Chimay Double
Started: 14 Sep 03
Bottled: 20 Sep 03
Ingredients
3 Kg can Bavarian Wheat Extract *
1 Kg Coopers Pale Malt Extract
250 gms Crystal Malt
500 gms Australian Yellowbox Honey
454 gms Candi Sugar (Asian cane sugar)
10 gms Corriander Seed
8 gms Orange Peel (zest)
50 gms Saaz Hops
50 gms Halletauer Hops
2/3 of a Whirlfloc tablet
2 x 11gm packets of T-58 Ale Yeast (spicy and clovey)
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* We used a can of ESB brand extract, totally forgetting that the ESB brand has hop petals free-floating in the mix. This can cause problems at bottling time - the hops can block the valve on the foot of our filler tube - but more importantly, you lose control of the flavour of the beer as you never know the type and quantity of hops already mixed in - critical if you are carefully adding measured amounts of specific hops to try and replicate a particular beer type. We will opt not to use ESB brand in future. |
Method
Bring 2-3L of water to boil, turn off heat, slowly add Crystal Malt
(will foam over if added too quickly)
Add fresh ground Corriander seed
Let steep for 20 mins
While this is happening, place honey and orange zest in a saucepan
Simmer for 20 mins to kill any wild yeasts or bacteria
Add to fermenter
Strain Crystal into fermenter, sparge with cold water
Crush Candi Sugar and melt with boiling water
Add to fermenter
Warm other ingredients, add to fermenter
Top with warm/cold water to make 23 Litres at about 25 deg C
Measure Specific Gravity
Pitch Yeast
Facts and Figures
OG 1.048
FG reached: 1.022
23 Litres
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Analysis In preparation for the bottling, we bought two bottles of Chimay (Blue and White Label) to compare taste. Going into the bottle, our brew was similar in colour but a little lighter. The original Chimay tasted thick and heavy, compared to ours which was more hoppy and citrusy. Ours tasted pretty good - not sure it could be characterized as a Chimay though. The recipe we used called the beer a Chimay Tripple - presumably because it called for three different hops types (Saaz, Halletauer and Fuggles). We used two (Saaz and Halletauer) - so we opted to call ours Chimay - Double Because of the large quantities of boiled and simmered ingredients, we found the wort temp was too high to pitch yeast straight away and had to let it cool for some hours before pitching. Lesson is to use only limited amount of water for mashing and don't overheat the can of goo. Taste Test - Tried the finished beer after only four weeks in the bottle and it was great - thick and strong, very similar in taste to one of the store-bought Chimays (not sure which variant). All the individual flavours evident at bottling seem to have blended and mellowed together.
A little time in the bottle and it is getting even better - strong colour, strong flavour and holds a head relatively well. And the alcohol ?.... well, we haven't done the numbers but we can say the Monks sure knew how to do a number on the legs - goes straight down there without stopping. Definitely not a beer for your average Millers Light fan (is that really a beer?)
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