Winter's Night (Belgian Dubbel) (BR)

Haven't made a Belgian Dubbel in a while.

Brewed 5.0 gallons on 2020-01-01

Preboil gravity: 1.075

Original gravity: 1.080

Final gravity: 1.013

ABV: 8.8%

Apparent Attenuation: 83.8%

Inspired by Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel (U)

Inspiration for Crafting Beer (Belgian Dubbel) (CI)

Process notes

2020-01-03

I've slowly raised the temp to 67° over the past few days.

2020-01-18

Kegged. Murky brown, copper. Not the best looking beer. Dull + murky; lots of haze. Some alcohol sweetness in the aroma and flavor. No alcohol burn; pretty big mouthfeel. Decent malty sweetness. Hints of clove. Should be good; hopefully it clears. Not getting a ton of Belgian complexity, though.

Boil for 60 minutes

At 60 minutes

1.5 ounces of 3.7% Alpha Acid Tettnanger pellets

At 60 minutes

0.5 pounds of Amber Belgian Candi Syrup (D-45) (CandiSyrupInc)

At 60 minutes

0.5 pounds of Dark Muscovado Sugar

At 15 minutes

1 Whirlfloc Tablet

At 15 minutes

0.25 teaspoons of Fermaid K

At 0 minutes

0.5 ounces of 3.7% Alpha Acid Tettnanger pellets

Mash

[90.91%] 12 pounds 8 ounces of Heidelberg Malt (BestMalz)

[5.45%] 12 ounces of Caramel Munich I (BestMalz)

[1.36%] 3 ounces of Honey Malt (GambrinusMalting)

[1.36%] 3 ounces of Aromatic Malt (SimpsonsMalt)

[0.91%] 2 ounces of Chocolate Light Malt (VikingMalt)

Single infusion mash. Mashed with 5 gallons (1.45 quarts per pound) of reverse osmosis water for 60 minutes. 13lb 12oz of grain was used in the mash.

Strike water temp: (0.2/1.45) * (152 - 68) + 152 = 163.6

1.00g calcium chloride, 1.00g gypsum, and 0.50g chalk added to water

After 0 mins

mash is 153°

After 30 mins

mash is 152°; pH is 5.70

After 60 mins

mash is 150°

Sparge

Sparged for 52 minutes with 4 gallons of 170° reverse osmosis water.

0.80g calcium chloride and 0.80g gypsum added to water

After 0 mins

pH is 5.39; specific gravity is 1.089

After 17 mins

pH is 5.37; specific gravity is 1.084

After 37 mins

pH is 5.48; specific gravity is 1.057

After 52 mins

pH is 5.70; specific gravity is 1.020; SG before sugar was 1.069 and after was 1.075

Yeast

2020-01-01

Pitch starter (started on 2019-12-30 with 1800mL water, StirPlate, 180 grams DME, 0.50 tsp FermaidK) made from 1 pack of WLP500 Monastery (WhiteLabs) at 64°. (Best by 4/9/20. Lot #1078046. Decanted starter to ~1 liter before pitching.)

Tasting notes (6.50/10; 2 ratings)

2020-02-17

[7/10] Decent copper, brown color. Slight haze. Off-white head, initially creamy, but fades into a thin layer of small bubbles. Pretty well-balanced clove + banana aroma, nothing is too strong. Some black pepper. Probably more clove than banana as it warms. Medium body. Some hibiscus in the aroma. Some kind of herbal bitterness. Caramel, maybe some bitterness from the dark brown sugar. Clove and black pepper spiciness. Some sweetness, semi-sweet finish. Long bitterness in the finish.

2020-10-16

[6/10] Final pour. Good clarity. Reddish/brown/copper color. Decent head retention, off-white. Clove + nutmeg aroma. Medium-light body, some sharpness on the finish. Definitely on the sharper end of a dubbel. Maybe a little metallic. To be more sessionable, the sweet would need to come through more.