Frank

By Craig Agnor

Recipe is part of Recipe Index

BJCP 2021 Style 25A Belgian Blond Ale

This beer was inspired by a LAB trip to Belgium in February 2024 organised by Guy. It is a fairly standard recipe for this style. The Golden Promise and the Aromatic Malt (suggested by Mean Brews) are included in smallish amounts to contribute subtle complexity in the malt profile. The intention was to complement the Belgian yeast and noble hops. This recipe is pretty close to the Mean Brews version.

At about two months in the bottles it had a subtle honey-like sweetness. It was entered in the 2025 LAB Open after six months in the bottles. At this time the yeast character, malt and hops had nicely integrated.

Awards

LAB Open 2025 (July 2025, The Queens Arms, Battersea, London)

1st - Best of Show

1st - French and Belgian Ale

Statistics

• IBU 24
• ABV 6%
• OG 1.060
• FG 1.011
• EBC 10
• 25 litres into fermenter.

Ingredients

Water

Use your favourite water program to get:

• Ca 53, Mg 0, Na 12, SO4 75 Cl 69, SO4/Cl Ratio 1.1
• I used BrunWater, started with RO, and added only gypsum and calcium chloride to hit the target
• Add 85% phosphoric acid to get mash pH 5.3. Acidify sparge water with phosphoric acid

Malt

• 4.184 kg (9.14 lbs) Dingemans Pilsen Malt, 5 EBC, (82%)
• 0.631 kg (1.39 lbs) Simpson's Golden Promise, 5.5 EBC, (12%)
• 0.304 kg (0.67 lbs) Dingemans Aromatic Malt, 50 EBC, (6%)
• 0.327 kg (0.72 lbs) Cane Sugar (added in last 10-min of boil)

Hops

• 11.3 g (0.40 oz) Hallertau Magnum Pellets 14.5% (60 min) 15.5 IBU
• 49.6 g (1.75 oz) Saaz Pellets 2.7% (15 min) 7.6 IBU
• 25.5 g (0.90 oz) Saaz Pellets 2.7% (0 min) 1.2 IBU

Yeast

• 11.5 g LalBrew Abbaye - rehydrated in sterile 27C (80F) water prior to pitching

Other

• 2.0 g Nutromix yeast nutrient
• 0.5 tablet Protofloc (15-min from end of boil)
• 1.00 ml Antifoam (added before boil)
• 7 ml Brausol P Special (added at bottling)

Process

Mash

• Step Infusion in a picnic cooler mash tun with a false bottom and grain bag
• 65.6 C (150F) Saccharification Rest with 2.09 L/kg (1 qt/lb) 120-min - low and long for high attenuation.
• 73.3 C (164F) Glycoprotein Rest 2.85 L/kg (1.37 qt/lb) 30-min
• 77.8 C (172F) Mashout 3.53 L/kg (1.69 qt/lb) 20-min
• Batch Sparged to 34L (7.5 US Gallons)

Boil

• 75-min boil

Ferment

• Chilled to 16 C (61F)
• Aerated with aquarium pump and stainless stone for 40-min
• Fermented in a plastic bucket at 16-17C until attenuation reached 50% (1.5 days).
• Then raised 0.5 C per day until temperature reached 21.5C.
• Fermentation was effectively complete in five days.

Serving

• Primed and bottled after 15 days and conditioned to 3.2 volumes of CO2 with cane sugar.