anyone have any thoughts or secrets on how to hit a home run with your quad? to get it close to trappist quality?
I would say the variable that makes the biggest difference is time . . . these guys need to be aged. When Westy12 was distributed in the US the bottles had been aged 9 months. Of course it became better with time. This assumes your process is locked-in: correct yeast/oxygen/temp, proper water profile, eliminating contact with air . . . you know, the easy stuff.
Proper attenuation, proper carb level, and time. Quads are what I make the most of. It's all about the yeast. Keeping the yeast happy, and letting them be the stars of the show. They handle high temps better than you would think. Also, don't add 3lbs of Special B to see what it tastes like(gross). Using the most simple recipe is almost always the best. My usual recipe is 75% pils, 5% wheat, 20% candi syrup(added after krausen, and only 1lb per day). I start around 68F for about 2-3 days and then move it to where it can get up above 80F internal. Letting it get as hot as it wants to at the end helps the attenuation. Then slowly bring it down after it reaches it's FG. I cold crash for 3 days, then bottle and put into a 70F room for 3 wweks to carb, then down to my cold cellar for 4 months minimum. Some people do a long cold condition before bottling, but whatever works for you.
For what it's worth, I brewed a Dubbel a while back that (young) tasted like a gold medal Dubbel, largely due to the malt bill. I know Quad is different, but I liked the malt bill I used. Probably wouldn't need the acidulated malt, I added that for the Brett.
I brewed a Quad in the spring of 2013 and it turned out great. IMO there are two aspects that are important to brewing a high quality Quad: · Proper fermentation using a high quality Trappist yeast strain · Patience It has already been discussed but you should take all necessary steps to have a healthy fermentation: · Properly aerate/oxygenate the wort · Use yeast nutrient in the wort · Pitch plenty of yeast · Maintain a good fermentation temperature · Etc. The patience aspect is easy and hard: let the beer age in the bottle at least 6 months before drinking. I found that my Quads reached peak of flavor around the one year mark. I still have a couple of 6-packs of my Quad and they are still drinking nicely at 2+ years of age. I used Wyeast 3787 to ferment my Quad and I was very pleased with the results. Cheers!
What is your guys carbonation method? Are you repitching dry yeast at bottling time? Or is the still enough there?
For the Quad that I brewed I added a rehydrated packet of US-05 at bottling for 'insurance'. You don't need a full packet of dry yeast but I personally chose to add the whole contents since I would just throw away the unused contents of the packet otherwise. You might not need to add yeast at bottling but do you want to take that chance? Cheers!
I add an active starter of the same yeast, about a pint. Only occasionally do I add a half pack of rehydrated champagne yeast.
One thing that has really helped my dark Belgians is not just using Pilsner as the bulk base malt. Even American pale is an improvement! I also like a combo of dark candi syrup and medium-to-dark cara/crystal malts for that complex burnt sugar and dark fruit flavor. Time is a big part of the equation too, 6-12 months if you've got it!
I find the dark flavors of the specialty malts and candi sugar are better supported by a less grassy more toasty backbone. I know Pils is traditional, but I've enjoyed the dark Belgians I've brewed with other base malts more.
so this was my 2nd attempt at a quad. the first was 2 years ago and was a hot mess. panicked about the lack of yeast activity after 24 hrs so i moved it to a warmer spot. i got a fusel party that didn't die down even with years of cool aging. brewed one in april. wanted a chimay blue-esque quad. used pils, carapils, and 3% special B and 3% c10. put in 13% D-45 (shit, that stuff is expensive). added salts to get the west flanders water profile. 90 min boil. primary for 2 weeks. did not let it rise as high as 80 F due to lack of temp control at my house. but it probably self-rose to low/mid 70s. racked to secondary and cold crashed for a few days. then let it sit in my cellar for a month. bottled. tried the 1st bottle a week ago. so we're looking at 3-4 months after brewing. tasted good, but not complete. i was hoping that 3-4 months in the cellar would take it to where it should be. cellar temps this time of year are less than ideal (high 60s) so i will check again in late fall. how many months aging do you guys think works? and any temp suggestions?
What I posted above: "The patience aspect is easy and hard: let the beer age in the bottle at least 6 months before drinking." Cheers!
I can say for a fact that my 3 yr old Westy was better than my 2 yr old which was better than the one year old . . . you see the trend here. I keep mine in the keezer at 39° 'cause that's what I have.
but that's a specific example of one type of yeast and, possibly, their water profile. Westy 12 used to hit its stride in year 5 (now, i'd argue that it is year 4. by year 5, it is oxidizing). you don't say the same about Rochforte 10 or St Berny Abt 12. but i hear ya.
shuddup. just thought of a quad with Pearl as the grain and i think i wet myself. silky, silky quad. my lord....
