Duvel

[Swiller]

I have recently got hold of a Duvel clone
which calls for 28g of pear flavoring I have
had a look on a few sites but it is not listed.
Is it a vital addition? Cheers for any help.

J

[dave-o]

The pear flavour should come from the yeast, not flavouring. That recipe sounds a bit ghetto.

[Swiller]

Thanks dave-o

I have been looking around the net since I posted
and many have sugested like yourself the flavour
comes from the yeast. I had a go at propogating
the yeast from a Duvel a month or so ago but did
not have too much success so I was thinking about
a WLP 570 what do you think?

Cheers.
J

[chivelegs]

I used wyeast 1388 and added a kilo of white sugar to get the FG down a bit. It's still cold-conditioning so can't comment on how it's going to turn out, but tastes pretty good at the moment. You get masses of fruit while it's fermenting but how much of that carries over I can't say yet

Duvel

[Swiller]

Thanks chivelegs
And for the 'clicky' really helpfull.

Cheers,
J

[Barley Water]

I agree with the previous posters, the yeast should give you the fruit, don't add pear flavoring. Actually though, the real trick with this style is to get it to dry out enough without having any hot fusel alcholols. If you buy a bottle of the commerical stuff, you will notice that the body is really light and the beer is very quaffable (which should sneak up on somebody who doesn't understand the style). Also of course, you want it very highly carbonated, way too much to handle out of a keg. I have had many homebrewed examples which unfortunately did not dry out enough, the beer was much more like a triple, good but a triple. In terms of a brewing suggestions, I would be very tempted to add the sugar after the initial fermentation is almost done. Yeast (like people) tend to go for the easy to digest food first and sometimes never get around to the harder to digest stuff (it's like a kid who eats his/her desert before the main meal). What you end up with is the afore mentioned under attenuated beer and it's just way too sweet for the style. Also of course, yeast handling and temperature control are a big deal as with any Belgian beer. Pitch a ton of yeast (treat it like a lager) and do not let the stuff get too cold or you will run into problems. I would probably start at about 65F and let it warm up to as high as 80F over the course of a few days. Start it at 65F of so though or you will end up with the solvent tasting higher alcholols which you really want to avoid because they mess up the taste and will also give you a hell of a headache. Anyhow, you should have big fun trying to make this style, it's sporting but the results can be great, good luck.

[chivelegs]

Maybe I should add that I added the sugar after fermentation had been going for a couple of weeks to give the yeast time to rip through the malty goodness first.

[Swiller]

Mmmmm.. A few more things to think about but
I am up for a challenge, will leave it untill after the
festivities then i can give it my full attention.
Thanks for your imput Barley Water.

J

[coatesg]

That's the "Clone Brews" recipe. As per the previous posters, the pear flavour is yeast derived. The recipe is very simple - pilsner and sugar. Barley Water has it spot on - Duvel is very dry, OG is only something like 1070 with an ABV of 8.5%.

Adding the sugar at the start is fine I think though - it's just a case of pitching the right amount, and controlling the fermentation temperatures correctly.

[196osh]

Yeah, Duvel has some lubriciously low FG something like 1005. Barley water put it best.

[lancsSteve]

Good list for clone brewing - yeast origins and matches:
http://www.mrmalty.com/yeast.htm

Culturing from a bottle can be done - best if you do it from a few though WLP570 / wy1388 is going to be healthier anyway.

Fermentation temp is CRITICAL to get the right flavours - good info in Stan Hieronymous's 'Brew like a monk' book (http://www.brewlikeamonk.com/) and 'brewing with wheat' on this.

[Swiller]

I am definately going to invest in the book.
And thanks for the links lancsSteve just what I wanted.

Cheers

J

[coatesg]

Culturing from a bottle can be done - best if you do it from a few though WLP570 / wy1388 is going to be healthier anyway.

I'm pretty sure it's a different strain too, but some on here have used the bottle recultured yeast with success.

[lancsSteve]

Duvel use their main strian for bottling but by then it's been through the wars so health and viability are debatable.

Have seen some recommendations of using whitelabs or wyeast for primary and then recultured yeast as a bottling strain - but this is more relevant for beers with a hint of brett in them which is harder to bring in as a hint e.g. orval

[pantsmachine]

I did it with Duvel & Chimay combined. Turned out nice but temperature should not get too out of control coz once the fusels are in they can't be taken out. IMHO its better to go for slightly restrained ferment and you can gauge if you want to up the temperature for the next batch depending on your results on the 1st batch.