Belgian Dubbel
This powerful, dark amber beer will overwhelm you with maltiness and charm you with the distinct Belgian flavors of Special B malt and brown candi sugar. Like its Abbey predecessors, this beer needs time to mature its sweet maltiness. We suggest laying down a few bottles for a year to fully appreciate this beer’s potential. To purchase this kit, click here.
Statistics
Original Gravity 1.074
Final Gravity 1.017
Alcohol Content 6.4%
Ingredients
8 lb. Alexander’s Pale Malt Extract
1 lb. Dark Candi Sugar
½ lb. Dingemans Carapils Malt 7° L
½ lb. Dingemans Aromatic Malt 38° L
½ lb. Dingemans Caramunich Malt 63° L
½ lb. Dingemans Special “B” 100° L
1¾ oz. Styrian Goldings Pellets (Bittering)
¼ oz Styrian Goldings Pellets (Flavoring)
Wyeast # 1388XL Belgian Strong Yeast
Procedure
A few hours before you begin to brew, prepare your liquid yeast according to the package instructions. We assume that you are familiar with basic homebrewing techniques, so these procedures are abbreviated.
1. Divide the cracked grains between 4 of the muslin bags (no more than ½ pound per bag) and add them to your brew kettle along with 1½ gallons of cold water. Heat slowly.
2. Steep the grains in hot water (about 145° – 160°F) to extract flavor and color – do not allow to boil. After about 30 minutes, remove the grain bags and then bring the water to a boil.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cans of malt extract and the dark candi syrup. Keep the kettle off the burner and stir until the malt extract and syrup are completely dissolved.
4. Put the pot back on the burner and bring to a boil. Once boiling, place the bittering hops into muslin bags (no more than 1 oz. per bag), add them to the pot, and set your timer to boil for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the pot to avoid boil-overs.
5. After 45 minutes of boiling, add ½ teaspoon of Irish moss, or 1 Whirlfloc tablet, to help clarify your beer (optional).
6. After 50 minutes of boiling place the flavoring hops into a muslin bag and add them to the pot.
7. After 60 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat. Put a lid on your pot and cool it in an ice bath (use your sink) for about 30 minutes. Remove the hop bags.
8. Pour 2 gallons of cold water into your sanitized fermenter, add the cooled wort (the stuff in your pot), and top up with additional water to 5 gallons. Aerate the wort with vigorous stirring, rocking the fermenter, etc.
9. Make sure the wort is below 80°F before adding yeast. Take a hydrometer reading if desired. Add the yeast.
10. Store the fermenter where the temperature will be a fairly constant 65° – 75°F. Active fermentation may take only a few days, or it can last up to 2 weeks. A hydrometer reading is a great way to determine when the fermentation is done. Keep the beer in the primary fermenter for two weeks until active fermentation is done (no signs of active fermentation for the last 2-3 days).
11. This beer may benefit from a secondary fermentation. This extended aging should be done in a glass carboy for an additional 2–4 weeks before bottling (optional).
12. When ready to bottle, siphon beer into your sanitized bottling bucket, leaving sediment behind. Boil the priming sugar in 1-2 cups of water for a few minutes, gently stir into the beer, and bottle as usual.