Monsignor d'Houblon Hoppy Belgian & Morningstar Golden Ale

Monsignor d'Houblon was inspired directly by Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor. The idea was to make a hoppy (but not bracingly so) Belgian Blonde Ale on the lighter end of the style. I basically attempted to make an American Pale Ale with European and European-style hops (Tettnanger, Mt. Hood, and Willamette). The beer is in the IBU and gravity territory of a strong APA or a milder IPA.... in keeping with what Hopsinjoor and a whole new generation of Belgian beers are all about - balanced hoppiness and restrained bitterness along with the unique character imparted by a Trappist yeast strain.

12 lbs Best Malz Pilsner
.5 lbs Briess Crystal 20L

1 oz Willmamette (5.6% AA) 60 min

1 oz Willmamette (5.6% AA) 10 min

1 oz Mt. Hood (4.6% AA) 10 min

1 oz Tettnanger (3.2% AA) 10 min

1 oz Willmamette (5.6% AA) 0 min

1 oz Mt. Hood (4.6% AA) 0 min

1 oz Tettnanger (3.2% AA) 0 min

1 oz Willmamette (5.6% AA) Dry Hop

WLP830 Abbey (Westmalle Strain)

Ferment at 150 for 60 min, followed by fermentation temp 72F

Now a pic of it (super delicious)

Morningstar was meant to be a Duvel-style Belgian Golden Strong Ale, but my efficiency was shockingly low, for some reason, so it ended up a Belgian Blonde Ale, instead. It is currently in secondary, and I plan on kegging it soon, and priming for a higher amount of carbonation than is typical for me (along with adding some polyclar so the sediment produced by the priming doesn't end up making for a cloundy blonde).

The recipe is as follows:

Morningstar Golden Ale

10 lbs German Pilsner Malt
1 lb German Vienna Malt
2 lb Cane Sugar

1.5 oz Mt. Hood (4.6% AA) 60 min
.5 oz Willamette (5.6% AA) 30 min
.75 oz Tettnanger (3.2% AA) 10 min

I pitched a weak starter of White Labs WLP530 (Westmalle Strain) into Msgr. d'Houblon, but it hadn't started after one day, so I went to the LHBS and picked up a smack pack of Wyeast 1762 Abbey II (Rochefort Strain). When I got ready to pitch the 1762, I could see that fermentation had already begun, but I pitched it, anyway. The resulting yeast cake was used to produce the golden ale. I suspect the Westmalle yeast dominated the flavor profile, but can't say for sure.