#25 Belgian Dubbel (Batch No.2)

The English Ordinary Bitter

After brewing the Belgian Tripel, I wasn't exactly sure I'd try and use the 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast again. After tasting a few bottles of the Tripel, I was more than happy to brew with this particular yeast again. The Tripel came out incredibly dry (1.006) yet has a rich mouthfeel, sweetness, esters, and phenols. It's by far the best Belgian I've made so I am hoping this Dubbel will demonstrate some of those flavors I love so much in the Tripel but at a more sessionable ABV.

I chose to go with a recipe very close to the one I brewed back in January as my second brew on this blog. It's yet another recipe from The Jamil Show with a few tweaks. CaraBelges was a substitute for Aromatic, CaraAroma a sub for Special B, and Belgian Candi sugar as a sub for the syrup which Jamil apparently considers superior to the rock candi sugar. I still had 4 ounces left from the last Dubbel brew, so I thought I might as well use it up.

Belgian Dubbel (Batch No.2)

The wort collected during the vorlauf

Batch Volume (Gal): 6.0

Pre-Boil Volume (Gal): 6.64

Total Grain (Lbs): 14.25

OG: 1.063 (1.066 after sugar added to fermenter)   

Anticipated FG: ~1.012   Anticipated ABV: ~7.14%

IBUs: 23

SRM: 15.9

Brewhouse Efficiency: 72%

Boil Duration: 95 min

Grain (Lbs/oz.) (%)

Weyerman Pilsner 11 77.2

Munich Malt 1 7.0

CaraBelge 8 oz. 3.5

CaraMunich 45 8 oz. 3.5

CaraAroma 8 oz. 3.5

Cane Sugar 8 oz. 3.5 (added after peak of fermentation)

Dark Candi Sugar 4 oz. 1.8

Hops (AA%) (IBUs) (Oz.) (Boil[min])

Styrian Goldings 4.5 19.3 1 90

Czech Saaz 3.0 3.9 1 20

Yeast

Pitched ~150 mL of thin slurry from Trappist 3787 High Gravity yeast starter. Yeast reharvested from Belgian Tripel

Water 

Ca: 85 Mg: 2 SO4: 19 Na: 15 Cl: 18 HCO3: 154

(targeted Chimay water profile as with the Belgian Tripel)

Mash Schedule

Single Infusion   60 min 149-148 F, 10 min mashout at 165 F; pH ~5.2

In mash: 4 g CaCO3, 4 mL Lactic Acid

In boil: 1 g NaHCO3, 0.5 CaSO4, 0.5 CaCl2

Reading original gravity of the wort before the boil

Overall this brewday went fantastic, and with the weather it was one of the most enjoyable days I've had to brew. My mash numbers were good, something I haven't been able to target very well with the last couple brews, and the other little things went well also. I finally purchased a bottle of oxygen that actually had oxygen in it, which was a nice change as the last two oxygen bottles I had bought were completely empty. It was great to finally have my oxygen system work after the past three brews.

Running off the cooled wort into the fermenter

The one thing I am concerned about was my yeast 3787 yeast starter. When I first propagated this yeast before the Belgian Tripel brew, I did notice that it gives a fairly funky and somewhat off-putting aroma and flavor when growing in a starter. I was concerned initially that that first pitch was already infected, and yet it fermented what I think could be my best Belgian I've ever brewed. So I'm hoping this will be the case with this particular starter. After tasting some of the starter wort and yeast, it seemed to have a bit of a Lactobacillus tartness and flavor. It tasted great, but I'm worried it could be the sign of Lacto infection. After thinking about the possibility of infection, I wasn't too concerned, as I had contemplated souring a portion of a mash for a Belgian with this beer anyway. I think I'll be happy with this beer with or without a small Lacto infection, but I'm hoping that it's nothing that will dominate the beer too much if it is infected.

I'm not sure how many opportunities I'll have to brew until I move, but I am hoping to repropagate the 1968 strain possibly for some other brew, possibly another Bitter as my first batch is disappearing quickly. There's also the chance that I try to brew a lager for the first time in two years seeing as I will finally have a way to control fermentation temperatures (with the fermentation chamber outside using ambient late Fall temperatures to cool fermentation and the FermWrap heating the fermentation). Either way, I'm hoping to fill a few of my kegs and possibly some bottles before I move and no longer have the chance to provide myself with a steady stream of homebrewed beer.

Chilling the boiled wort using the immersion chiller