brewed my first dubbel

[Soulshine2]

Been into "monk" beer lately so i went out of my usual 5 and 6% beers and brewed up a 1.070 OG on Thursday.
Lallemande Abbey yeast . grains were pilsner, 2 row, white wheat, touch of gambrinus honey malt for sweetness. a pinch of 2 row chocolate for color and a touch of roastiness, a little rolled oats in there . dark brown sugar at flame out. hops were east kent goldings, german spalt and saaz,in that order at 60 30 and 15 . according to my numbers it should finish out at 7.6% ,color is a beautiful caramel in the fermenter.

 

[Snuffy]

Man… I love Belgian beer. Yeast‘s finest work, IMO.

 

[Cyclman]

Dubbels are faves. You may want to look up homemade candi sugar, it is fantastic.

 

[Immocles]

I’m hoping to get around to my first one this summer. You’ll have to report back on that dry yeast. I plan on using that as well. I’ve only just started dipping into the Belgian rabbit hole.

 

[Soulshine2]

Dubbels are faves. You may want to look up homemade candi sugar, it is fantastic.

i have but the (3 gallon) recipe i was using as a guide called for dark brown sugar . plus we have all electric appliances and after 50 years of using gas. i wasnt about to experiment making candi sugar.

 

[Soulshine2]

Dubbels are faves. You may want to look up homemade candi sugar, it is fantastic.

i have but the (3 gallon) recipe i was using as a guide called for dark brown sugar . plus we have all electric appliances and after 50 years of using gas. i wasnt about to experiment making candi sugar.

 

[Soulshine2]

got a lot going on but im going to try to bottle this today. I tasted a sample out of the fermenter last week. i think i nailed it .

 

[Soulshine2]

first taste after 12 days post bottling. nailed it !!
first of all the color is a beautiful light brown caramel such as a newcastle brown ale. and at first pour into a snifter type glass, a hefty light tan head that settles down fairly quickly to a light layer of edge foam. the nose is of light banana and raisiny sweetness. mouthfeel is a little oily but on the dry side, carbonation may not quite 100% its full potential but it isnt overwhelming.The flavor front is a brown sugar and honey sweetness noted with fruits like apple and a slight hint of cherry,the hops is almost non-existent. just enough to know its there. ...finishes with again, raisin and honey with a red apple back taste. light flavors , the feel just after half of one , the 7.4% target alcohol is definitely up there in dubbel territory. the beer gods are pleased .

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Sounds nice. I have been very happy with using WLP530 for my Trappist style beers, but giving that Lallemande Abbey a try is on my list. I am not sure if it is exactly like the Chimay strain (WLP500).

The D-180 from Candi Syrup, Inc. is wonderful stuff for a reasonable price. One of these days I want to brew a Dubbel or Quat that is just Pilsner and D-180 (maybe with a long boil). I made a wonderful Quad with just D-180, 2-Row, Wheat and Munich. I am usually not a fan of dark crystal and raisin character in beers, but Special B is also a great addition to Dubbels and Quads.

 

[hamachi]

first taste after 12 days post bottling. nailed it !!

Sounds great. One question: What temperature did you ferment at?

The reason I ask is that I used Lallemand Abbaye in a batch a while back, and while the result was OK, it seemed to lack that Trappist/abbey character with all the fruity notes you mentioned. This makes me think that maybe I fermented at too cool a temperature.

 

[spittiz]

Sounds great. One question: What temperature did you ferment at?

The reason I ask is that I used Lallemand Abbaye in a batch a while back, and while the result was OK, it seemed to lack that Trappist/abbey character with all the fruity notes you mentioned. This makes me think that maybe I fermented at too cool a temperature.

Not OP but I did a dubbel with the Lallemand Abbaye yeast which turned out nice IMO, I fermented it at ~21-22c. What was your temp?

 

[Soulshine2]

Sounds great. One question: What temperature did you ferment at?

The reason I ask is that I used Lallemand Abbaye in a batch a while back, and while the result was OK, it seemed to lack that Trappist/abbey character with all the fruity notes you mentioned. This makes me think that maybe I fermented at too cool a temperature.

i ferment in my basement with no help of a heater or cooler. its in a back corner so it stays cooler and fairly stabile. so i choose my brews and yeast by season. i think it was at 74-76 degrees but it may have been a little warmer towards the end of the ferment. this yeast likes it a little warm .it really was only hard active 4 days. i let it clean up a full 2 weeks .

"Aroma and flavor is fruity and spicy with a hint of alcohol. The optimal temperature range for Abbaye yeast when producing traditional styles is 17°C(63°F) to 25°C(77°F). The pitch rate will affect the fermentation performance and flavor of the beer.

Belgian-Style Ale Yeast Abbaye - Lallemand Brewing"

 

[madscientist451]

The flavor front is a brown sugar and honey sweetness noted with fruits like apple and a slight hint of cherry,the hops is almost non-existent. just enough to know its there. ...finishes with again, raisin and honey with a red apple back taste. .

Great post! I appreciate the tasting notes. So if this beer was entered into a competition, would it work as a Dubbel or would it be a Belgian Dark Strong Ale?
I've got a simple Dubbel finishing up now on WLP 500, this sounds like it would be good to dump on the yeast cake, any chance you could put in the whole recipe?

 

[hamachi]

Thank you @spittiz and @Soulshine2 for the temperature info. It confirms that I probably did ferment at too low a temperature to maximize the character of the yeast. In my case, I pitched in the low 60s F and fermented in the upper 60s. (I don't have precise temperature control, but that's the temp the room was at.)

Next time I try Abbaye, I'll go hotter. Now that summer is here, that should be easy.

 

[soccerdad]

I made my first dubbel recently. I did a small batch and bottled it, since (to me) it's a sipping beer - a one a day beer - and I didn't need a keg full. I was a bit disappointed as it finished (with T58 yeast). I couldn't get it below 1.020 (from 1.070). But after almost 3 weeks in the bottle, the taste is spot on. It's a keeper.

 

[Soulshine2]

Great post! I appreciate the tasting notes. So if this beer was entered into a competition, would it work as a Dubbel or would it be a Belgian Dark Strong Ale?
I've got a simple Dubbel finishing up now on WLP 500, this sounds like it would be good to dump on the yeast cake, any chance you could put in the whole recipe?

i wouldnt enter it, im past competing , itd just make me overthink brewing and i wouldnt enjoy it as much , ruined my taxidermy years ago with competition. im happy with my favorite judge anyway, my wife and friends. My wife tasted this and surprisingly she said to me , "oh my god this tastes exactly like Karmelite, how did you do that ???" one of her fav monk beers. i wasnt even trying to clone anything. i just read up on recipes in brew like a monk and took it from there.