belgian double brown

[da5idzero]

I'm not sure what to call this one. I just threw together a lot of malt from my bulk purchase, and added wyeast 1214 belgian. A dubbel, or strong ale I suppose :

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 7.62 %
1 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7.62 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3.81 %
6.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.86 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.90 %
1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 36.0 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [9.30 %] (20 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [9.30 %] (2 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 20.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs Belgian Ale (Wyeast Labs #1214) [50 ml ]

So here I am posting yesterdays brew in the brewing today forum again. Thing is, I used the liquid yeast. First time in a while. I made a 2 quart starter like it says on the package, and let it go on the stir plate. I thought I'd see faster results, but maybe I should have let it go to completion and pitched just the slurry.

Anyhow, this is the last brew this year, most likely. I've had success with every new process eventually, and no horrible beers (some I didn't like - yes), so I will wait patiently to see the yeast magically appear.

[MrMarbleHead]

I thought I'd see faster results, but maybe I should have let it go to completion and pitched just the slurry.

From my experience the best time to pitch a starter is when it is just starting to taper off of its most active period, that way the yeast is still active and ready to keep going.

That looks like it will turn out pretty well. That belgian yeast with the american hops could be an interesting combonation.

[da5idzero]

From my experience the best time to pitch a starter is when it is just starting to taper off of its most active period, that way the yeast is still active and ready to keep going.

This is what I've read, but with the stir plate I never saw much foaming. There was an hour or so where it picked up, but I think that was because the plate stopped working. I spent an hour trying to jury rig one from an old fan, electrical tape, and a few magnets (so macgyver of me). This project will have to be finished one day, but I realized the magnet had come loose on the plate, and after tightening it up and resetting the breaker (another ten minutes to realize it WAS the breaker) it was back to working condition.
Long story short, as soon as I started the vortex again, the foam died down.
I have got to do a little more yeast starter - plate stirrer research, but I think this will work out fine.

I have been really into the belgian trippel ipas lately - la chouffe's houblon, piraat, etc., and we are planning a belgian honeymoon for late spring / early summer, so I feel I should start doing some belgian beers. Aside from a lambic a few years ago, I haven't yet because I use dry yeast.
Here's to belgian beers!