Well, now that I've seen that, I'm not quite as disappointed in the color of my Leffe Abbey Blonde. Drinking a very flat sample at the moment. Wasn't enough to fill a bottle, so that's normally where I grab my pre-carb taste sample. It's nice, but now I'm anxious for the finished product.
I started the Leffe Blonde before I joined BF, so haven't posted the recipe for it. There may already be one, dunno.
This one was all-grain, and I typically have pretty good luck with all-grain batches. Can't really say I've had bad luck with any of them, though, all-grain or extract. Maybe just a shade more bitter than I expected for a 26 IBU, but 30's pretty much my breaking point on bitter. I'm a bitter old man and need all the sweetening I can get. No point in making it worse by drinking bitter beer. OG was 1.062, FG was 1.012, target original was 1.068, +/- that last digit thing. So, my extra sparging (just because the recipe said so) probably diluted the wort a bit too much. Probably closer to 1.011 FG, but my hydrometer is graduated in 2 point scale marks. I have to guess at the odd numbers because the meniscus around the bulb tends to distort what I'm' trying to see. I normally just look at the last mark above the meniscus and call it quits. Pretty pleased with the outcome because I really enjoyed the store-bought version the missus brought home for me. Photo attached of the original carton and the pre-carb version in a glass. Interestngly, my measured ABV is pretty much identical to the advertized ABV of the store-bought version. My calculations say 6.563 Survey said!?! (see photo). I even put the tailings of the home-brew back into the original bottles with Leffe embossed on them.
Just bottled 57 bottles, and probably left at least 6 in the fermenter because I let the racking cane slip and stir up the trub. This is the one I over filled, so no real biggie on losing a little. Hardly any krausen inside the fermenter. I think most of it burped out through the air-lock and turned into yeast sludge on the lid.
I sampled the batch before the priming, and it was just a wee bit tart, but pretty sure it isn't spoilt. Post prime sample is much better. I taste everything along the way, dry grain, mash, wort, pre-carb, and LOTS of tasting after conditioning.
It's how I know I'm doing it right or if got the wrong recipe for my consumption.
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