Putting together a Belgian Dubbel recipe - critique needed!

[Juno_Malone]

Hey all,

I'm putting together a Belgian Dubbel recipe to brew this summer once the house starts to get a little warmer. Here's what I've built so far, any and all criticism is welcome! I've never brewed a Belgian ale before, so I've just borrowed ideas from recipes here and there.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.2
Original Gravity: 1.070
Final Gravity: 1.014
IBU: 35
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 22
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 days @ 68F

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
10 lb Belgian - Pilsner 37 1.6 75.5%
1.5 lb Belgian - CaraMunich 33 50 11.3%
1 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark 32 80 7.5%
0.75 lb Belgian - Special B 34 115 5.7%
13.25 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
1 oz Brewer's Gold Leaf/Whole 9 Boil 60 min 26.59
1 oz Styrian Goldings Leaf/Whole 5.5 Boil 15 min 8.06

Mash at 1.25qt/lb at 152F for 60 minutes, sparge with 170F to reach desired pre-boil volume of 6gal.

Any thoughts on this? I may throw in a little bit of ground coriander...

 

[beergolf]

You BU:GU ratio is high. The average ratio for a dubbel is .292, you are at .5. So cut back some on the bittering hops.

I like my dubbels pretty dry, so if I was doing it I would cut back some on the Caramunich and add some more sugar. You can use just plain table sugar for the extra, since you are using the dark syrup for the rest.

I also would probably give it more than 21 days in the fermenter. Belgians can take a little longer to reach FG. They tend to slow down and fool you into thinking they are done, but then slowly tick off a couple of extra points. Besides, they like some age anyway, so leave it in the ferementer for another couple of weeks. Pitch in the mid 60's, hold it there for a couple of days and then you can slowly let the temp rise some. As fermentation slows try to not let the temp drop. This will help the brew finish out.

That is my .02 worth.

Good luck with your brew.

 

[syd138]

It looks good to me except that I would cut back on the hops. For any Belgian ales I do, I only use bittering hops. Try to get your IBUs down to the low 20s.

And if you want to be true to the style, don't add coriander

 

[djbradle]

Yup, agree with all the above on ibu's. Coriander goes great with lighter Belgian ales but not in a dubbel. Other spices such as star anise, cinnamon, cloves could be used but simple is best.