Beer Style: Belgian Blond and Pale Ales
Allagash Brewing Co.’s Nowaday Blonde Ale clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAllagash Brewing Co.’s Nowaday Blonde Ale clone (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.051 FG = 1.010IBU = 25 SRM = 4 ABV = 5.5% A blonde ale fermented like a lager. Nowaday is fermented at lowertemperatures, including an additional lagering step, resulting in a crisp 5.5% ABV refresher of a beer with very low ester character.
Allagash Brewing Co.’s River Trip clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyAllagash Brewing Co.’s River Trip clone (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.040 FG = 1.004IBU = 40 SRM = 2.5 ABV = 4.8% Good for any adventure, River Trip is a low-ABV, Belgian-style table beer with hop-forward grapefruit and stone fruit notes. Ingredients6.5 lbs. (3 kg) 2-row pale malt1 lb. (0.45 kg) Munich malt (10
Gordon Strong’s Belgian Pale Ale
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Tafelbier
Digital and Plus Members OnlySimilar to Trappist single, Tafelbier is a low-gravity session style beer with a nice Belgian character in the background that is a great beer to drink on brew days when you need to keep your wits about you but would also like to have a few beers. It also has a quick turnaround, so it’s perfect for brewing when you need a beer for a fast-approaching event.
Worth Brewing Co.’ Belgian Grand Cru clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyIowa has a 5% alcohol by weight (ABW) limit — this works out to just over 6% alcohol by volume — for native brewers, so Belgian ales are a challenge. Here is a favorite that hits the limit but isn’t quite as strong as most Belgian ales. — Peter Ausenhus
Red Rock Brewing Co.’s Pecome Blonde clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis beer has since been retired, but you can still brew up this Belgian blonde ale with this recipe. Feel free to allow fermentation temperature to rise if you would like the yeast to be more expressive.
The Lost Abbey: Devotion Ale clone
Digital and Plus Members OnlyThis Belgian-style blonde ale is light bodied and hop driven. It has a low level of yeast phenols and instead a lot of the spicy character comes from the aromatic hops.
Belgian Pale Ale
FREEby the numbers OG: 1.048–1.054 (11.9–13.3 °P) FG: 1.010–1.014 (2.6–3.6 °P) SRM: 8–14 IBU: 20–30 ABV: 4.8–5.5% Mick, the bartender at the Monk’s Kettle in San Francisco, serves me a De Koninck.
Belgian Single
Digital and Plus Members Onlyby the numbers OG: 1.044-1.054 FG:1.004-1.010 SRM:3-5 IBU:25-45 ABV:4.8-6.0% Trappist monasteries are rightfully known for their excellent beers. Brewed with devotion and service in mind, these beers are used to generate money to sustain religious operations. Most people know about the stronger, frequently exported products such as Westmalle Tripel, Chimay Grande Réserve (blue), and Orval.
Brewing Better Belgians
Digital and Plus Members OnlyBelgian ales are complex and elegant. They’re my favorites to homebrew and drink. One issue I’ve had, however, is finding a Belgian beer that’s less than six months old in the United States. My Belgian-style homebrewing is therefore based on the aged examples I could get. What’s a workaround for this dilemma? A Belgian
Belgian Blond
Digital and Plus Members OnlyI was recently in Belgium and, as always, beer was a significant part of the experience. One of the wonderful things about traveling in Belgium is experiencing the wide array of beers, fresh and in great condition. I remember how on my first trip to Belgium I was blown away by the difference between the
Jamil’s Belgian Blond
FREEJamil Zainasheff provides readers with a recipe to brew up an authentic Belgian-styled blonde ale.