Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[JoKing]

Good call. The difference between not having Melanoidin and having it would be the difference between La Chouffe (no melanoidin) and Leffe Blonde... that should give you an idea of what it'd be like.

[MrC]

Interesting. I had a La Chouffe last night and there were some different flavours in there compared to Leffe & La Trappe Blonde. I thought there was a light caramely flavour in the La Chouffe along with a few other flavours I couldn't put my finger on.

Anywhere in the La Chouffe, La Trappe or Leffe Blonde ballpark will be a good starting point for me. I'll tweak it to my liking from there.

[JoKing]

La Chouffe has some crushed corriander in there - maybe that was what you were tasting?

[Mike Neilson]

If you want to know what ardeness yeast is really like try Mac's Great White.

[Mike Neilson]

What temp you fermenting @?

[MrC]

Starting at 18C and rising to 21-22C over one week then another week at 21-22C

[MrC]

Another question relating to Belgian Blonde Ales: Should I avoid fining with gelatine so as to leave plenty of Belgian yeast character in there or will the character be there regardless of fining? Any thoughts?

[Reviled]

Do you usually fine your beers MC? I havnt fined one of my beers for over a year now and havnt noticed any difference as far as yeast phenolics go etc, its only when the beers still cloudy/conditioning it has a slightly bitter yeast taste to it..

[MrC]

I've only ever fined two beers and they were both pale ales fermented with 1272. I might just leave this beer alone and see how clear it ends up coming out of the keg. The wort was as clear as my wort ever gets so it'll be an interesting test.

[integersmirk]

G'day

A cycling-mad friend of mine has asked if we can brew a beer together for him and his mates to drink during the Tour de France.

Given that they are all fitness freakazoids who don't want hangovers - gets in the way of kranking out 20kms before work - he is requesting a "light" beer, and has suggested something "lemony".

Anyone got any AG suggestions?

I haven't brewed any lagers yet, but winter is coming and I am tempted to try - got a stack of Weyermann Pils that might come in handy.

The Tour de France starts on July 3rd so I have a bit of time to prepare something,

Cheers

Mike

[Reviled]

Well, im gonna chime in and say a Cream ale is exactly what youre looking for, minus the lemon of course, allthough you could probably get some lemon in there by dry hopping with Southern Cross, or of course adding lemon zest to the fermenter...

A cream ale is about an ale around 3% with light body due to the 20%ish of corn added to the grist, easy to brew and doesnt take much conditioning time, you can keep it simple with 80% Pils, 20% corn, whatever hops you like and US-05 at ale temps and youre away smiling :o)

[integersmirk]

Interesting suggestion, I have never brewed with corn before so this could be a good learning curve.

Where do I source corn from and what state is it in?