Get to know your beer – Belgian Dark Strong

New beer styles can be too different to truly enjoy the first time you try them, and Belgian beer are pretty out there, now make it dark and high alcohol and you can intimidate many who are just wading into the craft brew scene. The Belgian Dark Strong is a big beer with big flavors.

The BJCP style guide describes this beer as “Complex, with a rich malty sweetness, significant esters

and alcohol, and an optional light to moderate spiciness. The malt is rich and strong, and can have a Munich-type quality often with a caramel, toast and/or bready aroma. The fruity esters are strong to moderately low, and can contain raisin, plum, dried cherry, fig or prune notes. Spicy phenols may be present, but usually have a peppery quality not clovelike. Alcohols are soft, spicy, perfumy and/or rose-like, and are low to moderate in intensity. Hops are not usually present (but a very low noble hop aroma is acceptable)”... and that is just the aroma.

While this is a lot to take in, it is a great beer for those cold months. It will certainly warm you up on those long winter nights, and despite all of what is going on in the aroma and flavor, it should be a fairly dry and light bodied beer.

By the numbers:

OG: 1.075 – 1.110

IBUs: 20 – 35

FG: 1.010 – 1.024

SRM: 12 – 22

ABV: 8 – 11%

SCBS Belgain Dark StrongExtract/Grain kit:

Aromatic Malt 8 oz

Biscuit Malt 8 oz

Special B Malt 8 oz

Candi Sugar Dark 2 lb

Light Liquid Malt (LME) 9 lb
Northern Brewer @ 60 1 oz

Hallertau @ 30 1 oz

Yeast: Wyeast 1762,

Wyeast 1214 or
Safbrew T-58