Chimay Blue Clone

19 posts / 0 new
Last post
enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Chimay Blue Clone

Kingsryche (Chimay Blue Clone)

Belgian Dark Strong Ale

 

Type: All Grain

Date: 8/12/2011

Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal

Brewer: Edward Nash

Boil Size: 7.98 gal

Asst Brewer:

Boil Time: 60 min

Equipment: Nash Brewing Setup

End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal

Final Bottling Volume: 5.04 gal

Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Ingredients

Amt

Name

Type

#

%/IBU

9.0 oz

Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)

Grain

3

3.5 %

9.0 oz

Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)

Grain

2

3.5 %

9.0 oz

Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM)

Grain

4

3.5 %

4.5 oz

Aromatic Malt (Dingemans) (19.0 SRM)

Grain

5

1.8 %

21.0 g

Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 30.0 min

Hop

10

7.7 IBUs

1.00 Items

Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)

Fining

12

-

1.0 pkg

Trappist Ale (White Labs #WLP500) [35.5 ml]

Yeast

13

-

8 lbs 6.4 oz

Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)

Grain

1

53.0 %

2.00 Items

Wine Yeast (Boil 45.0 mins)

Other

9

-

4 lbs 7.7 oz

Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM)

Dry Extract

6

28.3 %

9.0 g

Tettnang [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min

Hop

11

3.7 IBUs

30.0 g

Goldings, B.C. [4.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min

Hop

8

16.3 IBUs

1 lbs

Candi Sugar, Amber (75.0 SRM)

Sugar

7

6.3 %

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.077 SG

Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG

Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.1 %

Bitterness: 27.6 IBUs

Est Color: 24.7 SRM

Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge

Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 13.5 oz

Sparge Water: 5.99 gal

Grain Temperature: 72.0 F

Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F

Tun Temperature: 72.0 F

Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Mash PH: 5.00

Mash Steps

Name

Description

Step Temperature

Step Time

Mash In

Add 3.5 gal of water at 171.5 F

156.0 F

45 min

Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (1.87gal, 4.12gal) of 168.0 F water

Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Keg

Volumes of CO2: 2.3

Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI

Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI

Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F

Age for: 30.00 days

Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage

Storage Temperature: 65.0 F

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
There is alot of "sugar" in

There is alot of "sugar" in the recipe...kicking that ABV up there so it is only natural to have the solvent taste for awhile...

Waiting sucks.....I'm impatient....

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Bill,

Bill,

 

Mine was solventy too and will mellow with time...these beers should condition 4 or 5 months at least...as for bottling...since your just bottling it to bring to the club I just stuff a piece of 6" tubing in the the tap and overflow the bottle a little and then cap.   Your beer won't be in the bottle long enough to oxidize. You just want to keep the CO2 in...

 

I have a Blichman beer gun and only use it when I bottle to store beer or enter in competition...

 

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Wow...awesome...I envy you..

Wow...awesome...I envy you...I got a 90 Schilling I want to brew but have to wait....plus I want to do a the poncillo version that you brewed...

 

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
yes..why you brewing it again

yes..why you brewing it again?  I am still sitting on three gallons..

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Why?  I was at a flea market

Why?  I was at a flea market last week on 35th and Ashland and they had the poncillo for $1.50/lb....probably could get it cheaper...

 

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Nice! Chimay is a 9% so your

Nice! Chimay is a 9% so your right there...

 

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
did you pitch any wine yeast

did you pitch any wine yeast in the boil?

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
How did the sugar dissolve? 

How did the sugar dissolve?  I just put another brew session in the log books too...Deception Cream Stout...

 

 

IGZ
IGZ's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 10 months ago
Alchemist, member since
yep.  we've talked about

yep.  we've talked about brewing something at the event as both a talking point, example of the work in action, and as a general attraction.  not sure if there is still a plan for a tunkin and fermunkin (havent found a big pumpkin yet), but we should brew something, even if its a SMASH of some sort.

Bill said:

you mean tomorrow?  I can't make it there on time to have enough time to brew it since my son has a game at 2:00PM.  But I do like your idea though.

iggi said:

Not to complicate things, but how would you feel brewing that at the cider event?

...igz...

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Yes i wish I had the Azul

Yes i wish I had the Azul recipe before I did my clone...I forgot to add the the brewer says to add the mexican sugar to the kettle while your sparging to begin dissolving...

 

Not sure if you ever worked with this sugar but it is incredible hard and resistant to dissolving...they are like bricks...LOL..at least some that I bought earlier this year...They remind me of those bullion cubes.

 

I plan on being there around 2pm...

I'll bring a bottle..

 

 

 

 

 

Bill said:

Thanks, Ed.  I think I'm going to make the Chimayo Azul first since I have all of the ingredients except for the yeast, hops and piloncillo (but there's millions of Mexican stores near my work).  I'll make your recipe with the yeast that I harvest from this batch.  Thanks for the links and I would love to try your version tomorrow if your offer is still good.  But I won't be there until late in the afternoon/early evening.  Not sure when you plan on coming.

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Bill,

Bill,

 

Looking at my notes: I brewed on 8/3/11

I kegged it on 9/3/11 - OG was 1.077, FG was 1.022

It had a strong alcohol taste...but is has mellowed out nicely...it's been a month since I kegged it and I anticipate it would be its best around Christmas....I pull a sample maybe once a week to see...I also added gelatine to the keg..

 

Bill said:

Ed, I took (indecent) liberties with your recipe and substituted using 2- row and cane sugar instead of candi sugar. But now I'm thinking I may try that piloncillo/panela sugar and use pilsen malt with a 90 minute boil. How long did you let it ferment for? I'm thinking 2-3 weeks.

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Bill,

Bill,

 

The awesome thing about brewing is taking a recipe and tweaking it to see if you can improve it..no worries...my all grain is a tweak on the extract above...

 

Couple things...about the sugar...the original uses lyle golden syrup...which is just inverted sugar, which is just sugar combined with citric acid...the acid breaks down the the sugar to simple sugars which are easier for the yeast to use. Belgian Sugars are also inverted sugars...

I made my own and cooked it a little longer to get more caramel out of it...

 

Here is the recipe I used and this chef explains the benefits of using inverted sugar in cooking...

http://www.chefeddy.com/2009/11/invert-sugar/

 

Second...here is the link to the original Chimayo Azul recipe....You can see the difference between the two..the one I posted won the Gold Medal...Notice the base malt and other grain additions between the two...including the gravities

http://azhomebrewers.com/w/Recipes:Chimayo_Azul

 

Third...here is the original thread that got me started on my Chimay Cloning...its alot to read but you will see alot of people trying different ingredients...

 

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/easy-chimay-blue-clone-73965/

 

Hope this all helps!! 

Edward

 

 

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
The trappest yeast gives this

The trappest yeast gives this beer its fruity, banana flavor/aroma...not sure if the abbey will do the same....plus make sure it can handle the higher alcohol...

 

Bill said:

Finally had a chance today to look into this recipe.  A few questions come to mind immediately.  First, can I substitute Munich malt with Pilsen malt since I have a bunch of this.  Second, can I substitute the White Labs WLP 500 Trappist Ale with my just washed Belgian Abbey II  Wyeast 1762?  The correct comparable Wyeast would be 1214 Belgian Ale Yeast.  Third, I noticed you are not only using wine yeast (Red Star Montrachet?) but you're also boiling it?  Wouldn't boiling yeast kill it?

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
Bill...

Bill...

Sorry for the delay...but as you found out the wine yeast acts a yeast nutrient since this is suppose to be a 9% ABV brew.

I do not know enough about the malts to give you options....

 

My recipe was converted from the extract above...and I used a 51% efficiency.  I just got a grain mill and was playing it safe...

 

I am not sure how close this one will be cloned...Right now it is kegged and lagering at 42F...it has smoothed out after several weeks..but I bet it will be ready in 8 to 12 weeks...I can probably bring a bottle of it Saturday...you can taste it...But i think it is a little too young...Here is a picture of it...

 

It's been a long time since I had a Chimay Blue...but I do have a bottle of it in my fridge and i will pop it open when I think my clone is ready...to compare...

 

On a side note:  The following Recipe won gold at the Homebrewers Convention this year in San Diego for Belgian Strong Ale.  This recipe is in the last issue of Zymurgy and it is called "Chimayo Azul".  He uses 5# of piloncillo.  That is that unrefined mexican sugar you see in the shape of cones. Hence the Spanish name...

 

I'll probably brew this next time...as I would love to try that sugar...

 

 

 

 

Chimayo Azul

    Recipe Type: All-Grain
    Batch Size: 6 Gal
    Original Gravity: 1.091 SG
    Final Gravity: 1.022 SG
    SRM: 13
    IBU: 38
    Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
Amount     Name
15.0 lbs     Belgian Pils Malt
0.5 lbs       Special B
2.5 lbs       Piloncillo Sugar
.25lbs        Wheat malt
2.0oz        Carafa Special II

Hops
Amount     Name     Alpha %     Boil Time
.88 oz     Magnum                   12%     60 min
0.5 oz     Styrian Goldings     5.25%     15 min
0.5 oz     Styrian Goldings     5.25%     1 min

Additional Additions
1 Whirlfloc tablet

Yeast

White Labs WLP550 - Trappist Ale (2400ml starter)

Directions

Single-infusion mash for 60 minutes at 149. Boiled 90 minutes. Chill to 68F for pitching. Aerate well, Hold at 68F for 48 hours and let it free rise to 80F at a rate of 3F a day.

Notes

I got the piloncillo at Food City but any Mexican market should have it. I've also seen it referred to as panela some places.
It is basically an unrefined solid cane sugar so it could probably be substituted with plain sugar and molasses if it can't be found.

 

IGZ
IGZ's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 10 months ago
Alchemist, member since
Not to complicate things, but

Not to complicate things, but how would you feel brewing that at the cider event?

...igz...

IGZ
IGZ's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 10 months ago
Alchemist, member since
Ths sounds sexy. Lemme know

Ths sounds sexy. Lemme know how it turns out. Gotta do some reading on the wine yeast as I believe it may have some intrinsic qualities in ales.

Chimay blue is within my top 5 of faves, so I wouldn't mind trying it.

...igz...

enash7070
enash7070's picture
Offline
Last seen: 8 years 11 months ago
There is amber malt in there

There is amber malt in there too, of which there is 4.5# of it...so there is not a total of 15# being mashed.....the most important thing is to mash at 156F....beer smith just calculates the temp based on what type of mash tun your using so I would ignore that...

 

Here is the extract version...

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: White Labs WLP 500 Belgian Trappist
Yeast Starter: Yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: N/A
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.068
Final Gravity: 1.0110
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60 mins
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 5 days @ 68F
Additional Fermentation: N/A
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days @ 68F
Tasting Notes: Remarkably similar to Chimay Blue

Steep the grain in 3 gallons of water at 156F for 40 Minutes:

32 oz Munich Malt
8 oz Special B
8 oz CaraMunich
4 oz Belgian Aromatic
8 oz Torrified Wheat

Remove the grains and add another gallon of water and add:

3lbs Munich Malt Extract
4 lbs Amber Malt Extract

1 oz Hallertauer (60 mins)
1 oz Styrian Goldings (30 mins)

16 oz Lyle's Golden Syrup at 45 mins
2 packets dried wine yeast as nutrient at 45 mins.
1 Whirlflock tab at 45 mins

Cool wort to 75F and pitch yeast starter. Cool to ambient temperature and remain throughout fermentation. Bottle.

 

 

DanielBarker
DanielBarker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 7 years 8 months ago
Brewer (Intro), member since
weirdness!  There's no base

weirdness!  There's no base malt in this recipe!  Munich I guess it close, but...  I'm not doubting it's good, mind you.  And do you really end up with a temp of 156 from adding 171 degrees water to 15 lbs of grain?!  Am I reading this wrong?