Recipe Critique on Belgian Dubbel with Rochefort Strain

[luckybeagle]

Big fan of Belgians and love the Rochefort 8 and 10.. but I've never fermented with the Rochefort Strain (WY1762).

I'd like to brew something in the Dubbel gravity range and came up with this recipe after consulting BLAM and various forums:

69% Weyermann Pilsner (I have a bag of this at the ready so I'm going to use this instead of Dingemans)
8% Torrified Wheat
8% Caramunich
15% D-90

Noble Hops (Mittelfruh or Styrian, or both)

OG: 1.064
FG: 1.010?
IBU: 25

Mash 148F

Water profile: Bru'n'water's Brown Balanced

My biggest conerns/curiosities are these:

1. It's a relatively low gravity dubbel. Is 15% of the total grain bill weight in candisyrup too much? I know 15% - 20% is more common in big BDSAs with 1.090+ OGs, so I'm just curious if the adjunct weight needs to be more carefully considered/reduced in a non-scalar way so that the beer isn't lacking in richness or flavor.

2. I have the Rochefort water profile, but since I have no clue what the Trappists do to their water, I thought brown balanced would be a good one to go with--and rely on the adjunct fermentability, yeast, and high carbonation to bring out the dryness.

Any suggestions or glaringly obvious mistakes here in the grain bill, process or logic?

Thanks!

 

[hottpeper13]

I don't know about percentages ,my Dupples use D-180 1 lb in a 5 gal batch at 1.080,also 4-8 oz of Special B or C-120 but not both.

 

[madscientist451]

Looks like the Rochefort 8 and 10 recipe from the Candi-syrup website, except they use D-180 and some soft sugar. I’d say go for it and then do a side by side tasting with the commercial version. I love making clones, especially when I get lucky and my version is better than the original.

 

[luckybeagle]

Looks like the Rochefort 8 and 10 recipe from the Candi-syrup website, except they use D-180 and some soft sugar. I’d say go for it and then do a side by side tasting with the commercial version. I love making clones, especially when I get lucky and my version is better than the original.

Spot on! I took the recipes from that site, but since the the 8 fits more in the quad category, I thought it'd be best to scale the recipe down and use a candisyrup color that would be more representative of dubbel. Though some of the dubbel recipes on that site do use D-180. It'd be nice if CSI would do a write up on the 6...

I did make a switch to Triple Double (Imperial's equivalent of the Westmalle WY3787 strain) at the last minute. My LHBS didn't have a fresh enough Rochefort pack and I was trying to get away from making a starter this time, so Westmalle it is. Should make a great slurry pitch for the upcoming Westy clone attempt (thanks for your input on the other thread I started too, btw).

EDIT: I'm thinking about adding in 8 oz Special B to compliment the D-90. Too much?

 

[madscientist451]

Should make a great slurry pitch for the upcoming Westy clone attempt (thanks for your input on the other thread I started too, btw).

EDIT: I'm thinking about adding in 8 oz Special B to compliment the D-90. Too much?

Ive heard you can just toss in a pack of yeast from Imperial with no worries; MNot sure about the special B, perhaps brew a small batch and try it?

 

[hottpeper13]

If not using the D-180 then 8 oz of Special -B is spot on for some dark fruit and plumy flavors.