Yes, it’s true…I am going to Belgium (again).

This time I will be going with Mark and his brother Michael, who has never been to the “Disneyland of Beer.” It should be a great trip, as we will be lucky enough to be there for a local beer festival. My one “have to do” item is to bring back some Westy 12 for the beer cellar. Hopefully the monks will be selling on the day we are in West Flanders.

As always, I will be blogging our trip and If the 55 photos sent from last year’s Prague trip (sent from a less typing-frendly phone) are any indication, this one should be well covered too.

Man! The “Quinte55ence” at the 5 (5 Seasons brewpub) is well worth a visit.

A malty tour de force, this beer does not have the burnt, coffee or bitter qualities that beers this strong tend to have. Smooth? Yes. 10 percent? Yes.

It’s too bad Dogwood had to shut down — this would’ve been Crawford’s crowning achievement.

Time to fire up the kettle for a fall beer. I’m using 2004’s Fall Fest as a starting point for this year’s version.

For 10 gallons (75% efficiency):

Grain
12.00 lbs. Pale Malt (2-row)
3.25 lbs. Sweet potatoes (baked, pureed)
1.00 lbs. Flaked Soft White Wheat
1.00 lbs. Honey Malt
2.00 lbs. Crystal 60L
0.30 lbs. Brown Sugar
0.30 lbs. Brown Sugar (dark)

Spices
1t nutmeg (freshly ground)
1t powdered ginger
2t china cassia cinnamon
.5t cloves (freshly ground)

Hops
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer (8.0%) 60 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 American Ale

Mash grains at 154F for 60 minutes. Add all hops when wort begins to boil. After 45 minutes, add Irish moss. At 55 minutes, add the spices to the kettle. After 5 more minutes, knockout to chiller, and pitch yeast. Will be in primary fermentation for up to 7 days, and then go for a 1 or 2 week secondary fermentation to help with flavor maturation.

OG: 1.048 (12.0P)
Anticipated SRM: 12.2
Anticipated IBU: 17.9

Packaging
Kegged and force-carbonated

Production + Tasting Notes
Every fall fest beer has a story behind it. The story of the 2005 edition will be how to mash with sweet potatoes (or more accurately, now *not* to mash with sweet potatoes). Even though I used the proper precautions — adding rice hulls to the mash tun, stirring the potatoes in throughout the mash tun — I had a very slow run-off and ended up sticking the mash after about 3 gallons had run out. Luckily we have a few large buckets around to allow for emptying the tun and cleaning the screen before attempting the runoff again.

It added about an hour to our long brew night (Sean had the same problem with his fall fest beer as well, and we were both brewing 10 gallons).