In the Fermentor: Brown Sugar Dubbel

For some reason, I just can't let the Candi Sugar experiment I started back in January rest. My original experiment produced a Blonde, Tripel and Quad, but no Dubbel. I'm here to finish the quartet.

First off, I had to dial back the grain-bill from the first three beers. Otherwise, once even a modest amount of sugar was introduced, the finished product would be too strong. The major change; however, is in the type of sugar this time around.

For this Dubbel, I'm using Dark Brown Sugar for my Candi Sugar. The big difference between White and Brown sugar is that the Brown contains molasses. The Candi making process produces a very dark sugar that will add some bittersweet qualities to my beer. It should be a big change from the white sugar based Candi Sugars in my previous brews. For this beer, I boiled the sugar for nearly an hour. The resulting syrup had a wonderful aroma combination of prunes, raisins and a dab of espresso. I really hope those carry over into the finished beer.

I'll report back in a couple of months with the outcome. Here's the five gallon recipe:

Grains:
6 lbs Castle Pilsen
5 lbs Castle Pale Ale

Hops:
0.25 oz Magnum (14.9% a.a.): 60 min
1 oz Styrian Golding (3.8% a.a.): 20 min
1 oz Styrian Golding (3.8% a.a.): 7 min

Extras:
1 lb Dark Brown Candi Sugar: 0 min

Total Boil Time:
90 min

Yeast:
Safbrew T-58

Mash Schedule:
Protein Rest: 124F for 20 min
Saccharification Rest: 150F for 60 min
Mashout: 168F for 15 minutes

Efficiency: 80%

Original Gravity:
1.063
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.012

IBU: 22
SRM Color: 19

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

Cost: $13 per case
Commercial Equivalent: New Belgium Abbey: $32
Savings: $19

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