Belgian Dubbel

15 April 2006 @ mid-morning | Comments (2)

With any luck this recipe should land itself somewhere in the realm of Chimay Premiere (in other words, one damn tasty Belgian ale).

The recipe

• Style: Belgian Dubbel
• Type: All grain
• Batch size: 5 gal
• Color: 13 SRM
• Bitterness: 23 IBU (25 actual, a little high)
• OG: 1.074 (1.067 actual)
• FG: 1.008
• Alcohol: 7.8%
• Mash: 80% efficiency (67% actual)
• Yeast: Trappist ale (WLP500)
• Grain:
  • 10 lb. Pale malt (Belgian)
  • 0.5 lb. CaraMunich 70L (Belgian)
  • 0.25 lb. Aromatic malt 20L (Belgian)
  • 0.25 lb. Chocolate malt
• Boil:
  • 1.5 lb. Belgian candi sugar (clear)
  • 1.25 oz. Tettnanger (60 min)
  • 0.25 oz. Hallertauer (60 min)
  • 0.25 oz. Styrian Goldings (15 min)

The process

This time around, Ward Labs water report in-hand, it was possible to adjust the water chemistry to match a specific water profile for the style. Aside from forgetting to add the Irish moss during the boil and sparging just a bit too fast, things went according to plan. I anticipate being able to hit 80% efficiency within the next one or two batches now that the mash pH issues are under control.

The result

Color is dead-on; flavor is a bit simple, but still free of off-flavors and true to style; carbonation is strong, although head retention is poor. I’d say that while this is our best beer to date, I still feel like there is quite a bit of improvement to be had. Regardless, this is a respectable dubbel with a nice simple character; a good beer to accompany an early-summer bbq.

Lessons learned

• Get a water report.
• Sparge slowly.
• If you’re anticipating efficiency problems, write a flexible recipe that will still be balanced if you miss the mark.