Fat Monk Belgian Ale Is Coming Of Age!

The Fat Monk Belgian Ale is slowly maturing in the bottle and it tastes great. At two weeks in the bottle it's not bad... but now about a month and a half later has matured into a complex tasting Belgian style ale that only seems to get better with age.

The Fat Monk is a dark ale with a rich malty sweetness and a slight ester finish that is low in bitterness from hops. It has a nice thick rich head of foam that lasts throughout and has that slight clove like character that is common with Trappist and Belgian Ales. A perfect ale for those cool October nights and philosophical chats with friends.

Barry's Export Ale - 2.5 Gallon Brew

It's Labour Day Monday and what better way to spend the holiday Monday than brewing up a batch of Homebrewed Export Ale with none other than the best brew buddy... my Dad. Actually this is his batch of home brew, I simply begged him to let me help with the brewing process. I guess that means that I'm sadly addicted to brewing home made beer.

Export Ale, according to Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter, is a pale version of the Dortmunder style of beer which is a bottom fermented pale lager. However this beer I believe is probably closer to an English Bitter and uses top fermenting ale yeast.

Recipe for 2.5 Gallons of Beer - Malt Extract

3lbs Light Amber Malt Extract Syrup
1/2lb Carastan Malt (Grains)
2oz Fuggles Hop Pellets
1/2lb Dextrose (Corn Sugar for boil)
15gr Nottingham Ale Yeast
3/4cup Dextrose for priming

Original Gravity: 1.045
Finishing Gravity: 1.006 - 1.010


For full wort boil add 12 litres of water to the brewpot and steep carastan malt at about 150 F for approximately 30 minutes. Remove Carastan from pot and add malt extract syrup and 1oz of hops. Add remaining hops 15 minutes before the end of the boil. Cool the wort. Strain and sparge into primary fermenter. Rack the beer after 24 hrs and rack again after another 48 hours. Bottle with priming sugar once fermentation is complete (Aprox. 5-7 days) Store bottles for 7-14 days before opening to allow for carbination.

Pictures Of Brewing Day -- Monday Sept. 4, 2006

Steeping The Carastan Malt

Adding The Liquid Malt Extract

Relaxing By The Brewpot

My New Propane Burner

During our routine grocery shopping at Loblaws I picked up a turkey deep frying kit which consists of a 30 quart aluminum pot, 51,000 BTU propane burner with stand and a thermometer that clips onto the side of the pot. I can't wait to get this fired up and cook up a home brew on it.

Why Propane?

Boiling beer on an electric stovetop is okay and that's what I've done up until now. But I'm always trying to find new ways to make my home brewed beer taste and look even better.

When brewing on an electric stove the heating element comes in direct contact with the bottom of the brewpot. This causes the malt in the wort (unfermented beer) to carmalize. The recommended device for boiling a full wort volume (5 US gallons) is either a natural gas stove or a propane burner. Both of these space the pot up above the heat with little or no carmelization of malt.

Recommended Brewpot

I kinda comprised on the brewpot... for now. Aluminum is okay but won't last and 30 quart is a little tight for brewing full volume worts. While 30 quarts is about 7.5 US gallons that is when the brewpot is filled to the brim and more than 5 gallons needs to go into the brewpot because of evaporation that occurs during the boil.

The ideal brewpot is a stainless steel 40 quart or more pot. Stainless steel should last a lifetime. However I got such a good deal on this kit that it makes it worthwile just for the burner itself.

Full Wort + Less Carmelization = Better Home Brew

I'm planning to brew an Irish Red ale using malt extracts with a full wort boil (or as close as I can get to full wort) with my new toys. Can't wait to see what difference this all has on the beer.

Fat Monk - Belgian Beer

I've been a huge fan of the Belgium Trappist and Abbey Ales for quite awhile now and really enjoy their unique flavour and full body.

After a trip to Ottawa and a couple visits to a place called pub italia where my buddy Gregg and I sampled beers from Rochefort, Duvel, Westmalle, and Affligem. This inspired us to create the Fat Monk Abbey Ale.

Recipe For 5 US Gallons -- Malt Extract Brew

1lb Carastan Malt (Grains)
11lbs Light Amber Malt Extract Syrup
2lbs Belgian Candy Sugar
2oz Styrian Goldings Hops Pellets(Bittering Hops)
1oz French Strisselspat Whole Leaf Hops (Aroma)
10gr Champagne Yeast
3/4cup Corn Sugar (Dextrose) -- For this recipe we used Coopers carbonation drops

Original Gravity: 1.070 - 1.075
Finishing Gravity: 1.014 - 1.020

Preheat oven to 450 F. Place 1/2lb of Carastan malt on a baking tray and toast for aproximately 20-30mins or until lightly browned.
Add 7.5 litres of water to brewpot and steep Carastan malt and Toasted Carastan for aproximately 30 mins.
Bring to a boil and add malt extract, belgian candy sugar and 2oz Styrian Goldings Hops Pellets. Boil for 60 mins.
Add 1/2oz of Strisselspat hops 10mins before the end of the boil.
Add the remaining 1/2oz of Strisselspat hops 1 min before the end of the boil.
Cool the wort by immersing brewpot into sink of cold water. Strain and sparge into fermenting vessel containing 8 litres of cold water. Add water to top up to 5 Gallons. When temperature is at about 70F to 75F pitch yeast and ferment. Rack the beer into a secondary vessel after 5 to 7 days. Fermentation will take aproximately 2.5 to 3 weeks.
When Fermentation is complete prepare priming sugar by mixing 3/4 cup of corn sugar with 3/4cup of boiling water and pour this into an empty priming vessel. Siphon beer onto the priming sugar solution and bottle.

I reccommend letting this one age for awhile. It starts to get good after one month, and you can age this for several months to years.

Pictures Of Brewing Day - Monday July 31, 2006

Pouring the Malt Extract

Messy Job - Straining and Sparging

Into The Fermenter

First Post

Well here goes. I'm making an attempt at my first home brew blog just to introduce myself and the idea behind this blog.

The Person
I'm Matt Beach, a 33yr year old sound and video installer from Mississauga, Canada. I have two kids three cats and a beautiful Irish wife.

The Beer
I started brewing beer in my kitchen about two years ago and the art of home brewing has developed quickly into a passion. I enjoy the process of cooking up a batch and trying new and exciting beers that you'll never find in stores --0ne of my favorites was a Spruce ale. Since I've started I've brewed English bitters, Porters, Lagers, a Pilsner, Belgian Style ale and Pale Ales.

The Blog
I decided to start a blog to help me keep a journal of sorts on the different beers that I'm brewing and to keep track and share recipes and ideas. Hopefully this blog will also be helpful to some other home brew enthusists.

That's all for now. I hope to post soon about the latest brew I have on the go which is a Belgian style ale that we expect to come in around the 8-9% mark.

Cheers!