Golden Days

Belgian Golden Strong Ale

This is a 2004 BJCP style 18d beer.

Recipe: Duvel Clone recipe from Steve McKenna
Volume: 5 gallons
Dates:

Brew date: Jun 11, 2005
Transfer to secondary: Jun 25, 2005
Bottling: Jul 12, 2005

Ingredients:

Water source: basement utility sink filtered dispenser
Yeast: WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale

Grain bill

	Potential sg pppg	Points per gal
12.5 lbs Pilsener Malt 0.5 lb Wheat Malt	1.037 1.039	462.5 39.0
	Ideal: Pre-boil: Target:	501.5 501.5 501.5	/ 5 gal = 100.3 >>> 1.100 * 70%/ 6 gal = 58.5 >>> 1.058 * 70%/ 5 gal = 70.2 >>> 1.070
1.5 lbs Corn Sugar (into primary as foam subsides)	1.046	69.0
	Effective::	(69 + 501.5	* 70%)/ 5 gal = 84.0 >>> 1.084

Whole Hops

2 oz Goldings - 4.0% avg alpha Utilization: 90 minutes @ 1.058 = 23.0%	*IBU = 2.0 4.0 * 23.0 * 0.75 / 5 = 27.6**
2 oz Saaz - 2.6% avg alpha Utilization: 20 minutes @ 1.058 = 13.0%	*IBU = 2.0 2.6 * 13.0 * 0.75 / 5 = 10.1**
1 oz Saaz - 2.5% avg alpha Utilization: 5 minutes @ 1.058 = 4.3%	*IBU = 1.0 2.5 * 4.3 * 0.75 / 5 = 1.6**
	Total IBU = 39

Other

1 tsp Gypsum in mash
1 tsp Irish Moss (rehydrated) - 20 min

Activity Log

Yeast Starter:

About 24 hours before the brew, boiled 4 ounces of DME in 4 cups of water in a 2 liter flask and let cool. Shook to aerate, pitched yeast, fitted stopper and airlock and placed at 75 f.

Mash/Lauter/Sparge:

Added gypsum to 4 gallons of water in 7 gallon pot with Bazooka T-screen and heated to 168 f. Stirred in grain and added cool water to obtain 149 f. Let rest for 90 minutes then added boiling water and heat to bring temperature to 158 f. Let rest for 25 minutes then added boiling water and heat to mash out at 169 f. Recirculated until clear with spigot open 30 degrees. Rinsed with 170 f water until 7 gallons of run-off was obtained.

Boil:

Boiled through break then added first hops. Boiled 70 minutes then added second hops and irish moss. Boiled for 15 more minutes then added third hops. Boiled for 5 more minutes then removed from heat. Cooled through counterflow chiller into primary carboy. Took specific gravity reading of 1.068. Rocked on folded towel to aerate, pitched yeast from starter, fitted with stopper and airlock and placed at 75f.

Fermentation:

Observations of primary stage

15 hours:1 inch of rocky foam, 60 bubbles per minute
set temperature to 72 f
2 days: 1/2 inch of foam, 18 bubbles per minute
3 days: 1/2 inch of foam, 18 bubbles per minute
4 days: 1/2 inch of foam, 18 bubbles per minute
6 days: 1/2 inch of foam, 18 bubbles per minute
7 days: 1/3 inch of foam, 17 bubbles per minute
8 days: 1/3 inch of foam, 17 bubbles per minute
boiled 1.5 lbs of corn sugar in 4 cups of water, cooled and added to carboy
9 days: 1 inch of foam, 47 bubbles per minute
10 days: 1/2 inch of foam, 28 bubbles per minute
12 days: partial film of foam, 6 bubbles per minute
13 days: foam around the perimeter, 4 bubbles per minute
14 days: siphoned to secondary carboy taking specific gravity of 1.016; fitted with stopper and airlock and placed at 72 f; filled 2 liter bottle, pressurized to 30 lbs/sq in an placed in fridge.

Observations of secondary stage

15 days: foam around perimeter, 1 bubble per minute
set temperature to 75 f
17 days: foam around perimeter, 2 bubbles per minute
21 days: opened booth and set to basement temperature

Bottling:

Boiled 4 ounces of corn sugar in 2 cups of water. Cooled and added to bottling bucket. Siphoned 2.3 gallons from carboy into bottling bucket. Filled and capped 22 12 ounce bottles. Siphoned remainder from carboy into keg. Pressurized to 30 lbs/sq in of CO2 and placed in fridge. Took specific gravity reading of 1.011 which puts ABV at 9.3%.

See Golden Days labels here.

Results:

This beer won second place in the Belgian Strong category at the 2005 Spooky Brew Review competition held by the Chicago Beer Society at Emmett's Tavern in Palatine, IL.
This beer won second place in the Belgian Strong category at the 2006 Upper Mississippi Mash-out in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area.
This beer won first place in the mini-competition held at the January 26, 2006 UKG meeting. It was selected as the UKG entry for the Nation-wide Club-only Belgian Strong Ale competition to be held by the Greater Everett Brewers League of Everett, WA.
This beer won second place in the Belgian Strong Abbey Ales category at the 2006 Drunk Monk Challenge held by UKG at Walter Payton's Roundhouse in Aurora, IL.