[Visor]

   I'm brewing a sort of Belgian Golden strong tomorrow, of the dozen or two recipes I'm seen, almost all use either Saaz or Styrian Goldings or both, neither of which I have in stock, any suggestions? I have a buttload of different types of hops but the substitution charts I can find don't suggest anything I have handy.
   I plan on splitting the ferment between T-58 and BE-256. Grain bill is Pilsner, 2 row [didn't have as much Pilsen as I thought], wheat malt and a touch of aromatic.

[Robert]

Whatcha got?

[dmtaylor]

Anything German or related to German hops will work well, like Hallertau, Tettnang, Crystal, Mt. Hood, Liberty, etc.

[Iliff Ave]

I think I’m going to use a combo of magnum, saaz, and sterling.

Also, you may want to consider some sugar.

[BrewBama]

It depends on your intentions for the beer. If it’s for a competition Saaz and Styrian Goldings are mentioned in the guidelines so judges expect them. If it’s for your enjoyment and you want to color outside the lines then go for it.

For example, there’s a brewery up in Nashville that has a beer that is the poster child for Pre-Prohibition Lager. Their beer is actually listed in the guidelines as an example of the style.

However, they also brew an “IPK” — India Pale Kölsch. It’s a cross between an IPA and a Kölsch featuring Mosaic hops.  If you plug it into brew software it doesn’t fit either style. ...or any style for that matter. It’s definitely not listed in the guidelines.

My takeaway is this: don’t be afraid to imagine a flavor profile and brew a beer to meet the goal. It might not be to anyone’s spec as a classic style. Oh well.

It’s your beer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Visor]

   I'm the quintessential style iconoclast - I don't give a flip about brewing to style, my intentions are a really big, ever so slightly Belgian funky, pale beer that doesn't taste like grass clipping tea - which is exactly what I taste in every beer I've ever brewed that had any kind of Saaz in it. I don't want it to be a Belgian IPA, the hops need to be a supporting actor, not a co-star.
   What I have in addition to all the IPA & "C" hops includes Tett., Mittelfruh, WGV, Fuggles, Magnum, N.Brewer, Nugget, Glacier, Horizon, Pacific Jade, Liberty, Warrior, Mandarina Bav., Galaxy, Mosaic, Willamette and a few others.
   There definitely will be some sugar, it's my 111 batch so I thought it out to have an SG of 1.111, so whatever I'm short from the grain I'll make up with cheat points, like I said, a big beer.

  Just remembered some more exotic stuff I picked up at CBC; Loral, Azacca @ Ekuanot cryohops and Cashmere & Heritage. I've never used any of these yet.

[denny]

Remember, the key to Belgian styles is more a low FG than a high OG.

[Visor]

   Yup, hence the 90 minute, 149* mash, wheat and sugar .

[Robert]

I'd give the Willamette consideration.  It kind of flies under the radar but is a fantastic aroma hop and works in most any lager or ale style.

[dmtaylor]

I'd give the Willamette consideration.  It kind of flies under the radar but is a fantastic aroma hop and works in most any lager or ale style.

+1  Willamette would be great for this style.

[Visor]

 I thought about Willamette, decided to go with WGV in the boil and Mittelfruh after knockout. Much later I saw Robert's post. Thanks for the input guys. Didn't hit my 1.111 target, some kind of computational miscalculation I think, oh well, it'll still be beer.

[denny]

I just made one using American Nobles from Yakima Chief.  Love it!

[Visor]

Nine days in and the ~4 1/2 gallons of the BE256 batch is at 1.004 & have been cold crashing for about 24 hours, the equal volume with T-58 is still crawling along at 1.038. The BE256 was one 2 year old sachet sprinkled on the surface of the wort and took ~ 24 hours to get up to speed [lightspeed that is], the T-58  was ~1 Cup of harvested yeast, 2nd generation, and took off like a rocket for about a day and a half, then kind started loosing steam. Definitely not what I expected. Now I wait to see how far the T-58 will go before completely petering out, it's still got a lot of sugar to eat and I'm betting it doesn't get the job done.

[Michael Brown]

Like Denny said you can really branch out on this style.   Amarillo is great for example.  Don't be limited to the Duvel strain either. 

[Visor]

    Finally got this batch bottled the other day, the BE-256 batch was done and in the fridge cold crashing in 9 days, the T-58 version muddled along for over a month before petering out at 1.023 [O.G. was 1.1]. I tried EC-1118 but that only took it down a couple gravity points. So in the end, starting with the same wort, under the same fermentation conditions BE-256 went from 1.1 to 1.003 in nine days, T-58 & EC-1118 took 38 days to get to 1.022. TIFWIW. The 256 version has a very hot, solventy alcohol taste, even though the temp never got above 68 during fermentation. I think these beers will get lost somewhere for a year or so, might be drinkable by then.