Belgian Dubbel

Whorst · Post by **Whorst** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:11 am

I'm brewing a Dubbel for the Homebrewers Festival come May 2nd. Should be around a 1.060-1.062 gravity. Has anyone ever used Belgian Dark Candy Syrup? I'm using WLP500, Belgian Trappist Ale Yeast. I will ferment at around 21.11 C. Should be good to drink with mussels and chips. If this recipe is worth a shit, I'll post it. It has 8 different malts and a rather unusual hop called Glacier. Supposedly a great substitute for Willamette, Fuggles or Styrian Goldings. Alpha acid is 5.8%.

Whorst

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 9:17 am

The Dark Candi Syrup is unavailable in the UK....and Clive at Brupacks couldn't be arsed to reply to my email about importing it or a similar product.

oblivious · Post by **oblivious** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:58 am

Planing on getting some, its supposed to quite different for other sugars and i have heard the home made stuff can be a bit un-fermentable. If you can get it Whorst i would use it

Steve brouwland (http://www.brouwland.com)sells it if thats of any use to you

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:59 am

No plans to brew a Dubbel but i've got some of the dark candi syrup from morebeer for when I decide to.

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:14 pm

oblivious wrote: Steve brouwland (http://www.brouwland.com)sells it if thats of any use to you

I know but the postage is several times more than the cost of the bottle so I was hoping Clive would get some in for the HB shops and make the price a bit more bareable.

As I got no reply I guess I'm probably going to get some from Brouwland - and get a sack of Pilsner malt to make the postage worthwhile (Hey, another Â£45 the UK shops won't get)

the_great_okapi · Post by **the_great_okapi** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:54 pm

I picked up some dark candy as a crystalline sugar from Hop and Grape. It seemed to work OK, I added it to my wort boil. Noisy, but it dissolved OK. The cold break didn't settle as quickly upon cooling as I usually expect, but otherwise it is fine.

I am going to keep the rest for making toffee apples in Autumn!

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:17 pm

The syrup is a different kettle of fish to the dark lumps.

Barley Water · Post by **Barley Water** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:56 pm

I have used the liquid candi sugar and it works out well. It is kind of expensive though, I want to say I paid somewhere around $8 for a 16oz bottle. I also use other sugars to supplement the candi sugar (I like to use jaggary and for my next batch, I have some date sugar syrup to try).

I have not yet found a formulation I like for this style so if you have any suggestions, I would be very interested in hearing about them. I am trying to get a very rummy, plum/current fruit taste and have so far not been able to get it quite right. I have also tried putting raisins into the brew with only limited success so far.

By the way, yeast handling and fermentation control is a big deal with this style. The yeast is very sensitive to temperature changes and the taste changes alot depending on what you do. The trick with this style is getting all the variables to work well together, I guess that is why the monks do it so well, they have the time and the patience. Anyway, good luck with your efforts, I am waiting for it to get a little warmer here before I do my next batch, I want the fermation to get to around 78F.

Whorst · Post by **Whorst** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:38 pm

Here's the recipe. It's based on my 60% mash tun efficiency.

10 lbs. Belgian pilsner malt
1lb. Wheat
.80 lb. Aromatic
.50 lb. Munich
.40 CaraMunich
.40 Honey Malt
.40 Special B(substitute for Biscuit)
.40 Biscuit
1 lb. Belgian Dark Candy Syrup.

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:45 pm

Don't hold back on the speciality grains Whorst, get some Melanoiden and Carafa in there

Barley Water · Post by **Barley Water** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:25 pm

Yup, the grain bill for a dubbel usually has all kinds of specialty malts. I don't think any other beer I make has so many different kinds of malts in the formulation. I have some questions for you though Whorst,

Why the wheat malt? I would think it would get lost in the other flavors going on here.

You indicate that Special B is a substitute for Biscuit malt? I always thought that Special B was just a real heavy duty crystal malt that gave you the plumb/current taste while Biscuit would give you a cracker/biscuit taste, am I missing something?

How do you plan on hopping the brew? I personally like fairly low bitterness but I know some of those monks get a little more agressive.

How about fermentation details? The brothers either mess with the temperature or underpitch a little (or both) to get the yeast to produce the great flavors.

the_great_okapi · Post by **the_great_okapi** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:44 pm

I am still impressed by the statement that he is going to ferment it at "around 21.11C"

That is some temperature control

mysterio · Post by **mysterio** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:42 pm

I think Whorst was just translating from 70F for us metric folks.

steve_flack · Post by **steve_flack** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:52 pm

Barley Water wrote: You indicate that Special B is a substitute for Biscuit malt? I always thought that Special B was just a real heavy duty crystal malt that gave you the plumb/current taste while Biscuit would give you a cracker/biscuit taste, am I missing something?

You're right. No way is Special B a biscuit malt substitute. Totally different apart from they're both made from barley.

Whorst · Post by **Whorst** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:53 pm

Indeed, I was trying to reflect the temperature of 70F.

This particular recipe I'm using calls for 1lb of wheat. It also originally called for Belgian Biscuit, which I can't find, so I'm subbing special roast which has a biscuit flavor. Hopping is going to be mild. 20-25 IBU's from Glacier. Not my choice, but MoreBeer didn't have Styrian Goldings. Glacier is supposedly a nice compromise.

Jim's Beer Kit

Practical Homebrewing

HomeBrew Forum

Sponsored by BREW-SCHOOL

Belgian Dubbel

Belgian Dubbel