Description:

This brew is actually a gigantic starter for my epic brew project, Nirvana (a 25% Utopias-inspired specialty ale).  I brewed up 10 gallons of this Belgian Pale just to get at the yeast slurry which is the first of 3 pitches in Nirvana.

Put aside the fact that this is more or less a throw away beer… it’s damn tasty and rather popular.  I kegged this in 2 kegs and “dry hopped” 1 keg with roughly crushed coriander for 2 days.  It doesn’t sound like much but this resulted in 2 distinctly different beers.  If you don’t like coriander feel free to omit it, but it was a hit in my club.

Batch Size:  10 Gallons
Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
IBUs:  24
ABV:  4.7%

Recipe:

Mash at 152F for 75 minutes then fly sparge until desired volume of wort is collected:

18 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US
1 lbs Aromatic Malt
1 lbs Biscuit Malt
1 lbs Caraaroma
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt – 20L

2.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 14.9 IBUs
2.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] – Boil 10.0 min Hop 7 5.4 IBUs
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] – Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs

2.0 pkg Belgian Abbey II (Wyeast Labs #1762) (split in 2 fermenters)
Fermented at 70F ambient temperature.

Tasting Notes:

As mentioned above, this brew was split into 2 corny kegs.  1 as is and the other with 1 ounce of roughly crushed coriander “dry hopped” for 2 days.  While both are fan favorites here at Shred’s Laboratory, the coriander really did create a distinctly different beer.  Both have the aromas and flavors you’d expect – a malty balance with hints of fruit esters, bready notes and light spices.  Relatively dry finish, not sweet as some expect from Belgians, but well balanced.