What to do with this Belgian Abbey II Wyeast?

So, long story short, I bough the Belgian Abbey II Wyeast for a gallon Imperial Stout I just wanted to mess around with a bit because it said on their website it could be used for that but I wound up pitching something else and now I have this yeast but don’t really want a traditional Belgian beer. I have enough big beer kicking around in fermenters so I’m not really interested in their suggested Imperial Stouts, American Barleywines, Strong Ales or any of the stronger Belgians. I’ve never had a Belgian Blonde and was thinking of a scaled down lower ABV version of that. But in all honestly I want a hoppy beer next…but I have this yeast sitting around…would that be a bad idea…? Maybe a more highly hopped blonde ale, I don’t know… Someone toss something my way please.

I had a pack of the same yeast laying around (after going through my Belgian phase). I ended up using it in an IPA; 2 row, munich, crystal, columbus and cascade. It came out really nice. Different in a very good way. In the next week or so I’m actually going down that same road with a 10 gallon batch and will pitch 5 gallons with WY1272 and 5 with WY3522 (Belgian Ardennes). As brother dobe12 would suggest, hit it heavy with hops b/c the Belgian yeast can handle it.
Mike…

That strain gets some nice plummy/raisiny notes which is why it’s so awesome for stuff like dubbels and BDS. You could try a hoppy American Brown or Amber and use some dark crystal/Special B/dark candi syrup to accentuate that dried fruit thing from the Abbey II.

Well, I may just try something like an IPA. See how it turns out. It could be good and I’m actually kind of bored with IPAs right now (which makes it odd I want to brew one so badly?) so maybe something out of style could bring me back.

Anyone have any more unique hops combinations I could try that would fit well with this? I’m thinking just a really base IPA recipe; 2 row, 5-10% crystal, maybe a bit of munich or some corn sugar to thin it out. I want to get away from the “C” hops even though they are so good and I’ve been wanting to try out at least one of those crazy sounding New Zealand hops.

I’m really digging an APA I made recently using Columbus + Ultra. It has a really nice dank/spicy flavor combo going on. The combo of Columbus plus a noble hop gives a really nice mix that is a refreshing change from the usual C-hop bomb IPA.

If you go the NZ route, let us know how it turns out. I’ve been stocking up on NZ/Aus hops in preparation for a fruit-bomb IIPA I’m planning on brewing this fall. I have a bunch of Nelson, Motueka and Rakau in my freezer right now with some Galaxy on the way. I figure all that with some Citra and it will be like drinking a Mai Tai.

Right now I’m eyeing up the Green Bullet as a potential bittering hop with the Pacific Jade as a flavor/aroma addition. Thinking about maybe something else too… I don’t necessarily want a fruit bomb although the Pacifica sounds pretty interesting.

I have been enjoying Super Galena as both a bittering and aroma hop. I recently made a recipe entitled Odd Bird due to it’s combo of English Malts and Domestic hops; Super Galena and Crystal. Pink grapefruit abounds!!

Also picked up a pound of Golden Sonnet. Not much written about it but I figured I’d try it anyway.

BTW: you’ll probably dig the taste of a Belgian IPA :cheers: