Belgian Dubbel first partial

[Zanian]

Hey guys,

Relatively new brewer here (new on the forums!) and I'm looking to brew a Dubbel by partial mash. I'll be brewing a 6gal (23l) batch:

Mash:
3lbs Pilsen (Dingemans) 23.1 %
1lbs Aromatic Malt (Dingemans) 7.7 %
1lbs Munich I (Weyermann) 7.7 %
8oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L 3.8 %

Boil:
5.5lbs LME Pilsen Light (Briess) (2.3 SRM) 42.3 %
2lbs Candi Syrup, D-180 (180.0 SRM) 15.4 %
2oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min
1.25oz Saaz [3.75 %] - Boil 30.0 min
1oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 30.0 min
1pkg Abbey Ale (White Labs #WLP530)

OG 1.069
FG 1.017
SRM 27.9

I definitely need to make a starter and my calculations say about 4l. Is that way too much for a starter or should I use 2 vials? Also, I might not use the D-180 but rather make my own syrup so I can't be certain about if it will yield the same SRM but I'm not too concerned about that. I don't have any experience drinking Belgian inspired American Dubbels but I have spent quite a bit of time in Belgium drinking theirs and am taking Westmalle's dubbel as my inspiration (not that I am looking to clone it in any way).

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

 

[solbes]

A 3-4L starter sounds about right with one vial of yeast. Your recipe looks pretty good. I would say that Belgians are mostly about the yeast. You have a fair amount of hop complexity that you could maybe scale back on. 21-25 IBU's would be good with this recipe. I would stick with 1 or 2 hop varieties.

2 lbs of D180 will taste great, I highly recommend that stuff. I would experiment with home made stuff on a tripel or other belgian, as the darker syrups are critical on the Dubbel. I have made home made syrup on several batches, and although I am getting closer I am still not there yet.

Temp control is important on Belgians. Pitch at low/mid sixties, hold for 2 days, and then ramp a degree each day. Try to hit low seventies for a dry finish.

Cheers!

 

[sweetcell]

+1 to all of the above.

keep the D-180. it's very hard to replicate that flavor.

drop the 30 min hops. traditionally, dubbels have a single 60 min addition to get 20-25 IBUs. if you want to be non-traditional and get some hop aroma/flavor in there, add the hops at 10, 5 and/or 0 minutes. 30 mins is a bit of a waste: you'll boil off most of the aroma and flavor compounds (too long) and you won't get all the bittering from those hops (too short). some folks say "but i get some flavor from 30 min hops" - maybe, but you'll get a lot more at 10 mins.

with that much sugar in there, there is a good chance you'll end up lower than 1.017.

you could consider using Special B instead of the C-60, would be more traditional (not that C-60 is a bad choice in this case).

 

[Zanian]

Thanks for the replies. I've been quite hesistant about subbing the syrup for homemade because I've never done it before and want to first make a good dubbel before experimenting with sugars. Also, I'm actually in Belgium right now so I can bring back some kandijsiroop with little trouble. As for the hops, I've changed them all to 60mins and the IBU is 22.6 according to Beersmith so that should be okay.

Cheers!

 

[Calder]

Looks OK. Maybe a touch more sugar. I've never tried D-180, I've always made my own. I've got to get some to see what it does.

Mash those grains at 148 - 150 F, with a partial mash; you want to get them as fermentable as possible.

Use special B, and maybe up it to 12 or 16 ozs.

I don't know what the temp profile of 530 is. For my Belgians, I start mid to high 60s for a couple of days, and then raise them to about 80 over the course of a week.

Under-pitching is 'desirable' in a Belgian as it helps stress the yeast and brings out some of the flavors. Yes, do a starter, you do want a healthy pitch, but do not be concerned that you do not have enough.