Dry dubbel?

[brianpablo]

I love the flavors of dubbels, both the esters from the fermentation and the overall maltiness of them. But I'm finding them a bit cloying, and was trying to figure out a way to get the same combination of flavors with a final gravity about 10 points lower. I've already been making "low-gravity dubbels" if such a thing can be said to exist (NB's La Petite Orange is a good example), but wanted to bring down the residual sugar a bit. Anyone heard of something like this? I took a relatively stock standard dubbel recipe, added some cane sugar, and replaced the usual crystal addition for Carafoam to prevent it from thinning out. Any thoughts?

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.9 %
Bitterness: 19.2 IBUs
Est Color: 30.3 SRM

8.0 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 7.1 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.1 %
4 lbs 8.0 oz Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3 64.3 %
1.00 oz Tradition [6.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 19.2 IBUs
1 lbs Candi Sugar, Dark [Boil for 10 min](275.0 SRM) Sugar 5 14.3 %
8.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) [Boil for 10 min](1.0 SRM) Sugar 6 7.1 %
1.0 pkg Belgian Abbey II (Wyeast Labs #1762) [124.21 ml] Yeast 7 -

 

[RPh_Guy]

Dryness options
-Less malt, more simple sugar
-Less crystal malt
-More sulfate, less chloride (increases perceived dryness)
-Mash for attenuation (147-150°F, 5.4 pH)
-Added enzymes to break down dextrins/starches (also works with extract)

 

[thehaze]

+1 RPh_Guy

I looked over your recipe and you state SRM ( which I presume is morrey scale ) is 30.3. That's Porter/Black IPA territory in terms of colour. A Belgian Dubbel is much lighter, like a deep red/ brown colour, but of course you can shoot for any colour.

But aside that, your grain bill looks OK. I would probably get rid of Carafoam, especially in such a low amount. Add more dry extract if anything. Use 10-15% of the grain bill simple sugar to thin out the body of the beer and give the yeast something to chew on.

If your final gravity is reached at 1.007, it will be fairly dry tasting, if anything, you can go lower by using some enzynes to break down dextrins, but you might end up with something that might be way too thin and watery.

 

[dmtaylor]

Ditch the Carafoam altogether, reduce Special B to 4-6 oz. That's all you really need.

 

[filthyastronaut]

I think that's way too much simple sugar. I wouldn't even go that much for a Tripel even though it's not totally unheard of. But 21 percent by weight of sugar in a lower gravity Dubbel is a lot. If you go by percentage of gravity points it's gonna be higher. I'd at least replace the sucrose with DME.

As for carafoam, I question the point of it when used with sugar, as it doesn't contribute any flavor and it's just fighting against the use of sugar.

 

[tennesseean_87]

Tried bumping the bitterness some?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

The most important thing to achieve a 'digestible' double (or any stronger belgian style) is complete attenuation. Make sure you pitch at the cooler end for your yeast, and steadily increase the temperature until fermentation is complete. If your yeast goes to sleep, the residual sugars taste much sweeter than the ones that are made from a high temp mash (even though FG could be the same).

I agree with filthyastronaut that you have too much sugar for a low gravity double. 20% is about right for a 1.070 beer, not a 1.050 one.
I'd personally increase the malt, keep the sugar and make sure to get full attenuation. Don't forget yeast nutrient - high sugar worts need it. Aim for a FG in the 1.009 to 1.012 range.
You don't need the special B AND dark candi sugar. Use either dark candy syrup (eg. D180) OR special B/crystal in those quantities, or a blend of both at half the amount. From what I've read the dark candy sugar (hard crystallised stuff) is useless (I've never had access to it so can't comment personally).