Belgian dubbel partial mash gravity issue.

[ChefBrew]

I brewed a dubbel last week. White labs Belgian abbey ale yeast
Main mistake- over poured the extract. I failed to weigh it according to the recipe. This brought my OG way over the expected one, which was supposed to be 1.068. So, I added water to bring it down to 1.070. I stopped there because the volume was getting way too high. At this point I have about 5.75 gallons of wort. After 4 days of fermentation I check the gravity and it's at 1.021. Today (7 days after brew day) I am only at 1.020.

I've read a lot of posts on this forum that say to be patient. I am willing to do that. But, I can't help but feel a little anxious, especially because of the initial mistake I made.

My question is, if I bottle at 1.020, will I have bottle bombs? 1.020 will defeat the purpose of making a dubbel, because the ABV will be considerably lower. And, now that I'm writing this, should I just leave it in the primary for as long as it possibly takes to get closer to the target FG? When do you think that the yeast is just over it?

This is my conundrum.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

Two things. That strain of yeast needs to hit 75*F or so to finish out nice and dry in my experience, which I have used it a fair amount. It likes to stall around there and then you need to warm it up and it will finish over the next week.

Also, post your recipe and process as that will have a lot to do with fermentability of the beer.


You did the right thing by adding the water and getting your gravity right.

 

[ChefBrew]

Two things. That strain of yeast needs to hit 75*F or so to finish out nice and dry in my experience, which I have used it a fair amount. It likes to stall around there and then you need to warm it up and it will finish over the next week. Also, post your recipe and process as that will have a lot to do with fermentability of the beer. You did the right thing by adding the water and getting your gravity right.[/

I was mistaken earlier. The OG was supposed to be 1.064


Here's a link to the website I got the recipe from. I don't want to post copy written material. BTW I used 8oz of candi syrup which was what the original recipe called for. They changed it to brown sugar for some reason.
http://www.brewsupply.com/HowTo/Recipes/doubtroub.html

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

I would just try to get your ferment up to around 75F if you can and hold it there for a week or so. That should do it.


Also, BTW, it is ok to post recipes as recipes do not fall under copyright protection. Recipes are just a list of ingredients and cannot be copyrighted. That is why there are so many "secret" recipes.

 

[ChefBrew]

Noted. What range you think my FG should be? I was hoping for around 1.014-16.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

That sounds about right with extract.

 

[ChefBrew]

Just wanted to say thanks to machine shop brewer. I put a heating pad around my Belgian on Sunday. It's been sitting at 80 degree, steady. When I got home today, it was bubbling every 20 seconds. My yeasties are alive!