Dubbel

[Lucas]

I shared a bottle of this last night at the monthly meeting. There may be a full review forthcoming from CartoonCod - feel free to post it in this thread if you like, Adam.

20L batch

Grains

5.0kg Pils
0.45kg Caramunich
0.45kg Special B
0.45kg Munich
0.45kg Dark Belgian Candi Sugar (used the solid stuff from Noble Grape)

Hops

40g Tettnanger (4.5% AA) 60mins

Yeast

Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey Ale (no starter)

Infusion mash @ 66C for 75mins (with 15L)
Batch Sparge @ 76C (20L)

75min boil, candi sugar added with 10mins remaining.

It was in primary for 10 days and secondary for close to 50 (didn't write down the exact bottling date). I aimed for 2.4 volumes of carbonation with corn sugar.

Stats:

OG: 1.077
FG: 1.009
ABV: 9.0%
IBU: ~20
SRM: ~33

I adapted this from a recipe found online. I doubled the specialty grains and halved the sugar from that recipe. I am pretty happy with the results. The consensus last night (and I agree) was that there is too much banana, especially in the aroma. Apart from that I think it is a fairly good representation of the style. It is certainly my favourite of my beers to date. Thanks for the comments from everybody last night, hope you enjoyed it!

[CartoonCod]

Here you go.
Aroma: A bit heavy on the banana esters, but there is lots of other fruity complexity. There is a nice background maltiness and a bit of higher alcohols.
Appearance: Slightly cloudy, dark amber - brown colour with a light-tan head that is not quite long lasting, but definitely lingers for a while.
Flavour: Complex. Lots of fruity esters (raisins, dark fruit) and complex fermentation character, with a moderate amount of rich maltiness for the style and just a hint of roastiness. Low hops. There is an warming alcohol bitterness (solventy) in the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium mouthfeel, has got lots of carbonation, but a bit low for the style. There is an alcohol astringency in the finish.
Overall: Very nice complex beer. I think the recipe works really well together, but maybe this could be considered a Belgian Strong Dark Ale because it is quite big. I recommend some work on the fermentation. Reading your notes you said you didn't use a starter, this would probably help along with oxygenation of the wort prior to pitching and maybe some yeast nutrients?

[Lucas]

Thanks for the review!

I had never made a starter at the time that I brewed this beer. It always seemed complicated and scary to me. Now that I have done it once I would definitely make a starter if I brew this beer again. I oxygenate with a whisk for now which is probably not very effective. I have never used yeast nutrients but I will look into this.

I also agree that it probably fits better under Belgian dark strong as is. I brewed less beer than intended on brew day which resulted in higher gravity than intended.

When I looked back at my notes I was surprised that I only aimed for 2.4 volumes. The whole reason that I bought my corker and collected heavy bottles was so that I could carbonate more highly. Maybe I was playing it safe for the first batch, I don't know. In any case I would aim for something closer to 3.0 volumes next time.

[RubberToe]

What temperature did you ferment at?

[Lucas]

It is not in my notes but I did the primary on the main floor of my house which was probably around 17C in the fall and the secondary in my basement which was probably around 13C. I didn't watch the temperature too closely when it was in primary and I just have a stick-on thermometer whose accuracy I doubt anyways.