Celis Grand Clone

Classification: Belgian ale, Celis Grand Cru clone, all-grain

Source: Bart Thielges (bart.thielges@xilinx.com), HBD Issue #2089, 7/1/96

I've been trying to emulate Celis Grand Cru for a few batches so far and came reasonably close in the last experiment. The following recipe is the result of suggestions and various tidbits of info from other homebrewers interesting in emulating this recipe.

The batch that I got differs from the real thing in at least two ways that my amateur palate detects : Its hoppier than Celis and also higher alcohol. In the next batch, I'll back off on the bittering hops and sugar. The batch I tasted was the one with 6 tsp of coriander.

Ingredients: (for 14-1/2 gallons)

29 lbs pale malt (USA domestic)
1 lb carapils
3 lbs Belgian Biscuit malt
4.5 lbs granulated sugar
3 tsp Irish moss (30 minute boil)
2 oz 5.6% Cascade whole hops (60 minute boil)
2 oz Curacao orange peel (60 minute boil)
2 oz 5.6% Cascade (30 minute boil)
2 oz 3.3% Saaz plugs (15 minute boil)
1.5 oz 3.3% Saaz plugs (10 minute boil)
1.5 oz 3.3% Saaz plugs (5 minute boil)
Wyeast Belgian Wit yeast

Procedure:

Mash temperature was about 151 F for about 70 minutes.

This was split evenly into 3 five gallon glass carboys and innoculated with Wyeast Belgian Wit yeast that had been stepped up to one liter the previous day. In addition, ground coriander was added to two of the batches. One batch got 2 teaspoons, the other got 6 teaspoons - both in the form of a solution of boiling water with the coriander added for 1 minute. The remaining batch had no coriander (the "control").

Specifics:

OG: 1.084
FG: 1.014