Fermentation temps for dubbels

[supe_kitchen]

I have made a few dubbels and have had limited success and I am curious about what other people are doing with their temps when fermenting. I use a fridge with a Johnson controller that stays around 66-68 with at most three buckets going at a time. I am wondering if I can improve my yeast flavor profile by pulling my fermenter out of the fridge after primary and letting it hang out around 73 (ambient house temp)? Anyways I am just trying to pick people's brains on what they do, any input would help...thanks!

 

[beergolf]

double post

 

[beergolf]

I have made a few dubbels and have had limited success and I am curious about what other people are doing with their temps when fermenting. I use a fridge with a Johnson controller that stays around 66-68 with at most three buckets going at a time. I am wondering if I can improve my yeast flavor profile by pulling my fermenter out of the fridge after primary and letting it hang out around 73 (ambient house temp)? Anyways I am just trying to pick people's brains on what they do, any input would help...thanks!

I love Belgians and brew them often. Here are my thoughts. Depending on the yeast but generally I like to pitch them at the low end of the temp range or even a little lower. Hold the temp for a day or two and slowly let them warm up. Then give them plenty of time to finish.

I will do a regular brew in 2-3 weeks in the fermenter and 2-3 weeks in the bottle before drinking. Belgians change that to months for the best results.


Leave them in your fermenter for a couple of days, depending on how fast they start, then pull them out, let them go at room temp till they are done. Most brews are done soon, but Belgians really do need more time. I like to leave them in the primary for 4-8 weeks, depending on gravity. Then bottle and let them sit for a couple of months. Enjoy.

 

[robtotten]

^^^ What he said. What yeast are you using? A lot of Belgian brewers will turn off the jackets (or whatever those heat exchange pipes are called in open fermenters) after a few days. But they also pitch enough yeast to get the beer taking off immediately, no lag like you see with homebrew using some of these high maintenance psycho hose beast yeasts. I'd say 2 days once the fermentation has really picked up.

 

[supe_kitchen]

Not sure what kind of yeast I will use, but proly either white labs Trappist or abbey. What I think I will do is primary two weeks at 66-68 and then leave at room temp in secondary for a month. After that I will keg and put on the gas, which will proly be too soon but at least I can tell if the room temp for a month helps.

 

[beergolf]

Not sure what kind of yeast I will use, but proly either white labs Trappist or abbey. What I think I will do is primary two weeks at 66-68 and then leave at room temp in secondary for a month. After that I will keg and put on the gas, which will proly be too soon but at least I can tell if the room temp for a month helps.

That should be fine. You can save yourself some trouble if you can spare the fermenter for the whole six weeks. Just leave it in the primary for the whole time. I have a couple of fermenters dedicated to Belgians that I can just let them sit and forget about them.

I don't keg so I can't tell you about that. The thing I have noticed with most Belgians is that they also like a longer time to bottle condition. Think months, not weeks. I notice the flavor really does change a lot with time. And change in a good way. One of the first Belgians I did I began drinking at 3-4 weeks and it was good. I had a case of 12oz bottles and a case of 22. I drank the case of 12 up pretty quickly, but basically forgot about the 22's for several months. I am now pissed that I drank the 12oz bottle so quickly because this beer has aged in a great brew.

Denny Conn has a recipe for a Belgian quad that calls for aging 6 months in the bottle before drinking, so there must be something to aging Belgians.

Here is a quote from a dubbel recipe......

"As in other dark high gravity Belgian’s a Westmalle Dubbel requires a long cellar duration for flavor development. 4-6 months in cellar minimum. Make a double batch for weekly flavor checks to analyze flavor development over time."

 

[supe_kitchen]

Just updating here. I went with the white labs abbey yeast (two vials instead of a starter) and it has been fermenting at 67-68 for about 4 days. I am going to pull the fermenter out of the fridge tomorrow and let it go at room temp for 4 weeks. After that I will keg and gas and see how it turns out. Usually my beer sitting in the kegerator will get better as it cold conditions, but I have a problem keeping away from it (especially if it is good).