Aqua Vitae

An Oud Bruin in the West Flanders style, based on a clone recipe for Petrus Oud Bruin from Beer Captured.

Details:
Target volume: 3 gallons
Target OG: 1.055
Target FG: 1.012
Ingredients:
6 lb. Belgian Pilsner
8 oz. Cara-Vienna
4 oz. Acid Malt
2 oz. Chocolate Malt
5 oz. Amber Candi Sugar
.5 oz. Styrian Goldings
Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II

Yeast starter: Mixed .5 cup DME with 1 pint boiling water and boiled for 15 minutes. Brought to 70 degrees and pitched the yeast. Let this sit overnight under a lamp for warmth. By the morning a good layer of yeast had formed on the bottom of the glass jar.

1. Mash: Brought 9.3 quarts of water to 168 degrees and dumped in the assorted grains. Covered the pot and left this to sit for 90 minutes. At 45 minutes added about a quart of 170 degree water, which may not have been necessary. The temperature was holding very steadily at ~150 degrees.

2. Sparging: Drained off the first runnings: 9 quarts @ 1.057. Sparged the grains with 8 quarts of 168 degree water, and let this sit for 15 minutes. Drained this off and got 7.75 quarts @ 1.032. In total got 4.25 gallons @ 1.045.

Mash Efficiency: 192 GU out of 243.25 possible = 79%

3. Wort: Brought the wort to a boil and added candi sugar. Boiled for 15 minutes and then added hops. Boiled for 75 uneventful minutes more. 90 minutes total.

Final Gravity: 1.058
4. Cooling: Cooled the wort using the wort chiller, and it took ~15 minutes. No ice bath. Final volume just over 3 gallons
5. Aeration and pitching: Aerated the wort by passing it between two buckets several times. Poured the wort into the carboy and pitched the yeast starter.

6. Primary fermentation: within 4.5 hours a krausen was beginning to foam, and an occasional bubble was appearing in the airlock. At 18 17 hours a thick krausen had formed and a steady stream of bubbles was coming through the airlock.

Secondary Fermentation
Transferred to the secondary fermenter  on 3-23-2007, after 5 days in the primary fermenter. After transferring the wort, I pitched the Lactobacillus Delbrueckii.

Added .5oz. oak chips to the secondary fermenter on 4-14-2007, after 22 days in secondary.
Bottling
Bottled on 04-23-2007.

Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV: 5.7%
Apparent Attenuation: 73%