Primary/Secondary/Bottling Schedule for A Dubbel?

[ophillium]

Hey folks, I'm hoping for some insight into the fermentation and bottle conditioning schedule for a belgian-style dubbel.

I brewed a 5.5 gallon batch on June 5th, racked it on July 3rd and have left it sitting in the shadows ever since.

I know it needs extended time in the bottle, so by the same logic I assume it needs extra time in secondary as well.

Any suggestions/thoughts on how long to leave it in secondary, and then how long to let it sit in the bottle before drinking it?

Side question: anyone ever pitched brett into a dubbel? how'd it turn out?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

My answer probably won't be very popular, but it's how I like my Belgians.

I keep a small amount of wort aside for a fast ferment test, to see where my FG should finish. A couple of days after my main wort reaches FG, I bottle (this is normally 7 to 10 days, but might be more for a bigger Belgian or cooler ferment). No secondary. No extra time to clean up/condition. I do this to keep as much flavour from the yeast as possible, but it does mean a bit of extra sediment in the bottles. The time for the flavours to meld and mature is in the bottle - leave them for a few weeks at room temperature, then store them for a few months at cellar temps.

You might need a bit longer to carbonate at room temp now, given that a lot of your yeast will have dropped out.

I've never used Brett.

 

[dmtaylor]

I don't secondary so my dubbel would have been bottled and half gone already.

Brett would be lovely in a dubbel based recipe but of course then it is not a dubbel anymore. I have not yet made a Flanders red which is kind of what this would become.

 

[ophillium]

Thanks for the opinions folks. Today I learned: bottle early and let sit.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I keg but I wouldn't secondary any beer. I'd let it sit in primary as long as fermentation goes then let it sit for however long you'd do secondary for and bottle from there.