A tale of two quads

One of my favorite beer styles is the "Belgian quad", better defined by the Beer Judging Certificate Program as categories 18D - Belgian Golden Strong Ale and 18E - Belgian Dark Strong Ale. So many interesting, complex, smooth and ultimately highly drinkable flavors emerge from the glass like few other styles. They are big beers yes, but I usually prefer to drink big beers in general. They are something to be savored slowly and really enjoy the whole glass as opposed to quaffing down quickly.

The immediately noticeable difference between the two quads is the color, and that generally (though not always) comes from one minor change in ingredients: The sugar. Belgians are known for using "Candi Sugar" in their beers, a key element towards making big Belgian beers feel lighter and easier drinking but still have a lot of flavor and complexity. Hops and IBUs don't play much of a role in Belgian beers and quads aren't an exception.

Like beer, the Belgians came up with different kinds of candi sugar/syrup (originally sugar beet based) depending upon what temperature and length they were "cooked" for. I've tried making my own "Candi Syrup" using some guides and it didn't go too well, much less turn out like the stellar products turned out by Dark Candi Inc which I prefer to use instead. I'm not sure what their secret is but when I made some dark candi syrup it turned out dark, acrid, slightly bitter and about as thick as taffy, while their product is super thin, like maple syrup.

The Golden Strong Ale aka the "golden quad" is very light in color, almost like a pilsner, and uses clear candi syrup or just maybe straight granulated white sugar. This light colored sugar only adds a little bit of flavor, even when used up to 20% of gravity points, but keeps the body drinkable and lets some of the complex malt characters and spicy/estery yeast characters shine through The end result is a slightly malty, spicey, complex, strong, light colored but big beer.

Commercial Examples: Duvel, Russian River Damnation, Hapkin, Lucifer, Brigand, Judas, Delirium Tremens, Dulle Teve, Piraat, Great Divide Hades, Avery Salvation, North Coast Pranqster, Unibroue Eau Benite, AleSmith Horny Devil (ripped right from the BJCP guide)

The Dark Strong Ale aka the ever popular "dark quad" is very dark in color, almost like a stout, uses dark candi sugar/syrup. This dark candi syrup is the secret sauce if you will. It is cooked to a certain temperature in liquid form where it caramelizes and develops complex toffee, plum, chocolate and rum flavors that taste pretty wonderful. These flavors meld with some bready, somewhat sweet malt flavors and some spicey/estering yeast flavors to make a magnificent beer. The best examples of these styles are consistently rated at/near the top of the big beer rating websites like RateBeer and Beer Advocate as some of the best beers in the world.

Commercial Examples: Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap), Rochefort 10 (blue cap), St. Bernardus Abt 12, Gouden Carolus Grand Cru of the Emperor, Achel Extra Brune, Rochefort 8 (green cap), Southampton Abbot 12, Chimay Grande Reserve (Blue), Brasserie des Rocs Grand Cru, Gulden Draak, Kasteelbier Bière du Chateau Donker, Lost Abbey Judgment Day, Russian River Salvation

I've brewed quads a number of times (all dark) and have been pretty pleased with their results. I'm currently down to about 4 bottles of my last dark quad and with the competition year starting I want to be prepared with one of my favorite recipes.
Last weekend I brewed The Pious, my dark strong ale, and its fermenting away as we speak. This coming weekend I'll be brewing again and with a new recipe which I am calling The Devout and it will be my Golden Strong Ale.
Everything about these beers is intended to be as similar as possible with two exceptions: Sugar and Yeast. The Westmalle yeast and D2 Dark Syrup in The Pious and the lovely Allagash Tripel Reserve yeast and white beet sugar in The Devout. I think this will be a good experiment and produce some really great beer!

Recipes follow.

The Pious
Batch Size: 5.75 gal
Boil Size: 7.81 gal
Estimated OG: 1.093 SG
Estimated Color: 32.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 42.11 %
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (1.7 SRM) Grain 42.11 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (90 min) Hops 23.1 IBU
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (15 min)Hops 3.0 IBU
3.00 lb Dark 2 Belgian Candi Syrup (160.0 SRM) Sugar 15.79 %
1 Pkgs Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 16.00 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Infusion Add 28.00 qt of water at 153.9 F 146.0 F
30 min Saccharification Decoct 6.00 qt of mash and boil it 158.0 F
15 min Saccharification Decoct 7.33 qt of mash and boil it 170.0 F

Notes:
------
water: 1g gypsum, 1.5g epsom, 2.5g cacl2
ionic profile: 48.3ppm CA, 7.8ppm MG, 2ppm NA, 0ppm HCO3, 60.3ppm SO4, 63.7ppm CL
Added 1lbs D2 at beginning of boil, 1lbs D2 at the 15 minute mark, and 1lbs D2 in the fermenter
Ferment at 82f for 5 days, then drop to 65f for 2 days, then rack off yeast to a keg to cold condition at 50f for 60 days.

The Devout
Batch Size: 5.75 gal
Boil Size: 7.81 gal
Estimated OG: 1.092 SG
Estimated Color: 5.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 44.44 %
8.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (1.7 SRM) Grain 44.44 %
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (90 min) Hops 23.2 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (15 min)Hops 3.0 IBU
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (15 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
2.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (0.5 SRM) Sugar 11.11 %
1 Pkgs Tripel Reserve (Allagash) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 16.00 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
30 min Infusion Add 28.00 qt of water at 153.7 F 146.0 F
30 min Saccharification Decoct 5.00 qt of mash and boil it 156.0 F
10 min Saccharification Decoct 8.25 qt of mash and boil it 170.0 F

Notes: ------
water treatment: 1g gypsum, 1.5g epsom, 2.5g cacl2
ionic profile: 48.3ppm CA, 7.8ppm MG, 2ppm NA, 0ppm HCO3, 60.3ppm SO4, 63.7ppm CL
Going to add the sugar gradually during the boil to prevent scorching since its in powder form.