Belgian Dubbel recipe

[alsch890]

Hi there,

I am planning on brewing a version of the Greg Hughes Belgian Dubbel recipe. His recipe has Pilsner, Special B and Caramunich I malt and light candi. Looking at what I have available and what I can get I was thinking about dropping the Special B and subbing Caramunich II and dark candi in, so:

19l brew/15l batch
1.067/1.013, 7%

4kg Pilsner
250g Caramunich II
250g Carapils
250g dark candi (in boil)

15g Saaz @60
15g Sladek @15

Safale S-33

Wondering if the use of caramunich II and dark candi would cover the Special B? I was also wondering whether to get some Abbey malt to replace some of the pilsner?

Any comments or advice welcome! I've done a golden strong ale, a tripel and a patersbier before but this is my first go at a darker belgian style I think.

Cheers!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Try and get special B it’s great malt.

 

[Brewnaldo]

I made GH Dubbel, albeit IIRC I didn't stick to the yeast in the recipe. For the life of me I can't recall what I used instead but it was still a Wyeast Belgian liquid yeast. I might be able to find it, since I did post about it specifically on here, given that I accidentally froze that yeast

Anyway I digress, if you can, stick to his recipe for it is, in my experience, an absolute topper. Probably the best quality beer I have brewed. It hit every mark I expect from a Belgian Ale.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My Leffe Brune recipe is
2500g Pilsner
1400g Munich
1500g Abbey
300g Special B
500g Brown sugar
30g EKG @60m
25g Saaz @15m
Yeast either MJ M47, or M31 or CML Flushed nun

 

[clib]

I recommend Lalbrew Abbaye yeast. Best dry yeast I've used for this type of beer.

 

[alsch890]

Cool, thanks for all the replies so far! OK, I'll try to get it closer to the GH recipe. I think I will stick with my Saaz/Sladek hops though as I need to use them and I'm not sure there will be a big difference given its just two charges and no post boil additions?

I can definitely get the Abbey malt from my local maltster here. However the Lallemand Abbeye yeast and the Special B will require ordering from elsewhere, the yeast easier to come by than the Special B by the looks of it.

@Cheshire Cat - my malt substitute sheet lists Cara-aroma as an alternative for Special B and I can definitely get that. Do you know/think it is a decent substitute if I can't get hold of the Special B?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Be careful with Cara aroma it gets confused with aroma malt on the Homebrew sites. I would go for a Crystal malt with the same colour rating.

 

[clib]

Carabohemian is a really nice malt, well suited to Dubbels I reckon.

 

[Nicks90]

I'd hang on to get the special b and delay your brew until you have it.
It's a very unique flavour and really goes hand in hand with a dubbel

 

[Agentgonzo]

I completely agree on the special B. I was originally sceptical as to how much difference it would make compared with other malts kilned in a similar fashion; but after using it a few times in pretty sure that it's created by a wizard rather than a maltster.

I can also recommend caramunich and aromatic, but those are created by mortals. Special B is magic

 

[Siscokid85]

If you check Crossmaloof, they have a malt subs list (there are others) and I think they suggest extra dark crystal 300+EBC as a replacement for Special B. I was looking for a sub for special B at the weekend and was intent on buying from CML as I fancied one of their AG recipes as well.

 

[Siscokid85]

I'd hang on to get the special b and delay your brew until you have it.
It's a very unique flavour and really goes hand in hand with a dubbel

When brewing from the GH book, I always like to match it as close as possible, certainly the first time round, as there is always the niggling feeling as to could it have been better if I hadn't subbed or tweaked it. So I would give a +1 for waiting to lay hands on Special B.

 

[YeastFace]

Agreed with posts above with love for Special B.

I have, however, used Simpsons DRC as a substitute for it in my Dubbel which purposely only uses British malts.

On paper it is a decent swap, but the proof will be in a couple of months' time.

 

[Jim Brewster]

I've never been able to find Special B. I see a lot of the Belgian recipes include it so I'm thinking it brings a distinctive Belgian quality that can't really be achieved with substitutes

 

[Cheshire Cat]

The Homebrew Company sell it.

 

[alsch890]

I have found a supplier for Special X here in the Czech Republic. It does say it is for use in Belgian Abbey and Trappist beers but I have never heard of it so not sure if it is a good substitute or not.

 

[alsch890]

Oh, one more question for @Cheshire Cat - when I put your recipe into Brewfather it was coming out much darker than the recommended range, somewhere up around 50. just wanted to check that is expected and I didn't mess it up? Seems to be the dark candi causing it.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I use brown table sugar not candi. Mine comes out at 15,5 L which is 30.7 ECB

 

[samale]

Planning on brewing a dubbel tomorrow, recipe is looking like

Pilsner
Munich
Belgian caramunich
Special B

Noble hops
Yeast wlp530

I was planning on making some candi sugar but could I achieve the same by using dark brown sugar

 

[Nicks90]

brown sugar has impurities from not-quite-total refinement (and molasses), which is where it gets its flavor from, whereas candi sugar is totally refined but has flavor from being cooked. The flavors that result are quite different. Brown sugar produces a "rummy" kind of flavor, like molasses. Candi sugar will produce dark fruit, toasted marshmallow, caramel types of flavors
so not really swap-able