Barbar is definitely one of my favorite Belgian beers. Tough to get hold of here in Australia though so I reckon I make my own.
So here's what I'm putting down next (adapted from Clone Brews):
250g Caramel Malt 11L (substitutes Belgian Cara-Vienna)
150g Melanoiden Malt (substitutes Gambrinus Honey Malt)
2kg Light DME
2kg Wheat DME (50/50 barley/wheat)
450g Belgian candi sugar (clear)
450g Clover Honey (60 mins)
55g Hersbrucker 3AA% (60 mins)
15 Golding (15 mins)
15g Orange peel (15 mins)
1/2 tsp Coriander (15 mins)
250g Clover Honey (15 mins)
1 tsp Irish moss (15 mins)
1/2 tsp Coriander (5 mins)
10g Orange peel (5 mins)
Ferment with White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale Yeast
Prime with 200ml orange blossom honey
What do you all think? Does the grain substitutions work? Is there any way of getting hold of real Belgian grains here in Australia? Anything I need to think about?
Barbar Belgian Honey Ale
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Aussie Claret
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- Joined: Thursday Sep 01, 2005 11:55 am
- Location: Gold Coast
tirsen,
I ran this recipe through Qbrew and you are aiming at an estimated OG of 1.070 FG 1.018 alc. 7.1% with ONLY 17 IBU, that is going to be extremely sweet. I haven't tasted the beer you mention so cannot comment on similarities but I think you need to up the bittering probably to around 25-30. If you have the Golding hops (guessing AA 5.1%) why not use these for bittering and the hersbrucker for aroma / flavour, suggested hop schedule 50g Golding 60min boil, 30g hersbrucker 20min boil and 20g Hersbrucker 1 min boil, this will give you an expected IBU of 26.
I'd cut back on the last honey addition and also the orange peel, add the orange in the last couple of minutes or you'll have an alcoholic orange cordial, I found that a little orange boiled for long periods is over powering.
Jes you must like honey, I wouldn't prime with the honey either.
Each to their own and good luck.
AC
I ran this recipe through Qbrew and you are aiming at an estimated OG of 1.070 FG 1.018 alc. 7.1% with ONLY 17 IBU, that is going to be extremely sweet. I haven't tasted the beer you mention so cannot comment on similarities but I think you need to up the bittering probably to around 25-30. If you have the Golding hops (guessing AA 5.1%) why not use these for bittering and the hersbrucker for aroma / flavour, suggested hop schedule 50g Golding 60min boil, 30g hersbrucker 20min boil and 20g Hersbrucker 1 min boil, this will give you an expected IBU of 26.
I'd cut back on the last honey addition and also the orange peel, add the orange in the last couple of minutes or you'll have an alcoholic orange cordial, I found that a little orange boiled for long periods is over powering.
Jes you must like honey, I wouldn't prime with the honey either.
Each to their own and good luck.
AC
There's nothing wrong with having nothing to say - unless you insist on saying it. (Anonymous)
This is kind of a beer/mead so, yeah, plenty of honey. The original drop doesn't actually have a very strong flavor of honey so I guess there must be something that removes that. Maybe the fermentation ferments it all away? Maybe it needs to be aged for a couple of months? I've read somewhere that boiling honey for a longer time removes a lot of the honey flavor. Also, clover honey is a very mild honey.
Why does it end on 1018? I thought the yeast was capable of fermenting a lot longer and doesn't the candi sugar and honey have a high attenuation? Barbar really doesn't have a lot of bitterness at all so I'll be more keen to get the FG down a bit more than adding more bitterness. Would changing to another yeast work?
The original recipe calls for Curacao orange peel which should probably give more spice and bitterness than orange cordeal. Is there any way of getting hold of that here in Australia? Otherwise you're probably right, I have to cut down on the orange.
Yeah, I loooove honey.
Why does it end on 1018? I thought the yeast was capable of fermenting a lot longer and doesn't the candi sugar and honey have a high attenuation? Barbar really doesn't have a lot of bitterness at all so I'll be more keen to get the FG down a bit more than adding more bitterness. Would changing to another yeast work?
The original recipe calls for Curacao orange peel which should probably give more spice and bitterness than orange cordeal. Is there any way of getting hold of that here in Australia? Otherwise you're probably right, I have to cut down on the orange.
Yeah, I loooove honey.
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Aussie Claret
- Posts: 655
- Joined: Thursday Sep 01, 2005 11:55 am
- Location: Gold Coast
Tirsen,
The OG / FG figures were estimates from Qbrew based on the ingredients you listed and quantities, you are starting with a heavy OG and the recipe has a lot of malt hence high FG.
Even though the original beer may not be heavily hopped or particularly bitter, an IBU of 17 is extemely light in bitterness similar to a wheat beer, however because you are using high quantities of malt it is likely to be much sweeter than you expect, I would still add more hops as I originally suggested.
Honey is generally fully fementable, as for attenuation, I'm unsure of the yeasts specifics, what do they suggest the attenuation is? Eg 70% attenuation with a OG of 1.070 should be around FG1.021 with the estimated FG of 1.018 the Qbrew was estimating a 74% attenuation.
It's going to be a big beer, also if this ais a mead type beer it is likely to require extended fermentation and conditioning, a true mead I believe (never made one) can take 12 months until it's ready to drink.
AC
The OG / FG figures were estimates from Qbrew based on the ingredients you listed and quantities, you are starting with a heavy OG and the recipe has a lot of malt hence high FG.
Even though the original beer may not be heavily hopped or particularly bitter, an IBU of 17 is extemely light in bitterness similar to a wheat beer, however because you are using high quantities of malt it is likely to be much sweeter than you expect, I would still add more hops as I originally suggested.
Honey is generally fully fementable, as for attenuation, I'm unsure of the yeasts specifics, what do they suggest the attenuation is? Eg 70% attenuation with a OG of 1.070 should be around FG1.021 with the estimated FG of 1.018 the Qbrew was estimating a 74% attenuation.
It's going to be a big beer, also if this ais a mead type beer it is likely to require extended fermentation and conditioning, a true mead I believe (never made one) can take 12 months until it's ready to drink.
AC
There's nothing wrong with having nothing to say - unless you insist on saying it. (Anonymous)
The WLP500 yeast has an attenuation of 75-80%. What affects whether you're getting the upper range of the attenuation or the lower? Temperature? Time? How much yeast you pitch?
Maybe I should replace the 50/50 malt/wheat with just pure wheat? Would that make IBU 17 more palatable?
12 months of conditioning sounds like a major pain in the backside. Maybe I should read up a bit on mead brewing...
Maybe I should replace the 50/50 malt/wheat with just pure wheat? Would that make IBU 17 more palatable?
12 months of conditioning sounds like a major pain in the backside. Maybe I should read up a bit on mead brewing...
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Aussie Claret
- Posts: 655
- Joined: Thursday Sep 01, 2005 11:55 am
- Location: Gold Coast
First question yes all of the things listed but also age of yeast and vialbe cell count, the older the yeast less viable cells (generally).
No i wouldn't do that stick with the 50/50.
Like I said I never made a mead but Dodger Dan has made quite a few and recommended extended fermentation and conditioning.
Good Luck
AC
No i wouldn't do that stick with the 50/50.
Like I said I never made a mead but Dodger Dan has made quite a few and recommended extended fermentation and conditioning.
Good Luck
AC
There's nothing wrong with having nothing to say - unless you insist on saying it. (Anonymous)
According to the profile in Clone Brews IBU 17 is definitely the way to go. The OG is a bit too high though, it should be more like 1060. (Don't have the book with me now, don't remember exactly.) Maybe I'll try use a bit less extract. I've downloaded QBrew too and am gonna tweak away at it.
Thanks for your help! I'll report back here how it turns out.
Thanks for your help! I'll report back here how it turns out.
Re: Barbar Belgian Honey Ale
What do you mean by minutes?? Is that boiling time possibly?tirsen wrote: 450g Clover Honey (60 mins)
55g Hersbrucker 3AA% (60 mins)
15 Golding (15 mins)
15g Orange peel (15 mins)
1/2 tsp Coriander (15 mins)
250g Clover Honey (15 mins)
1 tsp Irish moss (15 mins)
1/2 tsp Coriander (5 mins)
10g Orange peel (5 mins)