50 SHADES OF GREG

Haven't posted in a while, life has been on warp speed since the birth of Sophia, but is seems particularly apparent over the past two years. Anyway, time to catch up...have not stopped brewing despite the ridiculously cold winter for the second year in a row. Sorry hopheads, not too much in the hop department, it's winter after all and time to celebrate all that is malty, roasty, reddish, brownish and to hopheads, dull. I'm also giving my liver a break for putting up with me for over 48 years by brewing some lower gravity (alcohol content), albeit, super flavorful stuff. Some recent beers that I'll make sure to document in future posts include a Multigrain Red ale, a well balanced quaffer that clocks in at 4.5% alcohol or so, and incorporates, Barley, Oats, and Rye in the grist and willamette and cascade hops in the kettle. A Schweet Stout brewed with lactose, for ummm...a bit of sweetness to balance out over a pound of roasted barley...a Dry Irish stout for the upcoming holiday...4.2%, which is around the ABV Dry Irish stouts should be (lots of misconceptions out there that Guinness is high in alcohol) a Holiday Red Ale that seems to be getting better with time, a Dyslectic Brown ale that saw me accidentally reverse my hop additions, so it's a bit on the bitter side, but we'll see how it mellows over time...an English mild and a session pale ale. Some beers already in the pipeline for March/April (because I already designed the recipe and bough the ingredients) are a Ginger Saison, session pale ale redux that I will use to build a yeast cake for an IPA, a Citra forward American Pale Ale and the aforementioned IPA.
Distractions aside, this post is about a beer I brewed to celebrate my brother in laws' upcoming 50th birthday in June, hence the title. Might be obvious to some, not so obvious to others, 50...as in years...Greg...as in name. Greg's favorite celebratory beer is Chimay Blue, or Chimay Grande Reserve. To anyone even remotely familiar with Belgian beer, Chimay Blue is a Trappist icon and the first beer to use the Trappist designation on its labels. As with all other Trappist breweries, the beer is sold only for financial support of the monastery and good causes. The brewery business pays rent for use of the property within the abbey, which is used to support the monastic community. The majority of the profit from the sale of the beer is distributed to charities and for community development around the region.
The water for the beers is drawn from a well located inside the monastery walls (I drew mine from a well under my home in Vermont). The filtered solids from the beer mash are recycled into livestock feed which is given to the same cows that produce the milk for Chimay cheeses. So let's get to it. This was a difficult beer to ferment given the severity of this winter, but I could no longer delay the process with the my b-laws birthdate in June and the need to condition this beer for several months based on the alcohol level and sugar content of the grist. While hoping for an exact replica of Chimay Grande Reserve, my enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that this beer has been brewed for hundreds of years, in a monastery, where there isn't much discussion, in a land far, far away. What I do hope to achieve is an exceptional Belgian Ale, brewed to end up being a fine example of the style, if not a close second to the real deal.

Date of Birth: 02.08.15
Weight: 12lbs 8oz
Name: 50 Shades of Greg

Grist:
11 lbs Belgian Pilsner
.50 lb Dingeman's cara 8
1 lb Torrified wheat (Golden winter wheat)

Hops:
1.75 oz Saaz 60 minutes (1.0 chez, .75 american)
1 oz Hallertau 30 min

Adjuncts:
1 lb D-90 candi syrup at flameout
1 lb D-45 candi syrup at high krausen in primary fermenter

Yeast:
wyeast 1214 (chimay), 3 packs

Mash in 5 gallons 163 degree water, target 150
Mash out 3.5 gallons 170 degree water, no need to stop conversion, looking for dry, dry, dry
starting volume 7.0 gallons, boil 90 minutes

Target OG: 1.077
Actual OG: 1.073 (prior to 2nd sugar addition in primary)

Fermentation temps: Chimay yeast is notoriously slow based on Internet feedback, so I actually left this beer at 70 degrees until I saw signs of visible fermentation, then I dropped it to 60 and froze my family out of the the house for 3 days. It's been so cold this winter, that the basement (where I usually ferment ales, even in winter) was 55 degrees!! I had no other option than to drop the heat in the house down to 60 degrees. I left it there despite numerous complaints from the rest of the house for three days. I slowly ramped up the temps from 60 to 72 over the course of the next 5 days. I was at 1.010 after 8 days, so placed it into a secondary fermenter, and moved it to the basement and ambient temps (55-58) for an additional 10 days. I then lagered it at 35 degrees for 6 days and bottled it at 40 degrees with 6 oz of simplicity clear candy sugar. I have to mention this because I have ALWAYS primed with corn sugar...always...and NEVER had an issue with carbonation. But this is a Trappist beer after all , so when in Belgium, do as the monks do and prime with clear candi sugar. I'm going to be honest, I am nervous. To this point, this beer has gone according to plan despite the temp issues and each sample I pulled tasted wonderful. I bottled this beer three days ago, so it's too early to tell if I screwed this up by trying to carbonate with a different sugar...only time will tell. Lastly, many Trappist beers are bottle conditioned for 10 days or so in "warming" rooms where the temps range from 72-75 degrees. I never keep the entire house that warm in winter, so I've been moving the beer back and forth between a spot in front of the fireplace (at night) and the warmest, sunniest room during the day for the past three days and will do so for the next 7-10. I will then test carbonation and cellar condition them until June (and longer). I was able to cork 22 750ml bottles and cap several more as test samples...lord candy sugar, god of perfect carbonation, don't let me down! Final gravity was 1.008, so the beer is approximately 8.8% alcohol. Chimay Grande Reserve is 9%.