The recipe below is my current version of a Belgian strong dark ale I make. The first time I brewed it, I really liked the way it came out. It didn't come out very dry, and I thought the slightly sweet, malty flavor was excellent. That original recipe had only 1 lb of candi sugar, but 4 lb of amber dry extract. I had og=1.097, fg=1.032, which is 67% attenuation. I had a stuck fermentation, but was able to restart it.
For my second attempt, I wanted to avoid the stuck fermentation problem, so I increased the candi sugar and decreased the dry extract. I've brewed this new version of the recipe three times now, and usually get attenuation of more like 78-80%, no stuck fermentations.
What I really want is to have my cake and eat it too: I want slightly less than full attenuation, but I don't want hassles with stuck fermentation. Is there any way to accomplish what I'm trying to do? It seems like anything I do that reduces the fermentability of the wort will increase the chances of a stuck fermentation. Conceivably I could pasteurize it before it was done drying out, but I've never heard of a homebrewer doing that...?
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2 lb Belgian candi sugar, amber or dark
8 lb light syrup
3 lb amber dry extract
1 lb Munich light
.25 lb Munich
.25 lb Special B
.5 lb Belgian caravienne
1 lb honey
17 AAU Cascade bittering
1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
WLP 500 Trappist Ale Yeast