This Belgian Style IPA recipe is the second recipe our friends Luis & Sarah have made for us, make sure to check out their first recipe if you haven’t! A Belgian Style IPA is a unique kind of beer that combines the funkiness of a Belgian beer with the crispness of an IPA. If you’re a fan of Trappist ales and hoppy beers, you’ll definitely like this recipe.

This recipe is for a 3 gallon batch using a Clawhammer Supply 10 Gallon 120 Volt BIAB system. Watch Luis use it in the video below.

Full Brew Day Video

Benchmarks

SG: 1.088

FG: 1.020

ABV: 8.93%

Water

Fill your kettle with 4.5 gallons (17 liters) of water and heat it to 150°F (65.5°C).

Grains

The grain bill for this recipe is:

• Belgian Pilsner - 6.31 lbs (100.96 oz)
• Vienna Malt - 1.31 lbs (20.96 oz)
• Biscuit Malt - 2.68 lbs (42.88 oz)
• Victory Malt - 2.68 lbs (42.88 oz)

Make sure to crush your grain really fine for maximum efficiency

Mash

Once your 4.5 gallons (17 liters) of water is heated to 150°F (65.5°C) mash in and recirculate for 1 hour.

Hops

After a 1 hour mash, pull the grain basket and turn your temp up to start a boil. This recipe calls for a 1 hour boil. During the boil, add the following ingredients.

60 Minutes - .5 oz of Mosaic

10 Minutes - 1.25 oz of Cascade

10 Minutes - 1 Whirlfloc Tablet

Flameout - 1.31 lbs (20.96 oz) of sugar

At the end of your 60 minute boil, chill your wort to 170°F (76.7°C) for a whirlpool addition. Once you’re at whirlpool temp add the following for 30 minutes.

1.25 oz of El Dorado

1 oz of Mosaic

Yeast & Fermentation

After a 30 minute whirlpool chill your wort to 70°F (21.1°C) and pitch Belgian Ale A OYL-024 yeast from Omega Yeast. We recommend making a starter or using two packs. Luis used one pack and noted that the starting gravity of the beer was technically too high for 1 pack of yeast.

Ferment at room temp (around 70°F) for 1 week. Luis keg conditioned this beer. In order to do that, add ⅔ cup (156 ML) sugar with 2 cups (473.2 ML) of water to your keg and let it prime for 1 week.

Tasting

One of the first things Luis noted when he poured this beer was the haziness of it. He wished he had fined the beer with gelatin or cold crashed it before serving. The aroma of the beer had caramel notes along with the unique aroma of a Belgian ale. The flavor was slightly sweet and slightly bitter and tasted like a traditional Belgian IPA. With an ABV of just under 9%, we recommend pairing this with a hearty meal, something like steak and potatoes if that’s your thing.

Make sure to follow Luis and Sarah on social media as well as check out Luis’ new YouTube channel in Spanish!