WhosGaarden?

Source: Paul Borloz
Recipe added: 09/21/00
Email: beebuzz1@earthlink.net

General: The beer turned out very well in spite of my fears. My wife LOVES Hogaarden and this was a rare opportunity to justify my efforts in the kitchen. She said something to the affect of "Wow, you made this?". So, okay, now I'm proud. Now back to the stuff you care about. Flavor: Tart, crisp, clean. "Belgian". Hint of the spices added and hops present, but nothing could be pinned down. Nice blend. Full body. Rocky, pure white head lasting 10 minutes. Very drinkable. Color: More yellow than I would want but about what I had expected. I have a small boiling pot (5gal) so the concentration of the wort tends to give me end result colors that are darker than expected by the ingredients. Reading in Daniels' "Designing Great Beers" explains what's going on so I'm comfortable with the results. pH: I was surprised at how acidic it actually was in the end - at dispensing. My pH papers only go down to 4.0 and it was there, or down below off the scale. Gravity/Alcohol: I may have missed the style guidlines on this one because of a low mash yield. I normally get between 75%-80% extraction rates but this session just didn't get there and I'm not sure what happened. This was my first time using unmalted wheat so I suspect it was the wrench in the machine, but have no proof. Anyway, I had not inteneded to use any of the extract called for above but had to for correction of a low mash yield. If you pull off the mash correctly you shouldn't have too. The target was a 4.8% abv (at the low end of the style). It sure doesn't feel like I missed it by the feel of the beer. Fermentation: I know the fermentation temperature seems high but from my reading of Rajotte (see below) it looks like this is possibly a normal Belgian thing. I decided to trust the reading and take a risk. Following his claims on a previous brew, I did a Double (going on Triple) at purposely high (75F-80F) temperatures and damned if I didn't get a pretty 'Belgiany' beer - Wyeast#3787 a.k.a Westmalle). References: Recipe "Hogaarden" in 'Brewing Classic European Beers at Home' by Wheeler and Protz Recipe "Silk Lady" and "Sierra Blanca" in 'Belgian Ale' by Rajotte. "Oats" page 22 in 'Designing Great Beers' by Daniels. Plus field study!

Specifics

Recipe type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Starting Gravity: 1.041
Finishing Gravity:
Time in Boil: 90 minutes
Primary Fermentation: 10 days
Secondary Fermentation: 8 days

Ingredients:

4.33 lb Grain, Belgian Pils Malt, Mash, Boil 90 min
4.12 lb Grain, Unmalted Wheat, Mash, Boil 90 min
7 oz Grain, Flaked Oats, Mash, Boil 90 min
1.3lb Extract, Dry Light Malt Boil 90 min
1.5 oz Hops, Sazz 2.9 %aau, Boil 60 min
.5 oz Hops, Sazz 2.9 %aau, Boil 30 min
3g Spice, Coriander, ground, Boil 15 min
2g Spice, Coriander, crushed, Boil 15 min
5g Spice, Curaco orange peel, Boil 15 min
1pkg Yeast, White Labs WLP400, Belgian Wit

Procedure:

Mashing All grains mashed to this schedule: 45 min at 122F, pH target 5.3 90 min at 153F Boil 90 minutes add ingredients per ingredients list Cool to 75F as quickly as possible Pitch yeast Fermentation temerature through to secondary at approximately 70-75F average.

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