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Recipe: Randy’s Ambrée Sucrée
This Belgian-style amber ale should serve as a fine vehicle for any “concrete” sugar such as panela, piloncillo, rapadura, tapa de dulce, or jaggery.
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For more on brewing with these flavorful fermentables, see Brewing with Sugars.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.063 (15.4°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.5°P)
IBUs: 35
ABV: 7.5%
For more on brewing with these flavorful fermentables, see Brewing with Sugars.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.063 (15.4°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.5°P)
IBUs: 35
ABV: 7.5%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
7.4 lb (3.4 kg) Belgian pilsner
1 lb (454 g) wheat malt
8 oz (227 g) caramel 10°L
8 oz (227 g) melanoidin malt
HOPS & ADDITIONS SCHEDULE
1.5 lb (680 g) piloncillo sugar at 60 minutes
0.9 oz (26 g) Styrian Goldings at 60 minutes [15 IBUs]
2.3 oz (65 g) Styrian Goldings at whirlpool [20 IBUs]
YEAST
White Labs WLP510 Bastogne Belgian Ale, or other not-too-phenolic Belgian ale strain
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 150°F (66°C) for 60 minutes, then raise to 165°F (74°C) and mash out. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle; add the piloncillo, stirring to fully dissolve. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, add the whirlpool hops, and allow 20 minutes to steep. Chill to about 66°F (19°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 70–72°F (21–22°C) until complete and gravity has stabilized, then crash, package, and carbonate to about 3 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Malt & Hops: Wheat adds mouthfeel and head retention, caramel 10°L adds a bit of spun-sugar or kettle-corn aroma, and the melanoidin (or dark Munich, if you prefer) adds color and a hint of cookie. For a little more color, add 0.25–0.5 oz (7–14 g) of black malt/Carafa. I like Styrian hops for this kind of beer, but Tettnang or Saaz work fine. Bitterness is to taste—feel free to deviate.
Sugar: Sub in rapadura, panela, or any “concrete” loaf sugar for the piloncillo. Chunk the sugar up into bite-sized pieces with a chef’s knife or heftier tool. I’ve found it’s best to put the chunked sugar in a smaller pan, add some hot wort, stir until it dissolves, then add back to the kettle. By weight, these sugars vary in their water content and thus their gravity. If they’re softer, that’s a sign that they have more moisture.
EXTRACT VERSION
Replace the grains with 8.4 lb (3.8 kg) pale dry malt extract (DME) and 8 oz (454 g) each caramel 10°L and caramel 20°L. Heat about 5 gallons (19 liters) of water to about 155°F (68°C). In a mesh bag, steep the milled grains for 30 minutes, then remove and rinse thoroughly to extract remaining sugars. Add DME and sugar in portions, stirring thoroughly to dissolve. Bring to a boil and continue as above.
