G'day all,
My friends all know me as a drinker after I returned from Belgium on holidays.
As such for my 21st I was given a coopers home brew kit.
Now i have to be honest, coopers lager really isn't my cup of tea so i'm thinking of ditching the beginnings add sugar and water and brewing something that i'd really like to drink.
Of course the catch is being weened onto beers via expert monstaries such as Chimay and Orval I've realised when looking at their recipies that i'm probably ditching the wading pool and going straight for the 10 meter board.
I was wondering if you guys have any happy medium recipies to create a nice strong belgian ale with a decent complexity which doesn't involve the whole creation from scratch?
I've been reading the guidelines here talking about adding different malts and honey etc, so I was tempted to try and knock up something using chocolate malts and try to go for a stronger reddy ale with perhaps hints of honey (the honey post got me thinking)
Any advice, or am I better off just putting on the wading devices and worrying about making a beer i like in a months time?
Cheers
Kozzi