Warning: Contains BPA – Belgian Pale Ale Recipe (Extract with Steeping Grains)

Jesse and I decided to make a smaller beer each, and then use the yeast cakes to make a bigger beer. The idea was to trade half of each batch with each other so we get four beers for the price of two!

He went with this Belgian Pale Ale recipe

Jesse: I miscalculated and realized kind of too late that this isn’t really a “small” beer since it weighs in at a respectable 6.7% ABV. No matter, the yeast seemed to be more than willing to start working on the big beer. I decided to do an extract simply because I felt like being lazy. I’m happy with the results, though. My one regret was the cost. I forgot how expensive LME was, especially for a non-light weight. Live and learn.

Mike pointed out to me that I neglected to note in the recipe at what temperature I steeped the grains. The reason for this is simple – I forgot to make a note of that on brew day and I really should have. I have been reading How to Brew (Fourth Edition) by John J. Palmer recently and (assuming I understood it correctly) he recommends steeping darker grains in wort to reduce astringency so I gave that a shot. If I recall correctly (hence the need for notes), I dissolved a pound of the DME in water, brought it up to about 155° F (68 C) or so and steeped the grains for 30 minutes.