Prodigy Belgian Golden Ale Recipe

1. Heat Strike Water

Heat ~18 L of mash water to 74 °C. Target initial mash temperature ~66 °C when grains are added (adjust based on mash tun losses).

2. Mash In

Add crushed grains (Pilsner, wheat, Vienna, Carapils) to mash tun and dough in with strike water, stirring to avoid clumps. Aim for 65–67 °C single infusion mash. Hold for 60 minutes.

3. Mash Rest

Stir gently at 30 minutes to ensure even temperature. After 60 minutes, perform a mashout by raising temperature to 75–78 °C for 10 minutes to stop conversion.

4. Vorlauf until wort runs clear and lautering complete. Sparge with enough water at ~78 °C to collect ~27–28 L of wort in your kettle (target pre-boil volume to account for evaporation and trub loss).

5. Bring collected wort to a gentle boil.

6. Boil Start — Bittering Hop

At the start of a 90-minute boil, add 25 g Saaz (bittering). Belgian strong ales benefit from an extended 90-minute boil to deepen color and drive off DMS precursors.

7. Mid Boil — Optional Clarifier

With 15 minutes left in the boil, add 1 tsp Irish moss or Whirlfloc and 1 tsp yeast nutrient if using.

8. Flavor / Aroma Hops

At 15 minutes remaining, add 20 g Styrian Golding. At 5 minutes remaining, add the final 15 g Saaz or Styrian Golding for aroma.

9. Boil — Add Candi Sugar

With 10–5 minutes left in the boil (or in the final 5 minutes), dissolve 0.75 kg light candi sugar in a small amount of wort and add to the kettle to increase fermentable gravity and yield a drier finish.

10. At flameout, chill wort quickly to 18–20 °C using an immersion chiller or wort chiller. Transfer chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter, leaving behind heavy trub.

11. Top up with sterile water if necessary to reach 23–24 L of wort (target original gravity around 1.090–1.095 for ~9% ABV).

12. Pitch Yeast

Aerate wort thoroughly (oxygenate to ~8–10 ppm O2 for high gravity) and pitch two packs (or sufficient slurry) of Belgian strong ale yeast. If using a single pack, rehydrate or make a starter for proper cell count.

13. Primary Fermentation

Ferment at 20–22 °C for the first 3–5 days to encourage ester profile, then allow temperature to free rise to 24–26 °C for several days to ensure complete attenuation and promote phenolic/spicy esters typical of Belgian strong ales. Fermentation should slow after 7–10 days.

14. Secondary / Warm Conditioning

Rack to secondary (optional) after primary activity subsides, and warm to 24–26 °C for 3–7 days to clean up fermentation. Then allow a diacetyl rest and gradually cool to 18–20 °C and condition for 2–3 weeks. Total conditioning 3–6 weeks.

15. Measure final gravity (expected ~1.010–1.014 depending on attenuation). Calculate priming sugar precisely for desired carbonation (~2.4–2.8 volumes CO2 for Belgian golden). Dissolve 140 g corn sugar in 200 ml boiled water, cool, and add to bottling bucket.

16. Siphon beer gently to bottling bucket to mix evenly with priming solution, avoiding oxygen pickup. Bottle into sanitized bottles and cap.

17. Condition bottles at 20–24 °C for 2–3 weeks to carbonate, then lager/age at cooler temps (12–15 °C) for another 2–4 weeks to mature flavors.

18. If your source water is very soft, add small amounts of gypsum and calcium chloride (as listed) dissolved in mash water to target a pleasant sulfate-to-chloride ratio that accentuates hop dryness but preserves malt roundness. Aim for moderate sulfate (~50–100 ppm) and chloride (~40–70 ppm).

19. Sanitation: sanitize all equipment that contacts wort after the boil to prevent contamination.