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Author Topic: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe  (Read 3013 times)

Offline summy

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What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« on: July 22, 2013, 05:51:50 pm »
Hey all.  I've gotta brew a Belgian Specialty (16E) beer for a club-only competition.  I was thinking about a big Belgian Stout, but want to add a hint of orange to it.  Just enough to make you think you smell/taste it.  I'm sure I'll add some sort of orange peel to the boil, most likely something fresh.   I was going to age some oak chips in bourbon and add them for a couple of weeks, but figured that would overpower any hints of orange that might show up.  That got me thinking about the possibility of soaking the cubes in an orange liqueur, instead of bourbon.  Not sure if it would work out or not, but worth a try???  My wife has something in the liquor cabinet called "La Belle Orange", cognac and orange liqueur.  It's nice because the orange aroma isn't overpowering, I guess because of the cognac.  Same goes for the flavor.  It is definitely sweet though...

Here's the base:
Shooting for OG=1.079  FG=1.016 and about 50 IBU's

*2-Row, carawheat, munich, c120, chocolate, roasted barley, and brown malt.
**Dark Belgian Candi Syrup (D2), fresh orange peel    Magnum for bitter, glacier
***WLP530 Abbey Ale
****8 oz. medium toast American oak chips soaked overnight in the orange liqueur, added to secondary for probably only a week or so.
Fementing:
  *Primary -
  *Lagering -

On Tap
 *BPA
 *Denny's BVIP
 *Brunch Stout
 

In Bottles
 *IIPA
 *RyeIPA
 *Black IPA
 *Red IPA
 *White IPA (entered an all-IPA competition)
  *Kolsch

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2013, 08:10:21 pm »
I like it.  It looks similar to the stout I mis-pitched and wound up having a Belgian stout.

I'm not sure I'd go with the oak.  I would certainly taste it first to see what it's like, but I think the oak might be the one thing too much.

I would think you want to highlight the yeast, the orange, and the roast.  To me the oak might get in the way of all that.  You could split the batch of course....
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline summy

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Re: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2013, 08:20:51 pm »
I was using the oak as a medium to get the orange liqueur into the beer.  How would I go about it without?  Just add it to secondary/at bottling to taste?
Fementing:
  *Primary -
  *Lagering -

On Tap
 *BPA
 *Denny's BVIP
 *Brunch Stout
 

In Bottles
 *IIPA
 *RyeIPA
 *Black IPA
 *Red IPA
 *White IPA (entered an all-IPA competition)
  *Kolsch

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2013, 10:06:47 pm »
Definitely do not need the orange to get the liquor in there. Just add at bottling or before bottling but I would taste it separately before committing liquor into the entire batch.

I would be cautious about adding liqueur to beer. I've tried it before and it didn't turn out very well. Liqueur tends to have sugars added--something to worry about if you add at bottling--and if there are weird preservatives or artificial flavors that might result in a weird or unpleasant taste.

Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

Offline Joe Sr.

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Re: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2013, 08:16:50 am »
There are other ways to get orange flavor.  Coriander will give orange flavors, though I can't say I've ever used it in a stout.  You could try orange zest.  Orange rind is more likely to add bittering than citrus flavors.

Or you could try a more neutral spirit like vodka and try to infuse it with orange.
It's all in the reflexes. - Jack Burton

Offline oogiewawa

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Re: What do ya think? Belgian Stout recipe
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2013, 08:00:29 pm »
Consider adding some Grand Marnier to the fermenter; a lot of orange.  It is made from a blend of Cognac brandy, distilled essence of bitter orange, and sugar.  I wouldn't use a whole lot of it; maybe add a few drops at a time to a pint of similar beer, and then  scale it up.  Assume you'll lose a tad of the aromatic part during the ferment.  (If you can smell something, whatever it is, that something is leaving the liquid!)

Wonderful stuff neat on a crisp fall evening, and great with crepes, of course.  I wouldn't think that it would have or need any preservatives or other extraneous stuff in it.