Belgian Dubbel

[Britinusa]

I brewed a Belgian Dubbel from Northern Brewer about 8 weeks ago, I kegged it 3 weeks ago, Tested it today and it tastes horrible, really bad candy is the best i can do to describe the taste, does it improve with age? I hope so as its undrinkable like it is.

 

[ronjonacron]

Was the fg high?

 

[signpost]

What temp did it ferment at?

Recipe, process details, more information?

Are you familiar with the style? Is it actually bad? Or is it just a style you don't particularly like?

 

[daksin]

+1 to previous posters. More information needed.

 

[Pratzie]

I brewed the exact same kit on August 1st of last year. Cracked a bottle at Christmas and it wasn't good, cracked another on Easter and it was better. Im waiting for the one year mark to really check it but im hoping it tastes like nectar of the Gods, otherwise im thinking its just not a tasty kit.

One more thing... did u use the Belgian candy that came with the kit or did u buy the separate syrup? I read on the NB forum that u shouldn't use the stuff in the kit but upgrade to the candi they sell separately. It makes it much better.

 

[Britinusa]

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/allgrain/AG-BelgianDubbel.pdf
That is the one I brewed, it fermented around 68f.
The smell reminds me of toilet cleaner, I just used some this morning and it reminded me of the beer!
I hope thats not the style!

 

[LouBrew13]

Big Belgians need time. But what you described is not what a young dubbel should be like. That makes me nervous because I just got that same kit with the buy 2 get 1 free promo they just ran.

 

[signpost]

Weird. Looks like a pretty straight forward recipe. Although, I might have expected a bit more specialty grains. And with an expected OG around 1.062, I wouldn't expect that it just automatically needs extra time.

One thing that is significantly different than the way I did my last Dubbel is the sugar addition. Adding it 15 minutes before the end of the boil means two things; 1) it is getting cooked a bit, and 2) it is probably the first sugar that the yeast went after. If you didn't quite get the wort fully chilled before pitching, it is possible you just got a lot of 'hot' alcohols from the yeast working through that sugar super fast.

On my last Dubbel, I used candi syrup and didn't add it until 2 days into the fermentation. The yeast was able to work away at the malt based sugars for a while, and then the sugar was added, giving them a boost to attenuate fully.

The only other thing I can think of is that 68F is the bottom end of the suggested range for that yeast. I'm not familiar with that strain, so I can't tell you if that would create off flavors. Usually, lower than ideal temps don't do that, but who knows. You said the beer tastes like 'really bad candy'. Did you take a FG reading? Being at the low end of the temp range for the yeast, you might not have gotten full attenuation.

 

[shutupjojo]

Sounds like you kegged a beer that wasn't fully attenuated. Did you check the gravity or what ?

 

[Cyclman]

I have made that beer, it needs 3-6 months to smooth out, then it is aweseome. Time is your friend with this beer.

 

[Dougie63]

I used the NB recipe to make this as the last one I brewed it was great young maybe something with the ingredients that they are putting together, I just used the recipe and bought my own grains at the LHBS

 

[Britinusa]

I took gravity reads so I know it had finished fermenting before I kegged it, Im going to leave it for another month before I sample it again.

 

[Oceantendency]

How long did you leave in the secondary before kegging? Anything less than 2 weeks, bad...I've learned the hard way from my second Abbey I made; min 4-6 weeks in secondary, even if finished...it allows the complexities to mature and come together better, then keg, and I would've waited atleast another month and half to 2 months before tasting. That Candi taste will subdue out with age, atleast a good 6 months to a year.

 

[Britinusa]

I never secondary, So i guess I have a long wait ahead!

 

[signpost]

What were your gravity readings? You say you knew it was finished. Does that mean it ended up at a low FG or that it just didn't change for several days in a row. Is it possible the yeast just crapped out and didn't attenuate fully?