The Belgian Dubbel Experiment

Brewed 10.20.10
Fermentation: Primary 3 weeks, Secondary None
Kegged/Bottled: 11.14.10
Drinking: Now, but beer is a little green still

So we put the brewery to the test with this one, and it looks as if it is panning out as planned. After having worked out many of the kinks with my system and successfully brewing my biggest and most complex beer to date one can live by the notion that anything is possible. Sitting at a respectable 9.83% ABV and utilizing a complex grain bill, this beer enters my bloodstream as anticipated. The biggest challenge with a beer this high in alcohol content is masking the alcohol itself with the subtleties pulled through from the grain bill. Here's how it went down.

11.50 Gallon Batch
OG: 1.085
FG: 1.010
Color: 21.6 SRM
IBU's: 20.5
Calories: 375 cal/pint
Yeast: Trappist Ale WLP#500
Yeast Starter: Yes, 2 Liters

19.71 lb Pilsner 2-row (Belgium)
6.57 lb Munich Malt (20 L)
1.10 lb Caramunich Malt
1.10 lb Special B Malt

3.28 oz Saaz Hops (FWH, 90 Minutes)
2.74 lb Dark Belgiam Candi Sugar

Mash @ 150F 90 minutes, Boil for 90 Minutes

Double Batch Sparge

Ferment at 68F

There you have it. So if you took a close look you can see some very interesting things going on here. First, I had no secondary fermentation occurring here. Belgian beers and wheat beers tend to have a cloudy appearance as part of their character and style. Secondary fermentation assists in removing any haze by filtering out additional sediment. Depending on the beer, secondary fermentation may be required or may not. In this case it was not, but in the case of my recent porter it was mandatory.

Also, look at the brew date and the drinking notes. This beer was brewed almost two months ago and is considered green. A beer this complex requires aging to mellow out. I mentioned that it tastes a little green. This is for 2 obvious reasons, the first being that I can still taste the alcohol. It takes some aging to get the flavor in the grains to pull through and override any alcohol taste. Note that it wont entirely mask the alcohol but more so than it currently is. Secondly, the aging process assists in the removal of any yeast flavors and aromas. I mentioned that I used Trappist Ale Yeast and increased cell count with a 2 liter yeast starter. That is a lot of yeast, but it is needed to convert massive amounts of fermentable sugars over to alcohol, all 9.83% of it. My first swig a week and half ago was very yeasty in flavor. Since then, that unwanted flavor has subsided. I planned this beer just right because I wanted to drink some good beer just in time for the holidays. Looks like I will be.

Take a look at the calories in this recipe. The software I use, Beersmith, calculates the amount of sugars and starches possible to yield of each grain and converts that to calories through a formula I am unaware of and uninterested in learning. 375 calories is no Mich Ultra, it's more like a cheesecake dessert. I am not worried though because this is 2 beers and out. I don't see myself drinking 6 in a session, but you never know.

The hop schedule is the only simple thing about this recipe. The recipe calls for first wort hops @ 90 minutes, Saaz hops. This makes perfect sense. It's lower in the IBU scale, bitterness at 20.5. You don't need any aroma hops because all aromas will be coming from Special B and munich malts. You don't know any less or additional hop bitterness because quite frankly, you can't even taste it. Plus, the mellow notes coming from the special b and munich malts allow for quite the taste, especially when combined with the sweetness coming from the belgian sugar. Too much bitterness would downright kill a beer this tasty.

Conclusion

Great beer at 1/4 of the cost. 4 cases for $95. Not bad, considering a case of Chimay would be $100. That's the beauty of homebrewing. No marketing, taxing, and overhead to pay for. To end this topic I would like to thank bucky for helping me out. It was a long arduous process, but will definately be a repeat. I don't know what else I would change. I'll have to see how this mellows out and revisit the thought. I invite you to come over and drink a few with me. Hail a taxi on your way out the door, you'll need it.

cheerios!