Brewer’s Log: Dubbel 2005

Posted by Patrick under Brewer's Recipe Book

Sean had some abbey ale yeast on hand from one of his recent brews, so I decided to fire up a Dubbel.

For 5 gallons (75% efficiency):

Grain Bill
6.00 lbs. Pale Malt (2-row)
3.00 lbs. Munich Malt
0.50 lbs. Crystal 60L
0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.25 lbs. Special B Malt

Hops
1.00 oz. Hallertauer (3.0%) 60 min.

Yeast
White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale

Mash grain and adjuncts at 154F for 60 minutes. Add the hop addition when wort begins to boil. After 45 minutes, add Irish moss. After 60 minutes total, knockout to chiller, and pitch yeast. Will be in primary fermentation for about 8 days, and then go for a 1 or 2 week secondary fermentation.

OG: 1.053 (13.1P)
Anticipated SRM: 15.5
Anticipated IBU: 13.2

Packaging
Kegged and force-carbonated

Tasting Notes
This beer ended up being a little drier than I would have liked. I ended up mashing at 149F, which created more a fermentable wort than this style calls for. That said, it was very tasty when it was young. For this beer’s first ten weeks, it was wonderfully drinkable. The yeast contributed the expected dried fruit notes and tasted great. After ten weeks, the beer started to have a thin mouthfeel and was not as satisfying to drink. Luckily, there wasn’t a lot left at that point!