Hoppy Doppelsticke Recipe - please critique

OK, I want to make a Doppelsticke Alt (which is kind of like an Imperial Alt), but am having difficulty in finding information to build a recipe that is true of the style. There just is not a lot of information about the style because it is so rare. It sounds AWSOME though! So based on what I found, I threw this together. Anyone with insight, please help me out!

5.5 gal - OG 1.088 - FG 1.022 - 27ºSRM - 47 IBU - 8.8%ABV - 70% efficiency
Single Infusion Mash @ 149º for 90 mins - 90 min boil

10.5 lb 2-row Pilsner
4.25 lb Munich
2.5 lb CaraMunich II
1 lb 6 oz Crystal 60º
0.5 lb Carapils
6 oz Carafa

60 mins - 2.5 oz Spalt 5.5%
30 mins - 0.5 oz Spalt 5.5%

Wyeast 1007 Yeast
Irish Moss

Oh... if anyone has any good ideas of how to get the final gravity down, that would be awesome. I want an 8.8% beer, but I don't want it to be overly sweet. So if I can lower the FG, then I can take out some grains to reduce the OG (so I keep it inline to make 8.8% abv).

27 SRM sounds too dark to me. Sticke Alts are based on dusseldorf alts which are not as dark as the Northern German alts. Also, 47 IBU seems kind of low given that a regular Dusseldorf alt can go up to 45 IBU. So I'd go much less on the caramunich and other darker malts and up the bittering hops. Finally, everything I've read about sticke alts suggests they are frequently dry hopped, so you definitely need either dry hops or finishing hops.

I brewed a smoked Doppelsticke a couple months back with a group of friends. It was originally going to be bourbon barrel aged, but the beer currently in the barrel ended up infected, so I am just going to bottle it as is. It is cold conditioning still, gravity was ~1.020 last time I pulled a sample.

You could swap the rauch out for pils, and add some later boil hop additions if that is what you are aiming for.

Double Secret Probation

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.25
Total Grain (Lbs): 15.75
Anticipated OG: 1.088
Anticipated SRM: 22.1
Anticipated IBU: 48.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80 %
Wort Boil Time: 120 Minutes

Grain
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12.00 lbs. German Munich Malt
3.00 lbs. Rauchmalt (German Beechwood Smoked Malt)
0.50 lbs. CaraMunich Malt
0.25 lbs. Carafa Special II

Hops
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2.00 oz. Galena @ 60 min.

Extras
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1.00 Whirlfloc @ 15 Min.(boil)
0.25 Tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 15 Min.(boil)

Yeast
------
White Labs WLP011 European Ale

Water Profile
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Washington DC

Mash Schedule
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Overnight @ 155

Oldsock, what was your final gravity on that beer? I plan on using the wyeast 1007 and making a pretty good sized starter. I do not want a really sweet beer, so anything I can do to help dry this out would be good. I think I will use your suggestions for cutting back on grains, and I am upping the hops for bitterness. I don't want there to be a wild hop aroma/flavor in this beer. Just a smooth bitterness from the Spalt hops. In this style, the maltiness and hoppiness is supposed to blend together.

My FG was around 1.020 last time I checked, I think the overnight mash boosted the fermentability a bit.

Normally Alts have a pretty asserive bitterness, but the bigger ones (not that there are many German examples) tend to be more malt/sweet blanced in my experience.

Oldsock said:

the bigger ones (not that there are many German examples) tend to be more malt/sweet blanced in my experience.

Click to expand...

This kind of makes sense because of how big the beers are, so I tend to agree with you. I think I will try to mash at a lower temp to see how that affects my FG. I am going to do the same mash as I did for my Kölsch (excellent results) - 149º for 90 mins, with a double batch sparge.

I probably will not brew this until August just because of availability of fermenters and space in the lagering fridge, but I will keep you posted on how my efficiency and gravities go. I plan on 2 weeks primary, then lagering for 3-4 weeks in the secondary to mellow it out. I may even add a lager yeast strain to it in the secondary to see what happens.

I brewed the same recipe as OldSock also intended for the barrel. I really recommend not using 011. It's less attenuative and just doesn't produce the classic Alt flavors as 1007 does. I would also note that we used Munich as the base malt with no Pils. It will produce more of a malt bomb, but if you get the IBUs up around 50-60, it should be very balanced. Good luck.

Update... I had never had a sticke, let alone a doppelsticke before creating this recipe. The style just sounded like I should enjoy it. Well.... last night I happened to try a Urige Doppelsticke and I DID NOT ENJOY IT AT ALL! I am sooooooo glad I found examples of the style before brewing gallons of it. Now I can totally dismiss it and focus on beers I actually like to drink.
Phew! Crisis averted.