First Crack at Belgian IPA - Critique, Suggestions Needed!

Never done a Belgian PA myself but...

Why rye and wheat? Why those amounts? Why the C20 and carapils? And why those amounts?

You are getting a lot of IBUs early in the boil, why Mosaic at 30 mins vs later (like 5 mins)? I personally prefer a lower bitterness and a lot of late additions for APAs/IPAs

Are you sure you want lemon zest along with Sorachi? Have you used Sorachi before? I personally hate it

In the end, what are you hoping this beer will taste like? Is there a commercial example you have in mind?

 

I just started carbing my Belgian IPA and offer these suggestions:

Your grain bill is more of an American IPA than a Belgian. If brewing to style, you want to make a Belgian Strong Ale (or Tripel) then add some serious aroma/flavor hops. You have both American malt/hop schedule . . . nothing is bad here, but this will be tough to recognize as a Belgian.

You are not after a Full Body brew, I would substitute some sugar for grain and leave out the rye altogether, use wheat or carapils but not both. I would hop it like a Duvel or LaChouffe (Saaz/St Golding), then put the Citra/Simcoe/Mosiac in at FO/DH. Bittering to 89 will tend to override that wonderful yeast, try to target 50'ish IBU. Example: Duvel Tripel Hopped is brewed like normal Duvel but Mosiac is added at the finish . . . Houblon LaChouffe uses Amarillo to complete the task. You want the wonderfulness of these hops (Citra & Simcoe & Mosiac are great) to complement the fruity esters of 3787. I Mosiac'ed mine and that works well with 3787. Belgian brewers tend to use one dominant hop only but you're probably okay using a mix. I say you want to finish below 1.010 to let these aromas take over.

My experience with 3787 is attenuation near 90%, plan accordingly. By style these beers are 8+% and sugar is routinely used. Treat your water somewhere between a Pale Ale and IPA. I find 7 days of DH works so well I normally let it go 12. Carb this masterpiece to at least 3.0.

 

Not trying to threadjack, but does anyone know the yeast used in fleur de houblon?

 

Ommegang uses a single proprietary yeast in all their Belgians. I've harvested and used it often with good results . . . it's a flamer, high 70s to low 80s, attenuation pushing 90%.

According to the label, Bravo is the finishing hop here.

 

Along the lines with what people have said, I would skip out the rye, caramel, and cara pils entirely, and add sugar. If you really want color, perhaps a touch of an amber candi sugar.

I would focus your hop bill a bit. Throwing a touch of Mosaic at 30 min seems like a waste. I would perhaps pick 3 hops for flavor and aroma/dry hop, and perhaps a neutral bittering hop.

Mash low, 149. Make a starter, pitch cool (60ish) and allow beer to warm up to mid 70's or 80's depending on how much yeast character you want.

The yeast in Fleur de Houblon would be the Chouffe yeast, Wyeast Ardennes 3522.

 

My suggestions

Belgian pilsner
8oz. Caravienne
6oz. Biscuit
1.5# sugar

Delete the 60 minute bittering hop, but keep the rest of the hops the same. This beer will be drier than an American IPA. The low FG will exaggerate the bitterness.

use Ardennes instead of 3787. It will provide a pineapple note that will compliment the hops.

 

I would remove the cara and crystal. I associate Belgian IPA with dryness / lack of sweetness. Also, I would eliminate the Mosaic. I also associate Belgian IPAs w/ a flowery/citrusy hop aroma. I taste a lot of fruitiness in Mosaic; a flavor that I can best describe as big and round, almost sweet. I would also remove the lemon zest. This beer will have a lot of flavor and I think the lemon zest will be overshadowed by everything else in there.

Finally, consider a wit yeast.

 

I would seriously think about just using Belgian or German Pils malt (mash low) and then your hops but use those as mostly late additions for as much flavor as you can get. You are going to end up with a dry beer so I would not want a ton of IBUs. I'm really skeptical of the lemon zest, but that is what makes beer fun.

Basically do what @PortLargo said and report back on how it turns out.

 

I'd skip the lemon zest, and use a Wit yeast instead. They yeast will produce some of the zest you are looking for.

 

I know I'm going to be in the minority for this, but I really like an American IPA grainbill, bittered to the low to mid 40s, finished with serious tropical fruit hops, and fermented with a saison strain. Hefty dry hop.

 

I've done some beers like that but, I would not consider them to be a Belgian IPA. I tend to think of a beer like Duvel Triple Hop as an BIPA. I guess it all depends on what the OP is looking for in this beer.

 

I think that's the problem with Belgian IPA as a style: there's so much room for interpretation that you really can't say was is or isn't one. For instance, there have been like 4 or 5 yeast strains bandied about in this thread that will produce very different beers if pitched into the same wort.

 

Yeah, but @MrOH's point was you can use the same grain bill (100% pils for example) and get two very different beers if you choose 3787 or 3724 for your yeast. So, the first step is figuring out what kind of flavors you want in this beer. You first mentioned 3787, so I think something like a Tripel but with American hops. But, you could also go in the saison direction and likely make a great beer, just not what I would think of when someone said Belgian IPA.

I still say go with @PortLargo's suggestions near the top of this thread, brew a Tripel but toss in a shit ton of American hops late in the boil, sounds delicious to me

 

Yeah, this seems to me anyhow, what OP is looking for.

 

The most recent Belgian IPA I made was fermented with the WYeast 3787 strain. The results were great.