I first brewed this beer for a clone challenge—and I lost, because it’s not all that faithful of a clone. But it’s a very good beer on its own terms, and it went on to win at other competitions, even when up against the flavorful monsters of the Belgian strong ale category. I’ve changed the recipe only slightly over the years because it does what I think a good Belgian beer should do: It’s wonderfully fresh and clean and uses the spice, esters, and “Belgian” character as an accent, not the headline.
Style: Belgian-style blonde ales aren’t like stronger, more complex tripels or lower-strength (and often amber-ish) Belgian pale ales. Instead, they’re confidently strong—often around 7 percent ABV—but with a restrained phenol-and-ester profile that lets the pale malt and earthy hops play a larger role than we might otherwise expect. Some guidelines describe it as having a “lager-like” character, but I wouldn’t go that far. Its malt and strength may be bock-like, but we’re looking for more yeast-driven fruit-and-pepper notes, plus some simple sugars to lighten the body and color. It should be easy to drink, despite its strength.
Ingredients: You can go with a pure pilsner base if you want, but I like to mix up the base grains in my pale beers—so I start with 50/50 Belgian pilsner and Maris Otter. To that I add a layer of Munich and a handful of Victory. These add some malt richness that helps to prevent the beer from being too thin. The Victory malt is my personal choice, but any 20-ish Lovibond character malt will do—the important thing is to add some light-character-malt flavor as an accent to the grainy base. That will help offset the pound of cane sugar that adds ABV but not body, preserving that Belgian digestibility.
For hops, about 23 IBUs of anything at 60 minutes will work, but I also add some Styrian Goldings at five minutes left in the boil—that supplements the yeast-driven spice and adds a low herbal aroma that perfumes the bouquet nicely. As with any Belgian style, yeast strain is important—and I like Wyeast 3522 Belgian Ardennes with its perfect apricot-orange esters and just enough pepper to notice.
Process: To avoid scorching altogether, I add my sugar during runoff, and it fully dissolves during sparging. With fermentation, this is a beer you can set and forget. I ferment near-ambient (67°F/19°C) and ignore it for a couple of weeks—and when I come back, it’s done. Crash and give it lots of carb for a nice, lively mouthfeel and impressive white foam.
Drink this one fresh—despite its strength, it tends to go from excellent to ordinary after about three months. Brew it for your next party and bust out the chalices—and when it kicks, you’ll know that it lived its short, happy life to the fullest.