Chimay Red Type of thing

[monk]

Just brewed this today.

Chimay Red
19L batch
90 min boil

226g Caramunich
113g Aromatic malt
4.5 kg Maris Otter Pale malt
340g Cane Sugar
340g Amber candi sugar syrup

14g Perle (7.6%) for 60 min
22g Hallertau (4.5%) 15 min

1.066-1.014 (Hopefully the attenuation will be better than this…)
21 IBU
13 SRM
6.9% abv

The brew is supposed to be like Chimay Red, and I used the WLP500 Trappist ale yeast. This is one of my first attempts at a belgian brew, so it will be a learning experience, I'm sure. I used maris otter because I only do single infusion mashes and was told that I would need to do step mashing if I used pilsner malt. Step mashing is just a bit above my skill level I think. I mashed lower than usual and used the sugar in order to get better attenuation. The fermentation sounds like an important part, with lots of people offering opinions about different temperatures and how to get different flavors. Anyone have experience brewing belgian styles?

[steve_flack]

I used maris otter because I only do single infusion mashes and was told that I would need to do step mashing if I used pilsner malt. Step mashing is just a bit above my skill level I think. I mashed lower than usual and used the sugar in order to get better attenuation. The fermentation sounds like an important part, with lots of people offering opinions about different temperatures and how to get different flavors. Anyone have experience brewing belgian styles?

You can use straight infusion mash with most pilsner malts - I've done it with both UK Lager and Belgian pilsner malts and they work fine.

With the Chimay yeast I'd pitch at a fairly low temp and then raise it up at the end of the fermentation - say start at 19C then slowly ramp up to 24C. Chimay themselves ferment warmer than that but they cut a lot of corners to increase their throughput.

[SiHoltye]

Good luck Monk, nice beer.

[bconnery]

As said above most modern pilsner malts don't require a step mash.
I'd also add that a step mash isn't that complicated using an infusion method if you use a program like beersmith to calculate them. Needs a little bit more attention on brewday but it isn't hard.
It's really just two or three infusions at a certain temp instead of one...
I don't do it all the time as brewdays often need to be fitted in with regular weekend activities but if I am brewing while the family is away and the beer I am making suits it I will do one.

[monk]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I didn't realize you could do single infusion mashes with other types of base malt...that's good to know.

As for the yeast, I pitched a 2qt starter at about 18c and then set the fermenting freezer at 18c. I figure that the wort will warm up to about 21c at least through fermentation, but I'm afraid to let it go too much higher. I guess after the first couple days I could give it a few more degrees and let it warm up. I'm timid because the only other belgian I've brewed was a tripel where I pitched only one White labs vial (no starter) and the ambient temp was around 23F. It blew up and made foofing noises in my bathroom for three days. Even after a year of conditioning it tasted hugely of sulfur.

[oblivious]

Keep us posted on how it goes

[steve_flack]

I'm timid because the only other belgian I've brewed was a tripel where I pitched only one White labs vial (no starter) and the ambient temp was around 23F. It blew up and made foofing noises in my bathroom for three days. Even after a year of conditioning it tasted hugely of sulfur.

Which yeast was it?

I've taken the Chimay yeast up to 24C from a start at 19C myself and it's fine - no sulfur. The Westmalle yeast (WLP-530) is used at a range of temps from around 20C (Westmalle themselves) to 28C (by Westvleteren) and they aren't sulfury beers. I'm not sure where the sulfur came from in your beer but it probably wasn't the yeast temp that caused it.

[Barley Water]

I agree with Mr. Flack, I doubt the sulfur thing is yeast related, I suspect you have some type of infection. I have noticed with Chimay yeast that you can get a lot of bananna and clove depending on how it is handled. I have two beers in secondary right now that were fermented with WLP500. On both, I started at 65F and slowly ran the temperature up to around 78F over a week or so. The dubbel started around 1.080 and the Blond started at 1.069 and I built up starters for both with a stir plate so I pitched a fair amount of yeast. I can tell that both beers are pretty spicy but at least I am not getting "hot alcholol" flavors so I am optimistic. I do not notice any sulfur in either beer and I really hate that aroma and taste so I would notice it. There are charts in the book "Brew Like a Monk" that give you an idea what to expect at different fermentation temperatures for several Belgian yeasts that are very useful (including Chimay). After a fair amount of reading on the subject, it seems there are at least four variables which affect beer flavor with these yeasts, O.G., pitching rate, temperature and probably fermenter geometry. I am still trying to figure out what works for me but if I get lucky and come up with something good, I will pass it along.

[monk]

The yeast I used with the tripel was either Abbey or Trappist, can't remember which. Perhaps I did have an infection. My techniques were pretty poor at the time (obviously, from the fact that I pitched a lone vial into a big fat wort).

The ale appears to be fermenting happily around the 69F mark (20.5c). I hope that works out well.

Incidentally, has anyone tried the beer "Maudite", by Unibrou? Had one last night and it was delicious. Big 8% abv, though. Put me to sleep.

[BarryNL]

I've only done a couple of Belgian ales but I have noticed a big difference related to fermentation temperatures (in my case using T-58 yeast). When fermenting around 22 deg.C I got some rather strange and not very pleasant flavours in the final beer while by pitching at 18 deg.C and raising the temperature to 21 deg.C over a week I managed to get a much cleaner, more subtle flavour. I suspect Belgian yeasts may need careful temperature control.

As for grains, I've always used Belgian pils and pale malts with single infusion mashes with no problems.

[monk]

A little update on this batch:

The fermented around 21c for a few days, dropping down a couple degrees after the heavy fermentation eased up. I let the temp raise up to 22c over the course of a couple days and roused the yeast, hoping to get as much attenuation as possible. Fingers crossed! I'm a little worried about how the temp was fairly high from the very beginning. We'll see how it turns out, but if there are issues with off flavors I'll be sure to pitch at a lower temp and keep it there longer.