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Author Topic: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?  (Read 9058 times)

Offline homoeccentricus

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #15 on: October 17, 2015, 12:37:24 am »
Brew Like A Monk says that Westy only contains Dingemans pils and pale malts. Rochefort and Westmalle Dubbel contain caramel malts. Westmalle also contains "dark malt for aroma".  Special B is not even mentioned in the book.
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RPIScotty

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Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #16 on: October 17, 2015, 05:57:22 am »
Brew Like A Monk says that Westy only contains Dingemans pils and pale malts. Rochefort and Westmalle Dubbel contain caramel malts. Westmalle also contains "dark malt for aroma".  Special B is not even mentioned in the book.

This coupled with the fact that many of what I consider the best clone recipes use very little, if any, caramel malts and no Special B is what I was driving at.

I'm sure it can't hurt in small amounts but my taste buds don't detect the usual flavors from it.

I personally think that my tastes buds perceive the "normal" Special B flavors with Dingemans CaraMunich so that's what I like.

To the OP: a good thing may be to do a few test mashes. Take some grains and a small pot and do a test. Scale your percentages down small and use a strainer to get the sweet wort out. Taste it and see what you think. Minimal investment to get a sense of what flavors you like.

I think we can all agree that this is a great style with a bit of room for stretching out with reference to sugars and a few specialty malts. You can definitely make it your own.

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« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 06:30:51 am by RPIScotty »

RPIScotty

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Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #17 on: October 17, 2015, 06:33:18 am »
You've got the real recipes from the monks?  Methinks not.  Some of these taste raisiny enough to me.  Maybe our tastebuds are not aligned.

You know I don't!

I'm speaking generally of course using the information at hand. BLAM, clone recipes, etc. 

I did find this nugget last night, as I was fortuitously skimming through Rajotte's style series book:

"....used (Special B) in Scotch ales and Stouts brewed for export in Belgium....."

I think the grain really found a place in the North American market prior to the availability of Dark Syrups here and people really took a liking to it. It was nearly ubiquitous prior to that.


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« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 06:37:40 am by RPIScotty »

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #18 on: October 17, 2015, 06:56:07 am »
Rochefort and Westmalle Dubbel contain caramel malts.  Special B is not even mentioned in the book.

For the record, Special B IS a dark caramel/crytal malt  :    http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/maillard-malts-malted-grain/caramel-crystal-cara-malt/belgian-special-b
Jon H.

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #19 on: October 17, 2015, 07:16:19 am »
Dave

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RPIScotty

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #20 on: October 17, 2015, 07:17:19 am »

Offline Stevie

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Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #21 on: October 17, 2015, 07:24:35 am »
Person 1 - Girls fart

Person 2 - No, girls don't fart, they toot

Person 1 - Toots are farts

Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #22 on: October 17, 2015, 07:28:44 am »
Toots or farts: if it tastes good to YOU, then YOU should use it.  If it doesn't, then don't.  That's the bottom line.
Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #23 on: October 17, 2015, 07:31:03 am »
Person 1 - Girls fart

Person 2 - No, girls don't fart, they toot

Person 1 - Toots are farts

Just shot coffee out my nose. Good stuff.

EDIT - I agree with Dave as well. We get to share a lot of good info, but get to brew for ourselves. I say call a fart a fart FWIW.  ;)
Jon H.

RPIScotty

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Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #24 on: October 17, 2015, 08:21:54 am »
The OP asked for suggestions is all.

I agree about the sharing of information here. Great resource and great people.

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Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #25 on: October 17, 2015, 08:24:57 am »
The OP asked for suggestions is all.


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I agree, Derek. Nothing directed at you at all. Sharing info is awesome, but people are gonna have different experiences, which is great.  All good.
Jon H.

Offline Stevie

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #26 on: October 17, 2015, 08:30:43 am »
I wasn't poking fun directly at you Derek. I was simply pointing out how the argument was going in a humorous way.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #27 on: October 17, 2015, 08:37:26 am »
FWIW, I was done with the thread until i got up and saw that special b wasn't a crystal malt anymore. All good.   ;D
Jon H.

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #28 on: October 17, 2015, 08:43:01 am »
I'm still hopeful that this can turn violent.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing

RPIScotty

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Suggestions on Belgian Dark Strong?
« Reply #29 on: October 17, 2015, 08:43:23 am »
FWIW, I was done with the thread until i got up and saw that special b wasn't a crystal malt anymore. All good.   ;D



No offense taken fellas. All opinions and experiences are welcome. It helps people make informed decisions.


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« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 08:45:37 am by RPIScotty »