I cobbled this after doing a bit of research on the techniques used by the Dupont brewery. The numbers are slightly different to accomodate my own system. For example, Dupont achieve attenuation levels into the 90's; I'll probably struggle on that front (hence the slightly higher OG and FG). Also, they use pilsner malt only. I've decided to add some light caramalt to achieve the required colour. Apart from that the recipe seems to be fairly accurate.
Size: 18.0 L
Efficiency: 77.0%
Attenuation: 85.0%
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.009
Color: 10.55
Alcohol: 6.34%
Bitterness: 32.7
Ingredients:
4250 g Premium Pilsen Malt (92.5%)
350 g Caramalt 15 (7.5%)
45.0 g East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min (43%)
60.0 g Styrian Goldings (4.3%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min (57%)
WYeast 3724 Belgian Saison Yeast
Mashed at 63C for 50 minutes. Raised the temperature to 68C for 20 minutes.
The water was treated with calcium sulphate to accentuate the hop flavours. I also added two tsps of yeast nutrient to the boil to help the yeast to attenuate fully (Dupont's yeast can be extremely sluggish).
Primary fermentation lasted 7 days at 29C (yes, 29C! Gotta love those crazy Belgian brewers!) and was then dropped to 22C and held there for a further week. Dupont ferment the beer at 30-35C to speed the process up, but this is not essential as the same effect can be achieved at 27-30C, minimising the risk of introducing higher fusol alcohols. The gravity before bottling was 1.010, which was just about perfect since I had planned to follow Dupont's own method of warm conditioning the beer in bottles for 6 weeks at 23C to help the yeast to attenuate fully.
The beer was carbonated at 3.0 volumes of Co2.
It's been two weeks since I bottled the beer so I cracked one open yesterday to check the progress. It was absolutely delicious with lots of aromatic spice and an amazingly fluffy head! Who says you need spices to make a spicy beer! IMO, it was almost identical to the real thing.
Size: 18.0 L
Efficiency: 77.0%
Attenuation: 85.0%
Original Gravity: 1.057
Final Gravity: 1.009
Color: 10.55
Alcohol: 6.34%
Bitterness: 32.7
Ingredients:
4250 g Premium Pilsen Malt (92.5%)
350 g Caramalt 15 (7.5%)
45.0 g East Kent Goldings (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min (43%)
60.0 g Styrian Goldings (4.3%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min (57%)
WYeast 3724 Belgian Saison Yeast
Mashed at 63C for 50 minutes. Raised the temperature to 68C for 20 minutes.
The water was treated with calcium sulphate to accentuate the hop flavours. I also added two tsps of yeast nutrient to the boil to help the yeast to attenuate fully (Dupont's yeast can be extremely sluggish).
Primary fermentation lasted 7 days at 29C (yes, 29C! Gotta love those crazy Belgian brewers!) and was then dropped to 22C and held there for a further week. Dupont ferment the beer at 30-35C to speed the process up, but this is not essential as the same effect can be achieved at 27-30C, minimising the risk of introducing higher fusol alcohols. The gravity before bottling was 1.010, which was just about perfect since I had planned to follow Dupont's own method of warm conditioning the beer in bottles for 6 weeks at 23C to help the yeast to attenuate fully.
The beer was carbonated at 3.0 volumes of Co2.
It's been two weeks since I bottled the beer so I cracked one open yesterday to check the progress. It was absolutely delicious with lots of aromatic spice and an amazingly fluffy head! Who says you need spices to make a spicy beer! IMO, it was almost identical to the real thing.