Y-Brew Stafford Brewers Club Challenge

Our local brewing club, the Stafford Brewers Club, decided to have a bit of a yeast comparison.  Each of the participants chose a yeast strain from RVA Yeast Labs.  We all received the exact same extract kit and specialty grains, and the yeast we selected.  The idea is to see how the aromas and flavors of the base kit changes based on yeast selection.

The kit as supplied included two grains that were intended to be steeped, but they weren't the right grains for steeping.  They were better suited to mashing.  So I did a mini mash of the grains and sparged them.  This extracted sugars from the grains in addition to the color and non-fermentables.  As a result, my original gravity is quite a bit higher than the recipe suggested.  Instead of being around 1.040, I was at 1.071.  My final gravity was 1.014, which gives me an ABV of about 7.5%.  An online calculator estimated my attenuaton at 79%, just about the maximum for this yeast strain.  One of my biggest beers yet.  I won't mention anything about the aroma and flavor of the sample I took when I bottled, in case any club members read this as I don't want to influence anyone before the official tasting at the November meeting.  I'll write a new post about this beer after the tasting at the club meeting.

I chose this yeast (info taken from the RVA Yeast Labs webpage):
RVA 201 Trappist Ale I (Chimay): 
Classic Belgian yeast provides signature fruity esters reminiscent of plums. 
Flocculation: Medium
Attenuation: 75-80%
Suggested fermentation temperature: 65-72º F
Alcohol Tolerance: High (12%)