Help with Christmas Dubbel Recipe?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

BostonHomeBruin

Active Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2012
Messages
41
Reaction score
1
Location
Watertown
I know it's probably late in the game at this point, but I'd like to brew a darker spiced beer for the holidays. I love trappist ales so I'd like to make a dubbel but spice it up a bit. What do you think about the recipe below?

Note that I'm planning on brewing a smaller batch, just 3 gallons. I've read some places that dubbels need months to condition, but I'm not trying to make this one overly strong, I'm planning on keeping it on the lower end of the ABV spectrum while still conforming to style. If I brew this over the next week or so, will I be able to enjoy this around Christmas, or at least sometime during the winter?

I'd like to get a lot of that raising and caramel flavor along with some holiday spices. I have some leftover bitter orange peels and coriander left over from my wit. Would you recommend adding those? Other spices I was considering would be cinnamon and nutmeg, and perhaps cloves or allspice.

Also, what is more important to the dubbel flavor and color- the Special B or the D-90 candi syrup? If I try to include both on Brewtoad, the color is off the charts dark. I have a recipe put together with B-90 but no candi syrup, and it conforms to the style, but I don't know if it'll be missing out on flavor. I do have a pound of clear candi sugar crystals that I decided not to use in a previous brew, so I could always add them but it doesn't sound like the clear stuff does any good.

I got a lot of great feedback for my wit, so I'd love to see what you think of this. My tentative title for this is "Ugly Sweater Christmas Ale". :tank:


Type: Extract
Batch size: 3.0 gal
Boil time: 60 min


1.063 OG
1.015 FG
20 IBU
6.2% ABV
16 SRM
0.32 IBU/OG

Fermentables:
CARAMUNICH® III 8.0 oz Steep
Special B® MD™ 4.0 oz Steep
Munich LME 3.3 lb Boil
Pilsen Light DME 1.0 lb Boil
Plain Dark DME 8.0 oz Boil

Hops:
Saaz Czech Republic 1.0 oz 30 min
Saaz Czech Republic 1.0 oz 5 min

Yeast:
Wyeast Belgian Abbey, 1214

Extras:
Irish Moss 1.0 tbs 15.0 min
Allspice 1.0 tbs 5.0 min
Cinnamon (Ground) 1.0 tsp 5.0 min
Nutmeg (Ground) 1.0 tsp 5.0 min
Bitter Orange Peel 0.25 oz 5.0 min
 
BostonHomeBruin said:
I know it's probably late in the game at this point, but I'd like to brew a darker spiced beer for the holidays. I love trappist ales so I'd like to make a dubbel but spice it up a bit. What do you think about the recipe below?

Note that I'm planning on brewing a smaller batch, just 3 gallons. I've read some places that dubbels need months to condition, but I'm not trying to make this one overly strong, I'm planning on keeping it on the lower end of the ABV spectrum while still conforming to style. If I brew this over the next week or so, will I be able to enjoy this around Christmas, or at least sometime during the winter?

I'd like to get a lot of that raising and caramel flavor along with some holiday spices. I have some leftover bitter orange peels and coriander left over from my wit. Would you recommend adding those? Other spices I was considering would be cinnamon and nutmeg, and perhaps cloves or allspice.

Also, what is more important to the dubbel flavor and color- the Special B or the D-90 candi syrup? If I try to include both on Brewtoad, the color is off the charts dark. I have a recipe put together with B-90 but no candi syrup, and it conforms to the style, but I don't know if it'll be missing out on flavor. I do have a pound of clear candi sugar crystals that I decided not to use in a previous brew, so I could always add them but it doesn't sound like the clear stuff does any good.

I got a lot of great feedback for my wit, so I'd love to see what you think of this. My tentative title for this is "Ugly Sweater Christmas Ale". :tank:

Type: Extract
Batch size: 3.0 gal
Boil time: 60 min

1.063 OG
1.015 FG
20 IBU
6.2% ABV
16 SRM
0.32 IBU/OG

Fermentables:
CARAMUNICH® III 8.0 oz Steep
Special B® MD™ 4.0 oz Steep
Munich LME 3.3 lb Boil
Pilsen Light DME 1.0 lb Boil
Plain Dark DME 8.0 oz Boil

Hops:
Saaz Czech Republic 1.0 oz 30 min
Saaz Czech Republic 1.0 oz 5 min

Yeast:
Wyeast Belgian Abbey, 1214

Extras:
Irish Moss 1.0 tbs 15.0 min
Allspice 1.0 tbs 5.0 min
Cinnamon (Ground) 1.0 tsp 5.0 min
Nutmeg (Ground) 1.0 tsp 5.0 min
Bitter Orange Peel 0.25 oz 5.0 min

The clear sugar will raise your ABV. Which should be good for a dubbel.
 
For future reference, clear candi sugar/syrup.crystals don't get you anything table sugar doesn't, so go the cheap route with that, and spend your money on better qualtiy yeast, grains, hops, equipment, etc.
 
The clear sugar will raise your ABV. Which should be good for a dubbel.

It wouldn't do anything for the taste though, right? I want to make sure I get that distinct raising and fig flavor. I'm wondering if that comes more from the Special B or the dark candi syrup.
 
It creates a drier finished product that adding gravity with malt, but does not add those flavors. I think you can get them from spec grains or dark sugars. Some choose one or the other and others do some of both. The recipes on Candi Syrup Inc. use mostly sugars, while Jamil's Quad recipe uses lots of specialty grains and plain table sugar.
 
I'd like to get a lot of that raising and caramel flavor along with some holiday spices. I have some leftover bitter orange peels and coriander left over from my wit. Would you recommend adding those?

Im not sure about spicing a dubbel, maybe adding raisins in the boil kettle.

Also, what is more important to the dubbel flavor and color- the Special B or the D-90 candi syrup? If I try to include both on Brewtoad, the color is off the charts dark. I have a recipe put together with B-90 but no candi syrup, and it conforms to the style, but I don't know if it'll be missing out on flavor.

I used D-90 and Special B in my last batch and definitely like the results. Maybe drop the dark DME so you have room?
 
Dark DME will have chocolate and/or Roasted Barley in it which is usually a bit out of style for a Dubbel. I'd say drop that and use dark syrup and special B to get your color.
 
Back
Top