Belgian dubbel, first brew for a while

[sven945]

I'be been meaning to do this for ages, but I finally brewed a Belgian dubbel. I've gone for simplicity rather than a complex grain bill, and home made Candi syrup that's been sitting in a bottle for nearly two months.

2.2kg lager malt
0.28kg malted wheat
0.28kg Caramunich
500ml dark Candi syrup

16g tettnang for 90 minutes
16g tettnang for 20 minutes.

Probably didn't need the 90 minute boil as I had to top up with 2l at the end. I mashed for 90 minutes at 68°. Maybe a bit high, but we'll see what happens at the end.

OG (after watering down) was 1071.

I used WLP530, as I do like Westmalle.

I left it in the bath overnight at 18°. I had to take it out this morning to have a shower, and I'm hoping the temperature doesn't take off too much while I'm at work today. I'm sorted for heating, but cooling is more difficult.

 

[sven945]

Aaaaand it doesn't seem to be doing anything at all, after nearly 48 hours. Which is annoying. I didn't make a starter (I just forgot. I'm out of practice!), but I'm only making about 13 litres so I thought i'd be able to get away with it. Hopefully it's just waking up slowly?!

 

[fuzzy]

Nightmare. What temperature did you pitch the yeast at and was the yeast at a similar temperature to the wort.

 

[strange-steve]

A starter would probably have helped but I'm sure it's still working away. I never had a brew fail to ferment, even if it takes a while to get going. Looks like a good recipe, I'm planning on doing something very similar soon.

 

[sven945]

Nightmare. What temperature did you pitch the yeast at and was the yeast at a similar temperature to the wort.

I pitched at 21°, and left it overnight in the bath of water that was at 18°. Pretty much exactly what the pack said. I stirred it up yesterday but didn't get the chance to check it this morning. The yeast was well in date.

A starter would probably have helped but I'm sure it's still working away. I never had a brew fail to ferment, even if it takes a while to get going. Looks like a good recipe, I'm planning on doing something very similar soon.

The recipe is adapted from James Morton's book, plus a bit of process guidance from Brew Like A Monk. My concern is that the top of the wort is completely flat. Not just no kraussen, but no bubbles, nothing up to the surface at all. There's about an inch of stuff at the bottom, but I'm assuming that'a gunk that's come out of suspension (I cool in the FV, though I'm probably going to change that to reduce what unnecessarily goes into the FV).

Hopefully things will have started up by tonight, otherwise I'll have to get another vial of yeast, and I'll make a starter this time!

 

[fuzzy]

Hopefully things will have started up by tonight, otherwise I'll have to get another vial of yeast, and I'll make a starter this time!

with while labs quality control normally being really good it may have been an issue after it left them. Could have been a problem with how it was stored at the shop or if posted it may have got too hot and damaged the yeast.

As you said I would pitch someing quick and speaking to the company you bought it from.

fingers crossed it turns out ok.

 

[sven945]

I've had a check this evening and everything looks fine. The kraussen's formed, so I was probably worrying about nothing. I won't risk not making a starter next time with a relatively big beer next time though! Hopefully the yeast won't be too stressed, and I'll keep an eye on the temperature, trying to keep it low for the next few days. I'm probably going to let it rise a bit after that, but I'll try and keep it around 20ºC for a few days.

 

[sven945]

The temperature was creeping up last night (about 21°) so I put a wet towel around it. I also cracked the lid open on one side in case it turned violent and I'm glad I did! There was kraussen all down the sides of the FV, so it's definitely working now. I've opened the lid all around and got it sitting loosely on top so anything can escape without the bin exploding.

 

[strange-steve]

I wouldn't be too concerned about trying to keep the temperature down, it was pitched cool which will control the esters and fusels. I would let the temperature rise freely, some Belgian yeasts don't like to be reigned in and can quit early, though I think Westmalle is a bit better than Rochefort yeast.

 

[strange-steve]

Double post, sorry.

 

[sven945]

Thanks. The recipe I'm roughly following recommends keeping it at around 20º for the first two or three days then letting it rise at high as 26ºC (without letting it drop) after that. I reckon tonight I'll remove the wet towel and replace it with the heat belt to maintain the higher temperatures it gets to itself. I'm pretty excited about this one, although I'm wishing I didn't have to wait so long to try it! Mental note to make something quicker for my next brew (though I really want to make a wee heavy...).

 

[serum]

Looks like a solid recipe. Simplicity is more authentic when it comes to malt bills in these beers.

 

[sven945]

Looks like a solid recipe. Simplicity is more authentic when it comes to malt bills in these beers.

Cheers, yeah, that's what I gathered from reading Brew Like A Monk. All the spices and fancy malts that people add seem to just be there to hurry up things that should hopefully come naturally with time.

I did a first gravity check after a couple of weeks and it's down to 1.008, so it'll probably be done. It's nowhere near as dark as I expected, maybe I should have cooked the candi syrup for a bit longer.

I'll take another gravity reading on Friday and then hopefully bottle on Saturday. I'm going to try and bottle at 3.0 volumes, though I'll have to work out my heaviest bottles. I've got some champagne bottles which I might use for some of it, for keeping if it ends up particularly good.

 

[sven945]

Bottled today, at 1.008. I kind of accidentally put sugar in for 3.0 volumes of carbonation (I was aiming for 2.8) so hopefully that won't cause problems. I'll try and keep them somewhere relatively cool...

I bottled 5 0.75l champagne bottles in the hope it'll be worth keeping for a while, maybe for presents or something.

 

[sven945]

I've stuck my inkbird temperature probe to a bottle in my storage corner and it's down to 16ºC, so I'm hoping it's going to be okay!