Double Mountain Sacre Bleu Dubbel Clone Attempt

[Juno_Malone]

Hey all,

I'm putting together an attempt to clone Double Mountain's Sacre Bleu dubbel ale. It's been over a year since I had one, so I don't have a lot of tasting notes to go on. The information I do have:

• 7.4% ABV
• 35 IBU
• Brewer's Gold hops (Bittering only? Or perhaps bittering and aroma.)
• Darker in color than an average dubbel
• Chimay yeast

After looking at some basic dubbel recipes, here's what I've thrown together for my first attempt:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.2
Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 35
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 22
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 days @ 68F

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
10 lb Belgian - Pilsner 37 1.6 75.5%
1.5 lb Belgian - CaraMunich 33 50 11.3%
1 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark 32 80 7.5%
0.75 lb Belgian - Special B 34 115 5.7%
13.25 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
1 oz Brewer's Gold Leaf/Whole 9 Boil 60 min 26.59
1 oz Styrian Goldings Leaf/Whole 5.5 Boil 15 min 8.06

Mash at 1.25qt/lb at 152F for 60 minutes, sparge with 170F to reach desired pre-boil volume of 6gal.

Any thoughts on this? I may throw in a little bit of ground coriander, as I remember the beer having a hint of coriander that I didn't think could come from the yeast. Would love some feedback, I've never really brewed a Belgian-style ale before.

 

[Juno_Malone]

Also, what time of year do y'all enjoy drinking Belgian ales? Is a dubbel a good summer beer, or are they better in the Fall once it starts to cool off?

 

[Juno_Malone]

Also, are Brewers Gold hops versatile enough to use for both bittering and flavor/aroma? Their website only mentions Brewers Gold, so I'm not sure if they use any other varieties for this beer.