Stan Hieronymus, the author of the book “Brew Like a Monk” joins me to discuss brewing Belgian beer styles.
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[audio:http://traffic.libsyn.com/beersmith/BSHB-205-Belgian.mp3]Topics in This Week’s Episode (51:38)
- This week I welcome Stan Hieronymus. Stan is the author of Brew Like a Monk, For the Love of Hops, Brewing with Wheat and Brewing Local (Amazon affiliate links). Stan is also a certified BJCP beer judge.
- We start with a short discussion of Stan’s recent travels.
- We jump into Belgian styles starting with what makes Belgium such a unique place for beer.
- We discuss how so many Belgian styles survived two world wars when many other styles died out.
- Stan tells us a bit about the various major Belgian beer styles.
- We talk about “Trappist” and Abbey ales and what the difference is between them.
- Stan tells us a bit about the major Trappist styles and how they are brewed including major ingredients.
- We discuss the use of “candi sugars” and how the ones used in Belgium are different from many sold here.
- Stan talks about Belgian yeasts and some of their unique character.
- He shares some of the Trappist brewing and fermentation techniques.
- We talk about some of the changes in Trappist and Belgian beers since “Brew Like a Monk” was published back in 2006.
- Stan gives his closing thoughts on brewing Belgian styles.
Sponsors
- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!
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Thanks to Stan Hieronymus for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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This is a great listen for anyone interested in the Belgian brews. I have brewed a Trappist Single that gets great reviews and I am trying to get the recipe perfected for an upcoming competition. I definitely got some great tips. Thank You!