Looking to brew a Dubbel

[CAHLHEIM]

I am looking for some input on ingredient selection and ratio's, as well as recommendations for a yeast strain and amount to pitch.

3 Gallon Partial

5lb Light Dried Malt Extract (DME)
8oz Belgian Pale Ale Malt
4oz Aromatic Malt
2oz Caramunich
1oz Special B
2oz Yakima Golding Leaf Hops (1oz/45min - 1oz/15min)
8oz Dark Belgian Candi Syrup

 

[Parker36]

-Ditch the pale, up the amount of CaraM and Special B.
-See if you can't get Styrian Goldings instead of Yakima
- WLP500 (or Wyeast 1214) is the Chimay strain, which is what I would use. Definitely make a starter (go to MrMalty.com for a calculator)

 

[CAHLHEIM]

We used leaf hops for the first time a few weeks ago and I liked working with them more so than the pellet. With that said, the Yakima was available in leaf form so I selected them but the Styrian Goldings are available in pellet form, is the difference that great?
Also, when you say up the CaraM and the SpecB, are you suggesting doubling the given amounts?

Thanks for the input, it is appreciated.

 

[Parker36]

There really isn't any difference between leaf and pellet hops as far as quality goes, but Styrian is the traditional hop for all nearly Belgian beers, so I would stick to it if possible. As far as your steeping grains, I would probably just get rid of the pale, and double the rest (CaraM, Spec. B, and Aromatic) and perhaps add and extra lb of Light LME.

Do you have beersmith or any software you can run it through?
What about "Brew Like a Monk"? If you are interested in Belgian beers, it is worth the money to pick up

 

[CAHLHEIM]

My brother and I just recently listened to the BasicBrew Podcast where they interviewed the writer of Brew Like a Monk.... seemed pretty interesting so I may just pick it up. I'm not really familiar with BeerSmith, so I will do some reading up on it. I did run my original bill through the TastyBrew Recipe Calculator and came up with these numbers.
OG 1.084
FG 1.021
IBU 30
SRM 18
ABV 8.1

Taking your suggestions into account I come up with.
OG 1.098
FG 1.025
IBU 30
SRM 21
ABV 9.4

It’s quite a bit hotter.... but that’s not necessarily bad thing.