Belgian Mild feedback required

[tjg86]

Hi All,


I'm relatively new to home brewing but have had an idea for a hybrid beer for quite a while. Ideally I want the strength and some of the other characteristics of a dark mild with the complexity and flavour of a classic Belgian Dubbel.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/684509/van-damme-mild


Am I on the right track (in theory), should I start over or should I bin the idea completely?


Cheers


Tim

 

[okoncentrerad]

It's fun to experiment I agree, even if it doesn't turn out so great all the time (I'm a beginner myself...not quite a year into brewing). My view on your recipe... Isn't it a lot of fermentables in there...do they all have a purpose?

 

[tjg86]

It's fun to experiment I agree, even if it doesn't turn out so great all the time (I'm a beginner myself...not quite a year into brewing). My view on your recipe... Isn't it a lot of fermentables in there...do they all have a purpose?

Well the oats are in there for mouthfeel and the wheat is in for head retention. The rest are quite typical for either Belgian Dubbels or Milds. Trying to get it dark, flavoursome and unmistakably Belgian even with the low abv

 

[Hogarthe]

Maybe just take a mild recipe and sub the yeast with Belgian ale yeast?

 

[GFHomebrew]

Looks good to me not that ive brewed alot of darker styles. The flaked wheat and oats should give you a good mouthfeel full bodied beer that the sugar will strip a bit but should ballance out the extra alcohol produced. Good luck keep your notes handy when tasting and adjust if needs be for next time.

 

[Nosybear]

Maybe just take a mild recipe and sub the yeast with Belgian ale yeast?

I don't know how the roast would interact with the Belgian characteristics - but it's worth a shot! I'd just do a Belgian blonde and lose the sugar.

 

[Hogarthe]

The sugar is normal for a lot of Belgian beers, but those tend to be higher abv brews. I think for a low abv beer the sugar would thin the body too much.

 

[KC]

There's too many malts in the posted recipe for my liking; it's way too easy for one to become disproportionate to all the others. For a new or hybrid style, nobody nails it in the first shot. Recipes are much easier to tweak when they start simple.

Maybe just take a mild recipe and sub the yeast with Belgian ale yeast?

This is where I would start, based on the stated intent. The majority of Belgian flavor comes from the yeast. If there's a dark mild you already like, then you only have to change one ingredient.

 

[White Haus Brews]

IMHO this is too many malts. I would probably go with MO, Oats, crystal, and either chocolate or roasted barley, not both. I would also drop the sugar because you'll want to get all the character from the malt you can as it will already be lower bodied just being at a lower strength.

One last thing I would add is I'm not sure what you plan to mash at but I would mash relatively high (somewhere around 68-69C). This should give you more unfermentable sugars along with a higher FG so you might even be able to bump up your grain bill without increasing ABV to give you a more flavorful brew.

Good luck!

 

[Jimsal]

I've used special b with great success in my Belgian quads n dubbels