I had 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale on my Roll-a-Style List, and thought it would be a good idea to use the whole yeast cake of Mardi Blonde to ferment such a big Belgium beer.

So, I pretended to roll a 9

Which corresponded to the 26D. Belgian Dark Strong Ale on my list.

"A dark, complex, very strong Belgian ale with a delicious blend of malt richness, dark fruit flavors, and spicy notes. Complex, rich, smooth, and dangerous."

I threw together a quick recipe, originally based mostly on the "Brew like a Homebrewer" Belgium Dark Strong recipe in Jamil's Brewing Classic Styles. Then, I simplified the grain bill and reduced the strength quite a bit.

I'm not 100% sure where I originally got the name "Kemosabe", but it was on my beer name list. It probably came up in some movie and I thought it would make a good beer name. But, I don't know for sure, and I certainly don't remember what movie it might have been. I'm pretty sure that the Lone Ranger wasn't the inspiration, but who really knows?

Anyway ... this was actually brewed on Fat Tuesday, shortly after Mardi Blonde was kegged. I used a re-iterated mash in my Anvil Foundry to accommodate the whole grain bill.

I pitched on the whole yeast cake of Mardi Blonde.

On untappd: Kemosabe Quad

For more about this beer, see Sheppy's Blog: Kemosabe.

Kemosabe Quad --- Batch 1 (372)

Style	Belgian Dark Strong Ale	Batch Size	5.50 gal
Type	All Grain	Boil Size	6.60 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency	60.00	Boil Time	60 minutes

Recipe Characteristics

Recipe Gravity

1.076 SG

Estimated FG

1.014 SG

Recipe Bitterness

25.1 IBUs (Rager)

Alcohol by Volume

8.2 %

BU : GU

0.332

Recipe Color

16.1 SRM

Color

Measured OG:

1.076

Measured FG:

1.012

ADF:

Measured ABV:

8.5

Ingredients

Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU	Volume
8.35 gal	Denver, Colorado	Water	1	-	-
7.00 g	Calcium Chloride (Mash)	Water Agent	2	-	-
2.00 g	Epsom Salt (MgSO4) (Mash)	Water Agent	3	-	-
1.00 g	Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash)	Water Agent	4	-	-
11 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	5	61.1 %	0.86 gal
2 lbs	Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)	Grain	6	11.1 %	0.16 gal
2 lbs	White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)	Grain	7	11.1 %	0.16 gal
1 lbs	Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM)	Grain	8	5.6 %	0.08 gal
1 lbs	Special B Malt (120.0 SRM)	Grain	9	5.6 %	0.08 gal
1 lbs	Cane (Beet) Sugar [Boil] (0.0 SRM)	Sugar	10	5.6 %	0.08 gal
0.500 oz	Eclipse [17.60 %] - Boil 40.0 min	Hop	11	25.1 IBUs	-
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 10.0 mins)	Fining	12	-	-
1.0 pkg	Belgian Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1214) [124.21 ml]	Yeast	13	-	-

Mash Profile

Mash Steps
Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Saccharification	Add 33.38 qt of water at 160.7 F	152.0 F	45 min
Heat	Heat to 158.0 F over 10 min	158.0 F	15 min
Mash Out	Heat to 170.0 F over 7 min	170.0 F	10 min

If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Recipe Notes
Make 1.4 liter (6 cups) yeast starter a day before brew day. (or rack onto previously brewed yeast cake)
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=99,Mg=15,Na=21,SO4=93,Cl=130,HCO3=104
18 lbs of malt is more than the Foundry can handle. Do a double mash: half the base grains at 152 for 45 minutes, and drain for the wort to be "strike water" for the second half of grains. Follow the recipe mash schedule for this second half.
After double mash is done, check pre-boil gravity.
Adjust boil length based on gravity and boil-off rate to reach target OG. (if gravity is high, dilute as appropriate)
Cool wort to as close to 60 degrees as possible.
Rack onto previously brewed yeast cake (if one is available)
Ferment 2 weeks at ambient temperature.
Transfer to keg to be stored for another 4 weeks.
Chill and Keg carbonate.

Brewing Record

Brew Date:		Strike Temp:
Mash Temps:
Pre-boil OG	(1.069 SG)	Pre-boil Vol	(6.60 gal)
Actual Mash Efficiency		Pitch Temp
Fermentation
Day 1:
Day ...
Day ...

Brewing Notes:

02/12/2025 esheppy
Mardi Blonde is pretty much done, and I want to rack this beer onto that yeast cake. So ... I'll need to get ingredients soon.

02/24/2025 esheppy
Pretty sure I'm going to keg Mardi Blonde today. I don't have ingredients for this, yet, but I think if I put CO2 on the fermenter I'll be fine as long as I brew this weekend.

03/02/2025 esheppy
Finally got ingredients. Think I might do a work-week Brew Day this week. Need to get that yeast cake work before it goes bad.

03/04/2025 esheppy
Doing a work-day brew day. First time doing a re-iterated mash. Started with 8 gallons water, which might have been too much. I'm about half way through first mash, so we'll see how things go.

03/04/2025 esheppy
Well ... amazingly the whole day went pretty much perfect. I did get distracted during the chill and got the wort much colder than I intended, but if that is the only issue, I would call this an overwhelming success. OG ended perfect at 1.076, and the fermenter is over the 6 gallon mark. We'll see how fermentation goes with the cold start, but with a complete yeast cake from Mardi Blonde, I'm fairly certain it will go strong.

03/05/2025 esheppy
Never really checked last night, but based on Tilt data, it looks like fermentation took off a little after 6pm last night, which is pretty quick. Not surprising with pitching right on the Mardi Blonde yeast cake. Tilt currently says 1.058 at 64 degrees. Really good start.

03/06/2025 esheppy
Going strong. Tilt says 1.021 at 69 degrees.

03/07/2025 esheppy
Tilt down to 1.000 at 67 degrees. It still seems to be going. Probably not accurate, but still surprised to see it measuring this low.

03/10/2025 esheppy
Tilt down to .992, which is nuts. Much more clear now and the krausen is almost gone. Think I'll be kegging this soon, but it will sit for awhile in the keg before I actually start drinking.

03/11/2025 esheppy
Stopped the Tilt logging. If the .992 is accurate, the ABV is 11.2%. I suspected the FG is closer to 1.004 which would be 9.6%. Then, I decided I might as well keg. The measured ABV was 1.012, making this a much more reasonable 8.5% ABV with an 83% ADF. Sample tastes very smooth and doesn't taste boozy at all. Lighter in color than I usually associate with this style, but according to the specs, it is acceptable. Not real clear, but I'll be aging this for quite awhile, so the yeast has plenty of time to settle out.

03/18/2025 esheppy
Poured off about a gallon into my CO2 growler and put that into my beer fridge. This way I can sample cold while aging the keg at room temp.

03/21/2025 esheppy
Been taking samples from the growler. Tastes pretty good. Doesn't necessarily taste boozy, but I certainly feel like I've had a big beer if I have too much. I'm not sure when this will go on tap. I might do another growler before I put the keg into fridge.

03/27/2025 esheppy
Finished up the growler. Not my favorite of my beers. Maybe a bit too much alcohol flavor. Think I'll fill the growler again.

04/10/2025 esheppy
Still waiting on a spot to open in beer fridge. Both Mardi Blonde and Tasman Pilsner close to blowing.

04/12/2025 esheppy
Finally in the beer fridge. Will be drinking for Easter.

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