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In the Fermentor: The Dubbel that was a Tripel

Some of my favorite beers are Belgian Abbey ales. A good Dubbel, or Tripel makes me very happy. In this installment of In the Fermentor, I've brewed a beer that mashes (pun fully intended) the two styles together. When all is said and done, it should have the sweetness of a Dubbel, the hoppiness of a Tripel, plus a hue and strength that splits the difference.

First, here's the recipe:

Grains:
10.5 lbs Belgian Pilsener
8 oz Crystal 45L
8 oz Special B
8 oz Carapils

Hops:
1 oz Hallertauer: 60 min
0.5 oz Crystal: 7 min

Yeast:
Wyeast 1388 - Belgian Strong Ale

Extras:
1 lb Amber Belgian Candy Sugar

Original Gravity:
1.060
Final Gravity:
1.004

Fermentation Schedule:
2 Weeks Primary
4 Weeks Secondary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: $18 per case
Commercial Equivalent: New Belgium Abbey: $31
Savings: $13

I hit my target Mash temperature of 152, which made me happy. The Original Gravity wasn't as high as I expected, but the yeast did their thing and munched away to a 7.2% alcohol content. If you read my Golden Spark post, you may have noticed that the yeast here is the same strain. That's because liquid yeast is expensive. With a little work, you can culture the yeast from a previous batch and use it over, which is exactly what I did. More on that in a later post, where I'll explain just how easy reusing yeast is. I will mention that 1388 was in no rush to get things done. It was still doing its thing when I transferred to the secondary fermentor. It took over five weeks to get a stable gravity reading.

As I write this, the beer has just started conditioning in the bottle. I'll write back with an Out of the Bottle report in a few weeks. Until then, Happy Brewing!

P.S. You also may have noticed the cost table. One of the goals here at CO Kitchen Brew is to see how much you can save vs commercially available beers. In many cases, the difference is huge. For my commercial brews, I pick the most economical example of the style I'm brewing as I can find. My favorite store offers a 10% case discount, so I factor that in as well.

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