Anyone have a good Belgian Blonde extract recipe?

Looking for a good extract version of Leffe, or a close facsimile thereof. One of my wife's favorite beers is Leffe and I'm still in my extract phase on my way to AG and want to keep plugging away with my present equipment set for now.

Ideas?

I have a recipe but I have not brewed it myself. Made it for a friend...

6lb Liquid Malt Extract
4oz Biscuit malt
4oz Aromatic
4oz Honey Malt
1lb Light Belgian Candy Sugar

1oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) 60 min
1oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) 15 min

2 vials of WLP550 or 2 smackpacks of Wyeast 1762

Soak Grains at 158F for 45min
Rinse Grains until you have boil volume
Bring to boil and cut heat
Add extract and stir until mixed
Bring to boil add hops
15 min to end of boil cut heat and add Belgian candy sugar and stir until mixed
Bring to boil and add last of hops
boil for last 15 min

Good Luck!

Cheers
Preston

Thanks Preston!

Say; when I plug these ingredients in to my equipment profile in BS2, the bitterness ratio is much higher than I expected and I'm sure this will be the case with anyone else's recipe when plugged into my profile - my equipment is, well... my equipment - it's different than someone else's so things will look different.

I tweaked it a bit and was wondering if you didn't mind; could I get some opinions on how it looks? (Recipe attached)

Thanks,

Phil

I would not use Wheat extract. the Leffe is supost to be a clear golden hue without any haze. I agree the Bitterness was a little much. You could even cut it down a bit more to get more maltiness. If you dont make a starter, you "will" need a couple packages... Just saying, you dont want this one to stall out.

Brew it up and let us know...

Cheers
Preston

Cool, thanks. Light DME will replace the wheat extract, it gets brewed next, and I'll let you know how it comes out. Thanks again for the expert guidance.

Ok so I've got all of the ingredients to make this Belgian Blond, and I've worked BS2 to the point where the recipe looks real good (IMHO), but now I see that your suggestions on how to treat the grains look more like a PM than just another ordinary steep. My recipe profile is set to Extract at present, and when I change it to Partial Mash, it throws things for a loop.

Should I be considering this a PM recipe and treat it as such in BS2? This would involve making a few very simple changes to sugars and hops to bring it back in line with the profile I'm looking for. Or; seeing as the grain bill is so small here, should I leave my recipe configured for Extract and let the chips fall where they may? (Extract version is attached)

I've never done PM before and of course would like to give it a go so I intend to follow your lead on the grains, just wondering how I should input this into BS2 so I can record what happens (as I tend to do in great detail).

Leave it set to Extract, or change it to PM and make the necessary adjustments?

I would use 1.5 lbs of a Belgian Pils malts (Dingemanns?) and mash at 155F with the three specialty grains.  That will add enzymes so you get more conversion in the partial and should add quite a bit of malt flavor to the brew. 

If you can measure your SG during the boil, just hold the light extract until the last 20 minutes and add what is needed to hit your SG target. 

Refractometers are great for this.  I take a tiny sample with a big s/s spoon and put into a small s/s condiment cup, let cool and then shoot it with the refractometer to verify the pre-boil and final gravities so I know what SG I've reached. 

Barring getting a refractometer (I'm sure I'll get one sooner or later but if not now...?) is there a "good enough" way to measure my SG with 20 minutes left in the boil so I know how much of my DME to add to hit my target? And if I see my SG is coming up short with 20 or so minutes to go, how do I know how much DME to add to hit my target?

Is this something I could just do in BS2 quickly? Input an amount of boil water and some DME to get the SG I measured at T - 20 min and then start increasing the amount of DME in the profile until I see my target, then add that delta? Could it be that easy?

Yes, I know - get a refractometer. Suggestions on a good one?

A hydrometer is the old standby, but it takes 3-4 ounces to fill the sample tube, and that amount takes longer to cool down.

You could also do the math, assuming a low efficiency on the partial mash, and just wing it.  With the extract, you'll get the expected gravity points, so the only unknown is the partial mash, from which two pounds of grain might yield 8-10 points at normal EE%, so assume 5-6 points and brew on?  KISS-methods have their advantages. 

The fermentation temp will dictate much more for a Belgian style than whether you're spot on the gravity target. 

MaltLicker said:

The fermentation temp will dictate much more for a Belgian style than whether you're spot on the gravity target.

Click to expand...

+1
The flavor profile comes primarily from the yeast used, and fermentation temps.

Cheers
Preston

I would probably go with wlp570 golden ale yeast on this one.

From your experience; what are the major differences between the 550 and 570? (I already have the 550 but brew-day is not until after next week)

I prefer the 550 for the darker beers and the 570 the lighter ones myself. The 550 has much higher attenuation so it will yield a lighter bodied beer. 570 has nice fruity/phenolic notes but it is a little cleaner in the end. It does take longer for 570 to drop out cause its low floc. 570 does leave a little sulfur note due to the low floc but this clears up after a few weeks of aging. If you already have 550 just go with it. Alt of people consider 550 a belgian workhorse of a yeast and it produces great results for any belgian brew.

Also 570 is from Moortgart (Duvel-Belgian Golden Strong)
and 550 is from Achouffe (La Chouffe Houblon-Belgian Tripel IPA)
http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm
Both very fine breweries and great beers.

Thanks for the detailed reply - 'bout half way through the book "Yeast" - there's much to learn on this topic.

A quick "Thanks" to Preston (UselessBrewing) for the base recipe - the Belgian Blonde came out pretty good, IMO, and has been in the keg for a couple of weeks now. I did do my first partial mash with this one, and found the process to be more involved and more fun.

While it tastes generally good (it's definitely a Belgian!), it seems to have a slightly metallic taste to it, almost like blood, if you will.

I've ruled out sanitation as that's a big part of what I do for a living, I think I've got that part down pretty good; and my IPA does not have this same taste and it's also on-tap through channel 2 of the same kegerator. I always rinse my pots very well after scrubbing so I don't think that's it, and there doesn't seem to be any other reason I can think of for this taste but esters.

The fermentation was in the high 60's - low 70's and smelled VERY estery for the first few days in the primary (which was very active) - the freezer smelled like bananas. Maybe the primary fermentation was too warm, no?

Is it possible the steely flavor is from the esters in the WLP550?