The Anatomy of a Belgian Quad
If you have an interest in Quads and you haven't found it yet, check out this epic 50+ page thread on HBT about "The Pious" an award winning Westvleteren 12 clone. The thread goes through the evolution of a recipe that took 1st place & BOS in the Westvleteren 12 clone comp with 43 points beating out a real Westvleteren 12 with 40 points (which is kind of hysterical). Along the way all things Quad are discussed with about a 20 page detour on the rollout of the new line of dark (and light) candi syrups by Candi Syrup Inc. If you are interested in the style it is a must read. Here are my take aways from it:
- The great Quads: Westvleteren 12, Rochforte 10, St. Bernardus 12 are pretty simple.
- Pilsner & Pale base malt
- 15-20% dark candi syrup
- There are no good substitutes for the right dark candi syrup (more on this in a sec)
- No dark malts, or specialty grains
- ~35 IBU, early additions with no real hop character
- Noble hops
- Westmalle Yeast
- Warm fermentation, as high as 80 degF
- Full attenuation
- Long cold maturation
- Bottle conditioning
Most of these fall into the fairly obvious category. The warm fermentation followed by a long cold maturation is interesting, and many people on the thread report a very raw flavor profile for a few months on till the flavors meld and the yeast drops out.
If there is a bomb shell it is that you basically have only one option for the gravity boost, the color, and for the roast and dark fruit flavors: dark candi syrup. Basically only two option emerge: Candi Syrup Inc.'s D180 and Dark Candi Inc's D2. The former is a new comer made in the US that claims to be the closest thing you can buy to the real thing. The later is claimed to be -- ahem -- the real thing, imported from the same sources in Belgium as the monks use.
If you read Brew Like a Monk on Quads a.k.a. Strong Belgian Darks made by more recent american upstarts go for additional complexity pretty much anyway they can. But the overal take away is that the use of Special B and other specialty malts that figure highly in many homebrew recipes should be used with discretion.
Here is my take:
Fermentables
Ingredient | Amount | % | MCU | When |
Belgian Pilsen Malt | 15lb 0oz | 43.1 % | 2.0 | In Mash/Steeped |
Belgian Pale Malt | 13lb 0oz | 37.3 % | 4.0 | In Mash/Steeped |
Belgian Aromatic Malt | 10.00 oz | 1.8 % | 1.0 | In Mash/Steeped |
US Caramel 120L Malt | 2.00 oz | 0.4 % | 1.3 | In Mash/Steeped |
Belgian Special B | 1.00 oz | 0.2 % | 0.8 | In Mash/Steeped |
Sugar - White Sugar/Sucrose | 1lb 0oz | 2.9 % | 0.0 | Start Of Boil |
Sugar - Candi Syrup Inc - D180 | 2lb 0oz | 5.7 % | 30.0 | End Of Boil |
Sugar - Candi Syrup Inc - D90 | 2lb 0oz | 5.7 % | 15.0 | End Of Boil |
Sugar - Muscavado Dark | 1lb 0oz | 2.9 % | 8.3 | End Of Boil |
Variety | Alpha | Amount | IBU | Form | When |
US Sterling | 7.1 % | 2.10 oz | 18.0 | Loose Whole Hops | First Wort Hopped |
German Hallertauer Mittlefruh | 4.5 % | 2.10 oz | 10.5 | Loose Whole Hops | 45 Min From End |
Ingredient | Amount | When |
Yeast Nutrient | 1.25 oz | In Boil |
Irish Moss | 1.25 oz | In Boil |
Wyeast 3787-Trappist High Gravity. Started with a 10 gallon batch of Dubbel. The Quad was pitched on the lees. The over the first night the airlocks were overrun and lids of two 8 gallon buckets blew completely off. Use a blowoff; 3787 is snotty stuff!
Water Profile
Target Profile: | No Water Profile Chosen |
Mash pH: | 5.2 |
pH Adjusted with: | Unadjusted |
Total Calcium (ppm): | 10 | Total Magnesium (ppm): | 1 |
Total Sodium (ppm): | 2 | Total Sulfate (ppm): | 1 |
Total Chloride(ppm): | 4 | Total Bicarbonate (ppm): | 29 |
Mash Schedule
Mash Type: | Full Mash |
Schedule Name: | Single Step Infusion (66C/151F) |
Step Type | Temperature | Duration |
Rest at | 151 degF | 60 |
Mash Notes
Added 37 qt @ 166 degF = Strike at 147 - 153 degF @ 12:20 for 60min
Sparge at 178 degF for 20min
Boil Notes
90 minutes. Added additional spargein at 45min, to bring total volume to 14g. Minus 4lb candi sugar 1.067. Should be about 7 points for boil down, so 1.060 start og boil. 4lb candi should be +12points on 1.067. So OG should be about 1.079
Fermentation Notes
Racked on the lees of my autumn brown dubbel, westmalle strain.I knew I was in trouble when I had massive airlock activity in the forst 2 hours.Going to add 1lb Muscavado sugar to the candi sugar for an additional +4pts. Total addition of +16 for an OG of 1.083
down to 1.022 in 3 days.
down to 1.011 in 2 weeks.