Belgian Dubbel Tips

I'm looking to play with some recipes I have found online. According to what I have in stock, I have come up with these two recipes. I was wondering if anyone had some advice on grain amounts. Most importantly, I wanted to know what spices to use and if I could get some criticism on the possible spices I have dreamed up. I am attempting to use some Belgian-style yeasts wrangled from bottles. I'm still a bit new to this, I've only done about 15 all grain batches so bare with me. Also, I know some of the hops are a bit high in alpha for a Belgian dubbel but I don't have a whole lot to work with in terms of stock.

Here are the two recipes:

Dubbel Custom

Amount Item Type
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 75.00 %
2.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 12.50 %
0.50 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3.125 %
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt Grain 3.125 %
1.00 oz Czech Saaz (60 min) Hops ? %
1.00 oz Chinook (30 min) Hops ? %
1.00 oz Chinook (5 min) Hops ? %
1.50 lb Candi Sugar, Gold (0.5 SRM) Sugar 6.25 %
1 Pkgs Trappist Ale (Spencer Trappist or Belgian Abbey) Yeast-Ale

Dubbel Custom II

Amount Item Type % or IBU
11.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (1.0 SRM) Grain 85.4 %
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 3.7 %
0.31 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.3 %
0.16 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.2 %
1.00 oz Vanguard [5-7%] (60 min) Hops ?
1.00 oz Chinook (45 min) Hops ?
1.25 lb Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 7.4 %
1 Pkgs Trappist Ale (Spencer Trappist or Belgian Abbey) Yeast-Ale

Spice Options:

Pair 1 = (Belgian Ale) 7g Orange Peel (crushed) at 30 min and 7g whole Coriander at 5min, 10min or end of boil

Pair 2 = (Belgian Ale) ¼ teaspoon seeds of paradise (lightly crushed) at 5 min, 2 oz cocoa nibs at 10 mins or substitute cocoa for 1 oz coriander at 10 mins

As I just reformatted my computer I can't check my old recipe in excel, but I believe I used Pilsner, Munich, Special B, Dark Candi Sugar and maybe some Oats. For grain bill I would definitely include the Special B and I would definitely go with the dark sugar. A little caramunich and a touch of chocolate is probably fine too. I would lose the late hops and shoot for 20-30 IBUs especially if you want to go a non traditional route and add some spices.

Personally I would probably prefer no spices in my dubbel, but if you want to mix it up a bit, then go big with a complimentary flavor. It doesnt seem like the style to add a touch of this or a touch of that. I think the coriander or grains of paradise will get lost in the other flavors. Some orange peel or cocoa nibs could compliment I think for a non traditional dubbel, but I don't have much experience there. I always thought the idea of adding vanilla would be nice.

No spices. Belgian yeast is a must. Temp control with ability to raise temp up to 70*, even 80*, would greatly aid belgian character given off from yeast- pepper/clove or fruitiness depending on yeast. I always start 65* then depending on style let temp ramp up to 73-75 or even 80*

Drop the Chinook. You don't need spices, the yeast is the signature.

Find out what strain of yeast you are using. Some Belgian yeasts can be akward to use, and drop out if you don't have the temp right.

I have done a lot of successful Belgians in the past. Last one I did, I used yeast cultured from a bottle; first use was in a low gravity beer, and it did fine in the low 70s. Second time in a 10% beer, it stalled around 1.030, and I couldn't get it going again. I don't know what strain it is, but I'm guessing it is something like the Dupont strain which like temps really high. I still have some of the yeast and will try again, but ramp the temperature up into the mid 80s as fermentation starts to slow down and see what happens.