Tafelbier Belgian Table Beer

[John Sand]

I'm thinking of brewing one, using pilsner and Westmalle yeast. Any good recipes? Suggestions on specialty grain?
Thanks.

[BlackDuck]

Mashani in 3...2...1...

[Inkleg]

The latest Brew Your Own magazine has an article on Belgians and this recipe in it. I was thinking of brewing it myself.

Tafelbier

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.024 FG = 1.007
IBU = 6 SRM = 10 ABV = 2.2%

Similar to Trappist single, Tafelbier is a low-gravity session style beer with a nice Belgian character in the background that is a great beer to drink on brew days when you need to keep your wits about you but would also like to have a few beers. It also has a quick turnaround, so it’s perfect for brewing when you need a beer for a fast-approaching event.

Ingredients
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Pilsner malt
2.1 lbs. (0.95 kg) Abbey malt (26 °L)
0.6 lb. (0.27 kg) Belgian caramel Vienna malt (25 °L)
0.4 lb. (0.18 kg) torrified wheat
0.25 lb. (113 g) Belgian aromatic malt (19 °L)
1.9 AAU Saaz hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 3.75% alpha acids)
Wyeast 3787 (Trappist Style High Gravity) or White Labs WLP530 (Abbey Ale) or Lallemand Abbaye or Safbrew BE-256 yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
This is a multi-step mash. Mill the grains, then mix with 2 gallons (7.6 L) of 154 °F (72 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 144 °F (66 °C). Hold this temperature for 30 minutes. Raise the mash temperature through infusion of boiling water or recirculating system up to 158 °F (70°C). Hold this temperature for 30 minutes.

Due to the very low enzymatic power of this mash, it is recommended to perform an iodine test to confirm starch conversion before beginning to lauter. If iodine test confirms conversion, then you can raise the mash up to mash out at 172 °F (78 °C). If iodine test is negative, continue to hold at 158 °F (70 °C) until iodine test is clear. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear, then begin sparge. Sparge about 2 gallons (7.6 L) of water then top off your kettle to 6.5 gallons (24.6 L).

Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredient list. After the boil, whirlpool for 5 minutes, then let settle for 5 minutes. Chill the wort to about 65 °F (18 °C) and then pitch yeast and aerate wort.

Once fermentation commences, allow beer to free rise up to 70 °F (21 °C). You can hold this temperature for ten days or until the completion of primary fermentation, whichever is later. Bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.3 volumes.

[mashani]

I tend to personally prefer simpler grain bills (just pilsner or just pilsner/wheat or pilsner/oats) for my singles when using Westmalle yeast. Because the Westmalle yeast makes wonderful sweet fruit esters that get lost under a more heavy grain bill. But those beers are also 4.5% or so ABV, not 2%, and at 2% they would be quite thin without the crystal malt in the recipe above.

So if you are really wanting a 2%ish beer, the above looks like a good place to start.

I can think of a couple variations to try too that would for sure turn out nice.

1) would be to try replacing the Torrified Wheat with some Simpsons Golden Naked Oats.
2) would be to keep the Torrified wheat, and replace the caravienna with Simpsons Golden Naked Oats.
3) would be to replace both with the Golden Naked Oats (IE go with 1# of the oats).

If I was going to guess, I think I'd like #2 and #3 best.

The Golden Naked Oats give a bit of oaty-grainy-sweetness and the body building of the crystal, and instead of a caramel flavor a kind of nutty and "hints of berry" flavor, and it works nicely with Westmalle yeast esters and should work really well with the Abbey (biscuit) malt. I don't think you will miss anything else the Caravienna adds since there is already the Abbey and Aromatic malt in the recipe.

And oats belong in old school Belgian table beers. Back when the monks were allowed to drink 7L a day during the Holy Roman Empire times, the 2-3%ish beer they made that everyone drank was most often going to be 50-60% oats, unless there was a glut of other ingredients available. The wheat would have been used for bread more often.

Oh and:

allow beer to free rise up to 70

That is Belgian beer for Americans. It is not Belgian beer for real.

Free rise should go to at least 74 (and I'd go to 78) with Westmalle yeast (3787) if you want to get the full ester profile. Which *is not going to be a bunch of banana*. It is apples, pears, light citrus, etc.

Now if you were using Chimay yeast (WLP500), then it's a different story and if you don't want (much) Banana and prefer more phenols, then the 70 would be ok.

That said, I personally don't like Chimay yeast in low ABV Belgians anywhere near as much as Westmalle yeast. I much prefer Westmalle yeast. Chimay yeast always seems too "heavy handed" in low abv beers to me. Westmalle makes a wider variety of more delicate esters and just works better for them IMHO.

I like Chimay yeast in 8%+ beers, especially ones with a lot of dark candy sugar or dark crystal malts because it helps "suppress the excess".

But I'd get it up to at least 74 in such a beer too.

As would all the actual Belgian breweries that use those yeasts.

[John Sand]

Thanks guys.
Jeff, I saw the BYO recipe, which started me thinking. I don't have any Abbey malt and don't want to order 2# for this brew. Have you ever used it?
Mash, I want to go a bit higher than 2%, maybe 4. I am thinking about oats or flaked barley for body.
I have melanoidin and aromatic malts, an assortment of others too. I don't want to get too complex either. I'm sure some discussion will help me create a good recipe.

[mashani]

The closest thing to Abbey Malt is Biscuit malt.

The aromatic/melanoidin are more or less interchangeable, but not like Biscuit malt.

If you have any Victory malt, that has some of the characteristics of Biscuit malt.

But you can't go wrong with just Pilsner and some Oats or Wheat or Flaked Barley, or a mix of all those things if your going to be closer to 4-5%.

Tripel Karmeliet if you've ever had it is a mix of Pilsner, Malted Oats, Malted Wheat, Flaked Barley, Flaked Wheat, and Flaked Oats and candi-sugar.

I've done a single based on a reduced triple Karmeliet grain bill multiple times now with good/tasty results.

I can't say enough good things about the Golden Naked Oats though. They are subtle and not in your face, but they add some really nice things to a beer like this and won't overpower the yeast esters like a caramel malt or a lot of aromatic types of malt might. They are well worth playing with.

EDIT: although I know you want to use 3787, I guess I will say for the sake of others that if I did go with WLP500 instead of 3787, then I might want all that complexity to mellow out the yeast. As I said I don't like WLP500 anywhere as much in a simple beer as 3787.

[mashani]

edit: Somehow I double posted that... doh...

[John Sand]

Thanks. I have biscuit and victory. I'll read up on some of the other options. I have a recipe book in the mail too, though I don't know if it has table beer.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Sent from my XT830C using Tapatalk

[John Sand]

Hi Steve. Great reply, if a little cryptic.
What were you trying to post?

[Inkleg]

Hi Steve. Great reply, if a little cryptic.
What were you trying to post?

Maybe that Timmy's in the well again?

[Dawg LB Steve]

Hi Steve. Great reply, if a little cryptic.
What were you trying to post?

Have no idea! I am as stumped as you!

[mashani]

I didn't know you could butt dial the borg.