belgian strong dark ale

[riverbottom]

been a while since i posted a recipe - i brewed a belgian strong dark and a belgian strong golden ale around the same time (my son helped me name them - cloak and dagger - after the marvel comic duo) and have just tasted the first fruits of that labor. the golden is looking like it needs more time to bottle condition but the dark is simply amazing. probably my second best brew to date.

5 gallon recipe
3.5 gallon boil

fermentables:

7.5# pilsner LME
3 # pale LME
.5# turbinado
1# D2 (i recently came across this as a substitute for candi syrups and wanted to give it a try - definitely worth seeking out)
1# marris otter LME
4oz malto dextrin

steeping grains:

2 oz belgian chocolate grains
1 oz belgian special B

hops:

.75 oz warrior (60 mins)
1 oz czech saaz (5 minutes)

yeast:

white labs WLP 530 (this is the chimay strain and although white labs recommends other strains more highly for strong darks this one came out with the taste i was going for perfectly - feel free to swap out for whatever flavor profile you desire).

notes:
750 mL yeast starter used.
fermented at 68 degrees (approximately 3 months - looking to do 7 month bottle condition if i can keep my hands off of them)
O.G. 1.084
F.G. 1.009
alc/vol 10.49%
ibu 24


i bottled 4 gallons of this and racked off 1 gallon to a small carboy with some WLP 670 brett. will add notes when thats ready.