Belgian Dubbel recipe but worried perle hops are minty

[BigMouth]

Hi All,

I am prepping for a 5 gal all grain Belgian Dubbel this weekend:

MO 5.25kg
Biscuit Malt 250g
Aromatic Malt 200g
Chocolate Malt 50g
Homemade Candi 1kg

The chocolate is a cheat for colour as my candi is caramel coloured rather than really dark.
And looking at what I have in the freezer I thought Perle to bitter with fuggles in the last 20 only bringing the IBUS to 25.

I am even harvesting Westmalle yeast to use but my worry is over perle hops.
I haven't used them before and read that perle is a good neutral bittering hop or a slight spicy hop. Either sound good with some fuggles earthiness. But several times I read of a mintiness with perle!?!?

I don't want mint! What have you guys found with perle?

[duncans]

Hi, i used Perle a couple of times, no mintiness that i could taste. Maybe others could but mnt is quite distinctive so i would expect to taste it if it is there.
Hops rotary year to year etc
Hope the brew goes well. I do like a dubbel but haven't gotten around to brewing one yet.

[BigMouth]

Thanks Duncans.
Yep, not the distinctive taste I'd want in beer.
Glad to hear your experiences of perle are good.

My first attempt at a dubbel! I really like them so have to try.

[Barley Water]

Want to have a little fun with that Dubbel recipe? I like to take about 6 ounces of raisins (for a 5 gallon batch), run them through a blender with some first runnings then boil the whole thing down on the stove while the rest of the mash is sparging. It's pretty easy to do and help create that nice rummy/raisin thing, just like the monks get with their beers.

[monkeyboy]

I made a dubbel five years ago. I still have about 15 small bottles of it remaining. It's got better and better with age. Now it tastes almost like a port. So if you don't like it once it's conditioned, be patient - it will get better.

[BigMouth]

Thanks guys. I brewed this on Saturday and been fermenting for 5 days now. I have high hopes for this. Expecting around 7% abv.
Used a rehydrated safbrew Abbeye yeast in the end as my westmalle culture is too small.
Will put it aside for winter, after a sample.

[BigMouth]

Had that sample small bottle this evening.
Wow, no need to have worried. Smells like rum and raison ice cream! I didn't do any raison addition BW.

Clean taste, malty, raison with an earthy hop aftertaste. It's a Belgian dubbel alright.
The yeast dropped it out and packed as a smear on the bottom of the bottle only, leaving clear beer.
Well conditioned with a dark colour and a white head. At 7% abv it's spot on.
Well happy for a first attempt at a dubbel.

Perle seems to have been a nice clean bittering hop here so gonna use to bitter a lager next using further additions of Saaz.