St Thomas Abbey Ale


Belgian Blond Ale

This is a 2008 BJCP style 18a beer.

Recipe: Belgian Blond Ale (based on Midwest Supplies All Grain Noble Trappist Ale Kit)
Volume: 5 gallons
Dates:
Ingredients:

Activity Log

Grain:

About 24 hours before the brew, milled the grain.

Yeast Starter:

About 48 hours before the brew let yeast sit at room temperature. About 36 hours before the brew, boiled 4 ounces of DME in 4 cups of water in a 2 liter flask capped with aluminum foil and let cool. Shook to aerate, pitched yeast and placed at 75 f. On brew day took gravity reading of 1.036.

Mash/Lauter/Sparge:

Heated 3 gallons of water to 170 f in 7 gallon mash tun with T screen and stirred in grain. Adjusted to 152 f. Mashed for 60 minutes. Sparged with 170 f water capturing 7 gallons of run-off in 10 gallon Polarware kettle.

Boil:

Boiled for 90 minutes adding candi sugar at 60 minutes and hops at 60 and 5 minutes. Cooled with counterflow chiller into 6.5 gallon carboy. Took specific gravity reading of 1.069 Oxygenated with O2 tank and stone. Pitched yeast, fitted stopper and airlock and placed at 72 f.

Fermentation (target final gravity = 1.010-1.012):

Observations of primary stage (14 days) Siphoned to 5 gallon carboy. Took specific gravity reading of 1.010.

Observations of secondary stage (14 days at 72 f) Bottling:

Filled 2 liter bottle 1/2 full. Pressurized to 30 lbs/sq in and placed in fridge. Took specific gravity reading of 1.008 putting ABV at 7.8%. Siphoned 4.0 gallons from carboy into bucket. Boiled 4.5 ounces of corn sugar in 3 cups of water and let cool. Placed sugar water in bottling bucket and stirred. Filled and capped 37 bottles.

See St Thomas Abbey Ale labels here.

Kegging:

Beer did not carbonate enough in bottles so drained bottles into a cornielus keg and put on tap to force carbonate on Nov 8.

Results:

The family really liked this beer and it was gone before there was a chance to enter it in a competition.