Gordon Strong joins me this week to discuss the Belgian Dark Strong beer style including how to brew it, which ingredients to use and some commercial beer examples to enjoy.
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Topics in This Week’s Episode (49:24)
- This week I welcome Gordon Strong. Gordon Strong is the President of the Beer Judge Certification Program, its highest rated beer judge, and author of the books Modern Homebrew Recipes and Brewing Better Beer (Amazon affiliate links).
- I apologize – we did have some issues with noise on Gordon’s audio, especially near the end of this episode.
- We briefly discuss some of Gordon’s recent travels.
- Gordon talks a bit about the Belgian Strong Ale category which includes Dubbel, Tripel and Single abbey styles.
- He tells us a bit about the history of Belgian Dark Strong ale.
- We talk about the finished beer including what it tastes like and some characteristics.
- He describes the basic style stats such as OG, bitterness, gravity, ABV.
- Gordon talks about some commercial examples of Belgian Dark Strong ales available.
- We discuss brewing a Belgian Dark Strong starting with the grain bill and hops used.
- We talk about the importance of using the right mash schedule to get high attenuation for the beer.
- Gordon tells us his preferred yeast style and also fermentation of this beer.
- We talk about aging for this style which can be extensive and include barrel aging.
- He explains packaging of the final beer and shares a few final tips on brewing the perfect Belgian Dark Strong.
- Gordon mentions his course coming up and also where to sign up for the March BYO Boot Camp.
- I also mention that I will be teaching at the BYO boot camp. I’m presenting both an intermediate and advanced recipe design class.
Sponsors
- Thank you to our sponsor Craft Beer and Brewing Magazine for sponsoring this episode. I encourage you to subscribe to their great magazine!
- And also Anvil Brewing Equipment. Anvil is a new line of kettles, burners and accessories from John Blichmann at Blichmann Engineering. They make top quality brewing equipment built to last a lifetime.
- Also check out BeerSmith, BeerSmith Mobile software and the new DVDs John Palmer and I filmed – How to Brew with Malt Extract and How to Brew All Grain are available now. You can subscribe to the BeerSmith newsletter for free to get some great articles on home brewing.
Thanks to Gordon Strong for appearing on the show and also to you for listening!
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Thoughts on the Podcast?
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I was getting a little nervous not really getting a lot from the first two POD cast I listened to. But this one was very helpful and interesting in understanding Belgian beer. I recently brewed a Belgian Golden Strong and found this presentation very helpful in going forward.
thanks,
Keep up the good work, cheers!
Rick