1.103
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70 %
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
15# Belgian Pilsener
1# Aromatic Malt
3# Munich Malt
1# CaraMunich Malt
1# Special B Malt
.5# Wheat Malt
.5# Melanoidin Malt
1# Cane Sugar
Just FYI... I brewed the original recipe from BCS (with one minor change) and it was pretty damn drinkable by two months. So while it will probably be better a year from now, don't think it's undrinkable sooner
The one change I made was trading out half of the cane sugar for D2, just because that's the amount I had sitting around.
Keg - Strong Dark with Cherries and Brett, Strong Golden, Strong Dark, Habanero wheat beer
Primary - Berliner Weiss, Peach Berliner Weiss, Vanilla Cinnamon Metheglin
Conditioning - Flanders Red, Raspberry pLambic, Peach pLambic, English barleywine