Need feedback on Belgian dubbel recipe

[Jayjay1976]

Okay I just took a gamble and added a pound of the dark syrup. I'll lower the temp to 80 unless anyone thinks I should do otherwise. Do I need to put a blowoff tube on it again? It has a 3-piece airlock on it right now. I'm going now to my LHBS with samples of three batches for them to taste and critique; two hefeweizens and a kölsch.

 

[ericbw]

I probably wouldn’t add sugar at that point, esp if it’s done. It’s ok though!

 

[Jayjay1976]

I probably wouldn’t add sugar at that point, esp if it’s done. It’s ok though!

It wasn't done yet, even thought it was approaching FG it was still bubbling slowly. Once I added the Belgian syrup, within no more than 15 minutes it was bubbling nonstop and it's just now starting to slow again. Once bubbling stops I'll give it another week of conditioning before I bottle. The color darkened a bit but not as much as I anticipated; is it possible some of the syrup is sitting on the bottom unfermented? I assumed the hungry yeast would chew through it and the bubbling would thoroughly mix in the dark color. I also wanted to save some yeast but I worry the high alcohol will have stressed it too much.

 

[redllama]

I personally have never been able to extract as much color from belgian candi syrup, whether it was store bought or homemade. I wonder if there is some secret those monks aren't telling us

 

[jtp137]

D-90 or D-180 provides plenty of color

 

[Jayjay1976]

was I supposed to stir the wort as I added the Belgian syrup to keep it from lumping up on the bottom of the fermenter? I assumed the action of the yeast create enough agitation to mix it. I guess it will get a stir anyway at bottling time to distribute the priming sugar.

 

[jtp137]

Did fermentation kick back off? Not sure if it will this late in the game

 

[Jayjay1976]

Did fermentation kick back off? Not sure if it will this late in the game

Yeah it sure did, bubbling had slowed to twice a minute. But once I added the candi syrup, within 15 minutes it was bubbling nonstop again and the next day had raised 1/4" of krausen.

 

[ericbw]

was I supposed to stir the wort as I added the Belgian syrup to keep it from lumping up on the bottom of the fermenter? I assumed the action of the yeast create enough agitation to mix it. I guess it will get a stir anyway at bottling time to distribute the priming sugar.

You don't want to introduce oxygen at this point in the process, so don't stir. You'd also stir up a cloud of sediment from the bottom, making it take longer to clear. It's obvious that waiting is not your strong suit, so you don't want to do that Leave it alone.

When you bottle - make a solution of the priming sugar and a little water, boil it (microwave) and let it cool. Put it in the bottling bucket. Then add your beer to the bucket with a hose that reaches the bottom of the bucket. Avoid splashing. This will swirl the sugar and beer together. Don't stir. Oxygen in beer is bad. Don't stir.

I'd still save the yeast. I save my Belgian yeast no matter the beer I make with it.

 

[Jayjay1976]

You don't want to introduce oxygen at this point in the process, so don't stir. You'd also stir up a cloud of sediment from the bottom, making it take longer to clear. It's obvious that waiting is not your strong suit, so you don't want to do that Leave it alone.

When you bottle - make a solution of the priming sugar and a little water, boil it (microwave) and let it cool. Put it in the bottling bucket. Then add your beer to the bucket with a hose that reaches the bottom of the bucket. Avoid splashing. This will swirl the sugar and beer together. Don't stir. Oxygen in beer is bad. Don't stir.

I'd still save the yeast. I save my Belgian yeast no matter the beer I make with it.

Thanks!

 

[Jayjay1976]

It's been a week today since I added the candi syrup, the temperature hovered between 75-78 and the gravity is now back at 1.012 where it was before adding the additional sugar. I don't expect it to fall any further so I'm going to bottle it tomorrow. I'll add priming sugar to carb it at 2.5 volumes. Can anyone tell me the correct way to calculate the ABV? I was thinking of going back to the calculator and adding the 1 pound of dark syrup to see the change in anticipated OG, then add the 0.003 overshoot.

Edit: I plugged in a pound of D-180 candi sugar as a guess that it is the closest equivalent to my homemade 290* syrup, should give around 24 SRM which seems close to how the sample looks.

BrewersFriend estimated FG of 1.074, I assume 1.077 because of my 3 point overshoot; with FG of 1.012 gives 8.53% ABV @83% attenuation.

The gravity sample tasted delicious, plenty of sweet malty aroma with notes of cherries, chocolate and raisins with a surprisingly dry finish. This is the beer I've been dreaming of! I can't wait till it's ready!!

 

[ericbw]

Looks good!

Add the syrup into the recipe to get your OG. Is that what you mean?

 

[Jayjay1976]

Looks good!

Add the syrup into the recipe to get your OG. Is that what you mean?

Yeah that's what I did. I'm bottling tomorrow, the grav sample tasted great. This might become a regular for me, it was so easy to brew and I think it's going to turn out great. Tomorrow after bottling this dubbel I'm going to whip up another couple batches of candi syrup, just to have on hand.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Here is a shot of it at bottling to show how dark it turned out.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Today is exactly three weeks since bottling day, it's carbing up nicely but a bit sweet for my taste. Since its only in the mid-60s in my laundry room, I put a case of bottles in a cooler on a heating mat set to 85 for the past week. Those bottles are really carbed but still a bit sweet. Flavor is quite good but I think this batch could use some aging, can I expect it to dry out a bit more with time?

 

[dmtaylor]

Hard to say. If it's been 85 F for a week, I'd say probably not. But I could be wrong.

 

[thehaze]

I do not think the beer will dry out in the bottle, but it is very possible that after some conditioning, the flavours would " come together " better than they do now. This is from own experience, as I too had some beers with too much sweetness, but it mellowed out given some time.