So, while Nick and Bryan were both pre-occupied, I was on my own for a brew day so I decided to do a brew that was not as conducive to the volume brews we had been doing. Since I hadn’t made a Belgian Dubbel since the Abbey I brewed in extract many years ago, I decided to take this brew to the next level and brew one (as close as possible to the original) in all-grain.
Here is the recipe:
6 gallons – 90min boil 60% efficiency
Grain bill
- 16lbs UK 2 Row Pale Malt (3SRM)
- 1lb Cara-Pils/Dex (2SRM)
- 1lb light Munich (6SRM)
- 1/2lb Victory (25 SRM)
- 1lb Dark Belgian Candi Sugar (275 SRM)
- 2oz Fuggles (4%) 55min
- 1oz Saaz (4%) 5min
- Belgian Witbier Wyeast # 3944
I struck this brew at 7:48am on Sunday morning and was cleaned up before the 12:10pm SU tip off (Go Orange!!!). A quick overview of the steps are as follows:
- Strike 4.6 gal at 164f – Step temp 150f – Hold for 1hr 15min
- Mashout 1.6 gal at near boiling to achieve 168 – Fell short, only 164 (Meatball was wandering around and found a couple of boxers he had beef with, left the mashtun open and it was cold out)
- Prepared 4.6 gal for two equal rounds of batch sparges
- First runnings 21 brix, second 14 brix, final running were 10 brix
- Preboil OG (without candi sugar) was 1.059
There was a 90 min boil for flavor and character. It worked out well because at 60% efficiency I expected 1.072 OG after the boil and was pleasantly surprised with 1.080.
It is amazing how much faster a 6 gallon batch is than a 20 gallon batch. Water temps come much faster and things are generally a lot more manageable. It makes for a very relaxing brew day. Add to that the fact that the ‘Cuse won in convincing fashion and it made for a great Sunday.
Note to self, next time add a few ounces of chocolate malt for color and nutty flavor.