De Koninck
OG = 1.048 
FG = 1.010 
IBU = 27

Brouwerij De Koninck, Antwerp
A family brewery founded in 1833, De Koninck really produces only one beer (a second brew, Cuvée De Koninck, was launched in 1993 but hasn’t caught on).

A typical Belgian pale ale, it is a smooth copper beer with a flavor profile that lies somewhere between a Düsseldorfer Alt and a British pale ale. Soft and dry, creamy smooth, De Koninck has a balanced flavor with some mild floral hop notes in the aroma.

The De Koninck bottle is unique — tall and narrow, it swells to a bubble just below the crown. Its signature glass is a “bolleke,” which resembles a bowl-shaped, tall-stemmed wine glass.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs. lager malt
• 1 lb. Vienna malt
• 1/8 lb. chocolate malt
• 3 lbs. unhopped amber dry malt extract
• 6 AAU Saaz hops
• (1.5 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
• Belgian ale yeast slurry (White Labs WLP530 or Wyeast 1214)
• 1 cup unhopped light dry malt extract (DME) to prime

Step by Step:
Mash at 152° F for 90 minutes. Runoff and sparge with 8 quarts water at 170° F. Add DME, stir well, bring to a boil. Add Saaz hops, boil 60 minutes. Remove from heat. Add to fermenter along with enough pre-boiled and chilled water to make up 5.25 gallons. Cool to 70° F, pitch yeast. Ferment at 68° F for two weeks, rack to secondary and condition cool (50° F) for three to four weeks. Prime with DME, bottle and age three to four weeks at 45 to 50° F. Serve at 50° F in a “bolleke.”

All-grain option: Replace the DME with another 4 lbs. lager malt and 1/2 lb. light crystal malt (30° Lovibond). Increase mash water to 12 quarts and sparge water to 15 quarts. Mash time and temperatures will be the same. Proceed as above from boiling.

All-extract: Omit lager malt and reduce Vienna malt to 0.5 lb. Steep Vienna and chocolate malts in 3 gallons at 150° F for 30 minutes. Remove grains. Increase DME to 5 lbs. Proceed as above from boiling.