I love the concept of a patersbier (“Father’s Beer”), as a relatively light and low alcohol yet flavorful take on a Belgian ale. As with many Belgian ales that were associated with the monastic traditions, there is plenty of romance and a good dollop of fantasy around these brews. I’m not particularly interested into delving into historicity–I’m more interested in making a beer that I want to drink!

This particular version is a bit of a kitchen sink beer, intended to sweep out odds and ends from my brewing supply. Even so, I aimed to have a sturdy malt backbone. Hops were chosen, again, to use up a few varieties. I knew a Belgian yeast was in order, so Lallemand’s Abbaye Belgian fit the bill. It’s very different from the previous patersbier I made, which was a SMaSH with pilsner malt and Cascade hops.

Along the lines of my Brew Year’s Resolution to make more small batches, this was a 3 gallon batch. I also did a quick brew day, with 30 minute mash and 30 minute boil.

Patersbier 2025

• 2.75 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
• 2 lb. 2-row malt (Great Western)
• 0.5 lb. Caramel Munich 60L malt (Briess)
• 0.5 lb. Munich II malt (Weyermann)
• 0.25 lb. Caramel Malt 120L (Briess)
• 0.25 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
• 1 oz. Styrian Goldings hop pellets (3.2% alpha), 30 minute boil
• 0.5 oz. Crystal hop pellets (4.5% alpha), 30 minute boil
• 1 pkg. Abbaye Belgian ale yeast

Target Parameters

• 1.045 o.g., 1.015 f.g., 3.9% abv, 13 SRM, 26 IBU
• Full volume mash at 158° for 60 minutes
• Claremont tap water, no adjustment

Procedure

• I heated the mash water to 164°, added the grains, and held at 158° with recirculation for 30 minutes. Then, I raised the mash to 168° for 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
• In total, I collected 4 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.037, for 66% mash efficiency.
• I brought the kettle to a boil and added hops per the recipe. After 30 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled the wort to 68° before transferring to the fermenter.
• Starting gravity was 1.044. Once I pitched the yeast, I let it ferment at ambient. I brewed the beer on 12 March 2025.
• I kegged the beer on 24 March 2025. Final gravity was 1.013, for 4.1% abv. I added 1.5 oz. of corn sugar dissolved in ~0.5 cup of water and boiled, in order to do natural carbonation. I finished off the carbonation with forced CO2. At the time of kegging, a pleasant and spicy yeast character was evident.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Medium amber beer, clear, ivory head with good persistence.
• Aroma
  • Moderately high yeast aroma with good phenolic character; spicy notes, some red apple. Some bready and caramel notes come through as the beer warms up.
• Flavor
  • Spicy yeast character at the forefront; medium level of malt character with a malty, bread crust quality. Medium-low level of hops.
• Mouthfeel
  • Light body, medium level of carbonation, dry finish.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • This is good for what it is–easy drinking and lots of yeast character. It’s a bit thin on the body, so might benefit from a touch more crystal malt. The yeast character is perfect! As compared with my previous patersbier, I like the 2025 recipe much better.
• Overall
  • 7/10