Belgian ale questions

[Brewski]

for carbonation i mixed 1/3rd cup of dextrose to a cup of boiling water and put that in the 5 gallon keg before i siphoned the beer in, and the keg will be aging at around 60-65 F

i don't understand one thing that you mentioned. you say the 18 month old one has dropped all yeast. if it's aging in a keg, doesn't the remaining yeast all settle to the bottom? once it settles, do you remove it somehow? also, the dispensing tube in the keg feeds from the bottom, so i would expect the first glass that comes out to have the most yeast in it. am i misunderstanding something?

that being said, i'm not sure if i have the patience to wait 18 months... does the aging process mainly influence the clarity, or does it also effect the taste?

[Rezzin]

that being said, i'm not sure if i have the patience to wait 18 months... does the aging process mainly influence the clarity, or does it also effect the taste?

Both!

[Brewski]

so at a minimum, how long should i age mine?

[maltbarley]

Age it to taste or as long as your patience allows. If it's good, itcan be hard to let it age.

[kevinham]

Age it to taste or as long as your patience allows. If it's good, itcan be hard to let it age.

+1 for that. Age it until YOU think it's ready.

[jward]

Age it to taste or as long as your patience allows. If it's good, itcan be hard to let it age.

and if your pints keep getting better and better with the last being best, you might want more patience next time to see how good it can get.

[Brewski]

+1 for that. Age it until YOU think it's ready.[/quote]

see that's the thing, i'm new to this... so i'd rather ask others for their opinions instead of tapping the keg too soon and missing out on extra deliciousness. i've only been doing this for about two months, and this is my third batch. my first one i bottled, and i got impatient and started drinking them after two weeks (too soon). i've noticed that they've been getting better lately, obviously due to aging... they've been aging in the bottle for about a month and a half now, and taste much better. i realize that it's good to age, but i also want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. i have the angel on my one shoulder saying to let it age, but the devil keeps popping up on the other side telling me to drink the stuff. i'm torn.

so what i'm getting at is this. it's easy to sample my first batch at different increments (tried some after two weeks, a few more after one month, etc.) when i was bottling, but now i'm kegging everything. once i tap the keg, is there any benefit to aging in the kegerator? can i experiment in that way - by tapping after two months, trying some, then waiting a few more weeks, trying some more, and so on and so forth?

also, should different beers be aged for more or less time? currently i have one blueberry beer, and one belgian ale aging in kegs (with priming sugar added and a shot of CO2 to bring it up to about 10 PSI). as a rule of thumb should i age the one more than the other, or is it strictly a preference/patience thing?

sorry for the multiple questions, once i ask one i think of another and just keep typing... thanks

[maltbarley]

As a general rule, the higher the alcohol, the better it ages.

[jward]

+1 for that. Age it until YOU think it's ready.

see that's the thing, i'm new to this... so i'd rather ask others for their opinions instead of tapping the keg too soon and missing out on extra deliciousness. i've only been doing this for about two months, and this is my third batch. my first one i bottled, and i got impatient and started drinking them after two weeks (too soon). i've noticed that they've been getting better lately, obviously due to aging... they've been aging in the bottle for about a month and a half now, and taste much better. i realize that it's good to age, but i also want to enjoy the fruits of my labor. i have the angel on my one shoulder saying to let it age, but the devil keeps popping up on the other side telling me to drink the stuff. i'm torn.

That's the rub. Only you can decide if waiting is worth it to you. My solution is to brew more beer. Not always possible and I have to go through the same thing when I'm catching back up.

so what i'm getting at is this. it's easy to sample my first batch at different increments (tried some after two weeks, a few more after one month, etc.) when i was bottling, but now i'm kegging everything. once i tap the keg, is there any benefit to aging in the kegerator? can i experiment in that way - by tapping after two months, trying some, then waiting a few more weeks, trying some more, and so on and so forth?

Yes, your beer should *change* while in the keg. It can get clearer, harsh edges mellow, etc. A chilled keg will definitely cold condition your brew. Expect most styles to get better, then stay the same, then decline.

also, should different beers be aged for more or less time? currently i have one blueberry beer, and one belgian ale aging in kegs (with priming sugar added and a shot of CO2 to bring it up to about 10 PSI). as a rule of thumb should i age the one more than the other, or is it strictly a preference/patience thing?

I age different styles of beers for different amounts of time. I'll start drinking Hefe while it's still green as soon as it's carbonated. I try to give a stout 4-6 weeks before I start in on them. I would suggest a time frame if I brewed Belgian styles.

[Brewski]

thanks for all your help. if anyone has any experience aging belgian ales i'd like to hear from ya. my blueberry beer just hit one month so ill probably tap that within the next few weeks, and i plan on aging my belgian ale for at least a month and a half before i throw it in the kegerator.... unless someone suggests otherwise

[spkrtoy]

I have 2 belgians that I'm currently ageing.

The first one is a belgian strong golden ale I brewed Feb. 2006. It was in secondary until august and I've been cold lagering it at 31 degrees in my chest freezer since. I have about 1/2 of a keg left.

The second one is a belgian strong dark ale I brewed in Feb 2007. It secondaried about the same time. I have about 2/3 of a keg left.

Both were 10 gallon batches. I used White Labs 570 on the strong golden. The dark had 2 different yeasts used. The 1st 5 gallons (that're gone) had the Wyeast Forbidden Fruit yeast and it was consumed at last years so cal homebrew fest (www.calhomebrewers.org). The second had Wyeast Belgian/Canadian (unibroue) yeast and it is freakin' awesome.

Both are now really well rounded. The golden has less of the pear/apple phenol and more malt than when it first went in.

The dark is just now coming into it's own. Very complex malt, plum/black currant/rasin nose with spicy phenols to balance it out.

Both are very, very clear beers.

I find that if you have a chest freezer like I do, the best way to keep beers longer is to not put a collar or tap on the outside and put a lot of shit on top of it so you can't get into it easily! I'm a big believer in long, cold extended conditioning at 31 degrees and most folks who've been over and sampled my beers will confirm it.

I hope this gives you some information!

[Brewski]

wow, that's pretty cool. i couldn't imagine waiting two years to sample my beer, but it sounds like you've been doing this for a while so you're probably not as anxious as i to see how things turn out. i guess when i get on to my second or third try at a belgian ale i'll have a little more patience with it.... hopefully

i have one question about your post. you said you kept your belgian strong golden ale in the secondary from february - august. with my batch, this was the first time i've used a secondary and i added Wyeast 3526 to it. i only kept it in the secondary for about 4 days though, once the airlock bubbles started to slow down i transferred over to the keg. i read somewhere that you shouldn't keep the beer in the fermenter for too long, something about the old/dead yeast messing with the flavor. was this a bunch of BS? what's the benefit of aging in the secondary fermenter as opposed to aging once it's kegged?

although i'm new to brewing, i'm not new to drinking beer so i already have a kegerator. i'm thinking ill put my belgian ale in the kegerator after about two months of aging in the keg at room temperature. from what i've heard about aging at low temperatures, it sounds like the time my keg spends in the kegerator basically counts towards the aging process, and will help the taste. let me know if i'm off with this conclusion

[spkrtoy]

The main reason for the long secondary was no time! I sell air conditioning and in the summer it usually means 12 hour days.

It also is good for belgians as they don't mind the hotter temps. The purpose of moving to secondary was to get it off the yeast and trub. There was very little leftover when I kegged it, so the long time was for clarification of the beer. Moving to a keg and letting it sit does the same thing but you risk getting yeasties for the first dozen pints or so. By the end of secondary and when I move it to a keg there's little to no junk that comes out on the first pour so I save a lot of beer that way.

I'm not new to brewing, but I don't brew a lot so when I do, I make it a monster beer that I know will only get better with age. I've probably done 15 belgian's over the last 9 years, and all have gotten better the longer they've stayed around. I guess this is an experiment in long cold conditioning that is showing the benefit of doing it!

Good luck on your future brews and don't hesitate to ask for advice here as we've got some pretty damn good brewers!

Check out www.thebruery.com for one of my buddy's brewery blog. He's brewing his very first batch TODAY! and it came from a homebrew competition he held last year. He's brewing a Duvel clone he's going to call Luved's. Plus he's got some excellent ones coming up that'll knock your socks off. If you want some, I'll send you some once it's out if you'll pay for the beer and the cost of shipping.