Belgian Ales are not only diverse stylistically within themselves they are unique in the beer world due to their yeast driven esters and phenols. We have a large selection of Belgian Beer Kits to choose from such as the classic Saison, Belgian Pale or something bigger like a Dubbel or Tripel we even have Belgian Sours.
Fruity/spicy notes combined with a dry finish
Includes 100% Saaz hops
Estimated ABV: 8%
Estimated IBUs: 22
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Traditionaly brewed in the farms of Belgium, Saison beers were the thirst quenchers of the farmers. Fruity/spicy notes combined with a dry finish and a somewhat high hop bill than one would expect, these beers were perfect for a hot Summer day in the fields. Our Saison beer kit brings the flavor of the old world to the backyards and picnics of today. Generous amounts of Belgian Pilsner give the beer a light backbone of malt, while the Munich and CaraMunich combine to lend body and character.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.080-84
SRM (Color Range): 10
IBUs: 22
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 8%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
This golden hued brew is unbelievably smooth for a beer with an ABV upwards of 7%!
Includes Perle and Czech Saaz hops
Estimated ABV: 7.5%
Estimated IBUs: 18-25
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Liquid Gold! So smooth for a beer with an alcohol by weight of 7%! It leaves lots of classic phenolic flavor, but produces a very soft body without a high alcohol bite. Not that bitter, this golden beer is about a strong and complex malt body. It may take a goblet or two to grow on you, but once you acquire the taste.... some would say "beervana." The malt extract for this kit is made entirely from German Pilsner Malt, giving it that classic European flavor.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity:1.074-78
SRM (Color Range): 5-6
IBUs: 18-25
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 7.5%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Special B and Caramunich malts add a slight, pleasant caramel flavor to this traditional Dubbel recipe
Includes Perle and Saaz hops
Estimated ABV: 5.9%
Estimated IBUs: 27
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Our signature Belgian Dubbel recipe kit is to die for! We use the traditional grains: Belgian Special B and Caramunich malts which give it a slight caramel flavor that the Belgian Trippel does not have. Pour a glass, close your eyes and imagine yourself as a monk with a job to do. Now get to work and sample that beer.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity:1.059-62
SRM (Color Range): 8-9
IBUs: 27
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 5.9%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Light, crisp flavor spiced with Bitter Orange Peel and Coriander
Includes 100% Saaz hops
Estimated ABV: 6%
Estimated IBUs: 16-20
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
A very unique Belgian Ale. This recipe has moderate bitterness from early kettle additions of Saaz hops. This beer is spiced with Bitter Orange Peel and Coriander which lends a surprisingly pleasant flavor and aroma. The grain bill includes Oats and Flaked Barley which when combined with a very special non-flocculating yeast leaves a cloudy, almost white appearance. Hence the name wit which means white. This is a very refreshing style that has a light, crisp flavor. There are some phenolic flavors as well, like you would find in some Belgian Abbey Ales and even German Hefeweizen. Hoegarden or Celis White would be some commercial examples that represent this style.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.060-66
SRM (Color Range): 5
IBUs: 16-20
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 6%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Packed with flavor and the spicy phenolics you want from a Belgian beer but with a mellow alcohol level
Includes Perle and Mt. Hood hops
Estimated ABV: 5.2%
Estimated IBUs: 20
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Sometimes you want to drink a belgian but not get too buzzed too quickly. So we created this belgian pale ale that has the spicy phenolics you want but without a lot of alcohol. Still packed with a lot of flavor from the caramunich and special B.
We include 8oz of corn sugar to help dry out the beer during fermentation as well. Belgians are suppose be dry but bold in flavor. We give you the MoreBeer! Belgian Pale Ale.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.050-1.055
SRM (Color Range): 17
IBUs: 20
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 5.2%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
A classic lambic that is as mild or as wild as you make it. Requires a two-step fermentation process
Includes Hallertau hops
Estimated ABV: 6.5%
Estimated IBUs: 7-10
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Brewed for the first time in 2010 in our parking lot at the annual July 15th Showroom Sale, we decided to experiment with another sour. This Belgian Style Blonde, destined for a Brettanomyces fermentation was born! On a whim, the boys decided to have fun with it and add 1lb of California Golden Raisins per 5 gallons with the second dose of Brettanomyces. The sugars in the raisins ferment out completely and seem to be an excellent source of food for our ‘lil wild buddy's. The end result: A classic lambic that is as mild or as wild as you make it!
This is a great base recipe for a Belgian Style Blonde Ale. Great body and mouthfeel balanced with a funky delicious sour edge. So have fun with this Lambic Recipe and make it your own!
Tip: Patience, patience, patience. If brewing All-Grain, try mashing higher for some added body. (We recommend 156F.) Brettanomyces loves oxygen just as much, or maybe more than Saccharomyces spread the love! Use restraint with these critters, don’t add the whole kitchen sink. Experiment with one to two cultures per batch, at intervals, and preferably with a small amount of a new food source. Patience. CA Golden Raisins are an excellent food source! (ahem, hint hint!) Don’t disturb the fermentation vessel while the pellicle is formed. The pellicle provides protection from excessive oxidation over the long aging time. Patience. Use excellent sanitary methods when working with our wild lil buddy’s to ensure a clean brewhouse. Try adding any local fruit as a food source for the bugs and wild yeasts. They love it! Patience!
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.060-65
SRM (Color Range): 4-6
IBUs: 7-10
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 6.5%
Please Note: Kit does not include raisins. We recommend California Golden Raisins.
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Deep red in color with a nice malt structure and distinct sour overtones. Requires a two-step fermentation process
Includes Magnum and British Kent Goldings hops
Estimated ABV: 6%
Estimated IBUs: 16-18
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Our Flander's Red recipe creates a beer that is deep red in color with a nice malt structure, this beer is based on those from certain regions of Belgium, and have distinct sour overtones to them. This is due to the wild spores that inhabit the air - and some breweries - of the area. While this would normally be a "bad" thing, the infection lends special tart and sour qualities unlike any other beer can. For a more traditional spin on this kit, try aging it on some oak cubes!
We recommend fermenting this beer with WLP001 California Ale for two weeks. Then add Wyeast 3763 Roeselare Belgian Sour Blend in the secondary fermenter bucket. This kit does require some special instructions, as it is a special beer. Once the gravity hits 1.015 - 1.020, rack the beer into a plastic bucket and pitch the sour blend tube. Age the beer at 65F-70F for 6 months, until the white cap that will form drops. The reason for the plastic bucket aging is so that tiny amounts of oxygen are allowed to be taken in by the plastic and come in contact with the beer. This micro-oxidation adds to the over all flavor of the beer itself.
Reminder: you will need to keep the equipment used to handle the beer after the sour blend is introduced separated from the rest of your brewing equipment, or clean and sanitize very well after use.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.062-66
SRM (Color Range): 16-18
IBUs: 18-22
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 6%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Belgian Ale will give you a full roundup of phenolic, fruity, clove, plum, and banana flavors
Includes Perle and Saaz hops
Estimated ABV: 5%
Estimated IBUs: 32
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
Belgian ales are really about creating a simple yet elegant malt base upon which the unique Belgian yeast strains can create their wonderful, complex flavors. This Belgian Ale is their equivalent of our pale ale in alcoholic strength and body. The difference is that the hops are very subdued and only complimentary where as in many American beers hops can create a majority of the flavor profile. One is not better than the other just different, and we love diversity in beer.
Terms used to describe Belgian Ales include phenolic, fruity, with the occasional clove, plum, and banana flavors coming through. Sometimes you just have to try one to understand. In the Dubble and Triple you will have some higher alcohol flavors coming through. This version is less alcoholic and highly drinkable.
Any of the four Belgian yeast strains that we carry from Whitelabs could be used in any of the Belgian recipes. They are all excellent in their own right. The malt extract for this kit is made entirely from our German Pilsner Malt, giving it authentic European flavor. We use turbinado sugar to help up the alcohol and dry out the beer during fermentation.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.049-53
SRM (Color Range): 4
IBUs: 32
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 5%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
Highly drinkable, malt-forward beer with a slight toasty nose from Munich malt
Includes Northern Brewer hops
Estimated ABV: 8%
Estimated IBUs: 19-22
Makes 5 gallons of finished beer
The "Original Gatoraid", Bière de Garde was said to give the French and Belgian farmer a much needed boost of energy during the day, due to the low alcohol and relatively high residual sugar content. Our version has a bit more malt than tradition dictates, but we think you will find this beer highly drinkable. The malt is the focus of this style of beer, with a slight toasty nose from the Munich. A yeasty character is not uncommon, and is achieved by an extended period of contact with the yeast bed – some commercial breweries go for up to six weeks! This should be fermented at 64°F.
Makes 5 gallons
Estimated Original Gravity: 1.080-84
SRM (Color Range): 15
IBUs: 19-22
Estimated Alcohol Percentage: 8%
Our recipe kits DO NOT include grain bags, yeast or priming sugar. To find our yeast recommendations, choose your preferred kit option above and then select the drop-down menu under “Yeast Options”. For more info, click on the recommended yeast(s) below in the “You Might Also Need” section below. All grains will come milled, unless you select unmilled base malts.
A longtime customer of ours and local homrbrew club member sent over this piece he wrote about brewing his first Saison using our Belgian Saison All Grain Kit. ~MoreBeer! My First Saison! By Mark “Ciderman” Johnson I have been home brewing since 1998, some years brewing more than others, and a member of DOZE since 1999, I think. This the first time I have brewed a Saison. So I wanted to know what makes a Saison a Saison. I searched Home Brew Talk forums and read a lot of different articles. I discovered some of the problems associated with the different yeast and how the ferment was done. I discovered that using an airlock might not always be necessary to end up with a really good beer. Finally I stumbled on an article in Craft Beer & Brewing magazine from October 1, 2015 by Emily Hutto titled “What makes a Saison, a Saison?”, and I decided I had gone far enough. In my opinion, her article did NOT answer the question. For me, the answer is that one must use a yeast strain that will provide complex flavors and the hops must be aromatic and be noticeable above the malt flavors. The fact that it is a style developed on local farms in Belgium is the distinction that sets a Saison apart from other styles. All the above is known by anyone who has ever brewed a Saison. Being on a farm, the brewer would add anything he/she wanted to make their version stand out from their neighbors. Heck, they might be able to hire better farm hands if they brewed a better ale than their neighbors. I have recently moved from my house in Walnut Creek, to Kelseyville, in Lake County, way out in the country. After about two weeks of sorting and arranging, figuring out electricity and water, I have my 50L Braumeister with 25L Malt Pipe system organized so I can attempt a brew day. Since this is an all-grain recipe, I needed to determine the proper adjustment to my Barley Crusher malt mill. It turns out Braumeister recommends a 1.6mm (0.063”) gap. I decided to use Braumeister setting for this brew. I will be using my variable speed ½” drill to power the mill for the crush. The Braumeister comes with a standard recipe that has a step mash process built in. The More Beer directions indicate only a single mash step is required. To make it simple, I came up with the following Mash schedule. Using 5.25 gallons of pH 5.2 water, (Based on 1.25 Quarts H2O per pound of grains), dough in at 148F (64C). Then mash at 148F (64C) for 90 minutes. Then do a simple rinse sparge with 2 Gallons of pH 5.2 water at 169F (69C) and let drain until barely dripping, 15 minutes or so according to the Braumeister directions. Start the boil phase while this is happening. Move the Malt Pipe out of the way of the kettle onto a drip tray after draining. Allow for a 90 minute Boil according to the Saison Recipes I checked. Add hops at 80 minutes, 20 minutes, and 1 minute, add Whirfloc at 5 minutes. That was the plan. Things did not go according to plan. Also it is a good thing I have been paying attention to the Low Oxygen Brewing instructions for Braumeister. Due to the large grain bill in this More Beer Recipe kit, I ran into some problems with the mash in my Braumeister setup. The first thing that did not work out is the amount of mash water. 5.25 Gallons is 20 liters, so I increased it to 23 liters, based on the Braumeister Saison Recipe. (At this point all the pH adjustments were no longer accurate.) I have rigged a 2 to 1 pulley system for managing the Braumeister Malt pipes. The Braumeister indicated the water was to temperature. So I positioned the Malt pipe above the heated water with the bottom screen already down the central rod. I added the 16.5 pounds of grain, but it was too much. I removed about 2.5 pounds of wet grain and froze it. Then I could continue with mashing. I then restarted the brew program at the 90 minute mashing step. The Braumeister brought the temperature back up to 64C in about 5 minutes while overflowing the malt pipe. At the end of the mash step, I used my pulley to raise the Malt pipe up above the wort. Then removed the top screens. I then ladled the 2 gallons of 169F water from my Hot Liquor Soup Pot all over the grain bed, paying special attention to the edges. That was the sparge. After the malt pipe finished draining, I placed it on a storage bin lid and put it off to the side. The boil step had begun while doing the sparge. I had 29 liters of wort before the boil at a specific gravity of only 1.030. I know this is too low. The reasons are I had to remove over 2 pounds of grain, I could not do a good stirring of the grain into the water. Then I believe the recommendation by Braumeister to grind the grain so coarse, at 1.6ml setting, really reduced the efficient of the mash step. Maybe also using the 151F (66C) temperature in the recipe would have released more sugars. So I had 8ounces of priming sugar and I added it to the wort at the boil stage. I made the hop addition at 80 minutes. I had some Saaz hops on hand, so I used 2 ounces instead of 1.5 as per the recipe. (Why? I am at about 1300 feet elevation. Hop utilization is less because water boils at a lower temperature. Here utilization is about 5% less. Also my hops were old and I like hops.) I missed the 20 minute hop addition. I also missed adding the Whirfloc. Going back to the Braumeister after dinner, I saw the add hops signal and I think it is the 20 minute add. I put in the 1 ounce addition, again over the recipe. But it is really the 1 minute add. And after a minute the Braumeister shuts of the heat. I went to the whirlpool and cooling cycle. Cooling was accomplished with my More Beer Pro19 Counter flow chiller. I could only get the temperature down to 76F, as that was the temperature of the cooling water. I pumped the wort into the More Beer Conical through the bottom dump valve. I sealed off the conical and inserted the temperature prob. I ran the conical cooling cycle set at 68F for an hour and I could not get the temperature below 75F. My hydrometer reading came in at 1.046 for the OG. Should have been 1.080 to 1.084 per the recipe. I estimate I have about 6 gallons of wort in the Fermenter. I made a 2 liter, 1.040 gravity starter using Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison yeast the afternoon before brew day. At 11:00 PM, brew night, I pitched the yeast. I waited 10 minutes and then Oxygenated for 1 minute using the BernzOmatic system through the top of the 7.5 gallon More Beer temperature controlled conical fermenter. I hooked up the blow off tube and reinserted the temperature probe. That was it for my brew day. I closed off the fermenter except for the blow off tube for the first 2 days of fermentation. Then I removed the blow off tube and covered the opening with a fine mesh hop bag, allowing the fermentation to occur with no restriction. This was done due to the tendency of Saisons to sometimes develop a stuck fermentation approximately 3/4s of the way to completion. I have adjusted the cooling and heating settings by 2 degrees each day since pitching yeast July 4th. I settled for setting the temperature to 85 F. I just allowed the fermentation to occur at ambient temperatures, going down to 75F at night and back up to 85F during the day for two weeks. Gravity dropped to 1.014. Recipe called for 1.004 to 1.008. Additional reading about the yeast said to let it go for four weeks. I emptied the Saison into a 5 gallon Corny keg. (It was very, very cloudy) I brought it into the garage and let it continue to ferment with the pressure release valve open for two more weeks. The FG dropped to 1.008. I then filtered it with my cartridge filter into another sanitized keg. It was still very cloudy. I added Silafine to the keg, swirled it around vigorously and waited another week. It was still cloudy, so I filtered it with my plate filter with the course filter pads, using four psi CO2 to move the beer from one keg to another. Now it was clear so I put the keg in the converted freezer and connected the carbonation. Yesterday I took it to the local Homebrew club meeting. The opinion of the tasters was it had a great color, it was very clear and they liked the taste.
