Patersbier 2013

Today I'm brewing a Patersbier, a Trappist style beer from the Belgian town of Malle. This style is a session ale brewed exclusively for the Cistercian monks...the Brothers' daily beer if you will.

A friend of mine brewed an extract version of this beer and won bronze in the Beehive Brew-off this year. It was very tasty...it reminded me a lot of a Saison, but very sessionable and with a lower ester profile. I'm going to keep a bottle, but most of this batch is going to celebrate some friends' wedding reception.

My recipe is based on the one from Northern Brewer but I did make a couple small changes. I added a little bit of Maris Otter for some additional complexity, and as usual I adjusted the recipe to account for my typical efficiency.

7.0 # Dingemans Belgian Pilsner
13 oz Crisp Maris Otter
28g (1.0 oz) German Traditional (60 min)
14g (0.5 oz) Saaz (60 min)
14g (0.5 oz) Saaz (10 min)
1/2 Whirlfloc tablet
1/2t Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity in 1L starter

Single infusion mash at 147F for 60 minutes. 90 minute boil. Start out fermentation at 64F and ramp it up a degree per day to 74F.

Brewing Notes
No issues during this brew session. I noticed the gravity starting to drop after running off about 5.75 gallons. This is when tannin extraction can occur, so I cut the sparge and topped off with a gallon of water from the HLT. My Beersmith pre-boil gravity estimate was 1.034 and I came in at 1.036 after topping off to 6.75 gallons.

Update 9/8/2013
This one is progressing along nicely. The 3787 yeast flocculates very well, so the brew has some great clarity even though there's some residual krausen on top. I'm going to transfer this to a keg later this week for conditioning, then I hope to bottle it by the end of the month.