Stumbling Monk Belgian Strong Ale

All Grain
5 gal. batch

Grain Bill:

12 lbs Pilsner (2 row) Belgian
.5 lbs Aromatic Malt
.5 lbs Belgian Crystal 10L

Heat water to 170 degrees Fahrenheit and place 6 gals into mash tunn
Add grains to water (press in lightly, do not stir in) and
Steep at 152 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.
Drain into boil kettle.
While the grains are steeping, heat 2-2 1/2 more gallons of water.
After you have drained the water from the grain, sparge grains with  the 2 - 2 1/2 gallons
of 150-155 degree water
until you yield about 5 1/2 gallons of wort for the boil..
Boil wort for 1 hr adding hops and Irish moss as directed below.

Hops:

1 oz, Styrian Goldings at 60 min.
.5 oz Fuggles at 60 min.
.5 oz fuggles at 15 min.

also 2 lbs of corn sugar.

if you have visited this recipe before please note i have made the following change;
add the 2 lbs of corn sugar s..l..o..w..l..y with 15 minutes left in the boil, instead of after it.

add 1 tbsp Irish Moss at 15 min.

cool wort to 75 degrees farenheit

and pitch

2 tubes WLP 545 Belgian Golden Strong Ale Yeast

add 1 capful of yeast nutrient--very important or the alcohol will kill off most of the yeast

ferment for at least 2 weeks - may take longer because of high sugar content.
you can reduce the fermentation time by pitching additional yeast to begin with.
we added only the origianl tube of yeast and it took nearly 4 weeks to ferment.
note : I now add 2 tubes of yeast,  Still, it takes 2-3 weeks to ferment.

Re-rack into a secondary and let sit for a couple of more weeks until it clears.

bottle or keg.  if you bottle prime with 5/8 cup corn sugar.

the longer this beer sits the better it gets, so be patient with it.

Also, we have found that because of the high gravity, it may take longer for the beer to carbonate in bottles.  we had to move the bottles from a 65 degree basement to a 72 degree upstairs room to help the carbonation along.  it still took a couple of months.

original gravity:  1.074
final gravity  1.01

ABV:  8.14
IBU:  21.39
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if you would like a higher ABV I have done batches with 12 lbs pisner malt  and 3 lbs of corn sugar and got an ABV of 12.47%.  I changed he recipe to lower the alcohol content and shorten the ferment time

the new recipe does taste a little lighter but still has a good bite, good flavor and not the strong alcohol taste.