Brew Day: Belgian Dubbel

Today was brew day. Hurray! It's a been a few weeks. As the winter is beginning to wind down, I decided to take the opportunity to brew one last darker beer. This is a Belgian Dubbel which, while still dark in color, isn't really a "heavy" beer. If I didn't screw anything up, it should be pretty drinkable, especially in the crazy Rochester spring weather.

Jeff and Angela came over and helped, so it was more interesting than normal.

Belgian Dubbel

Malt:
-11 lbs British Pale Malt
-1 lb CaraAroma
-1lb Light Munich Malt

Sugars:
-1 bottle (~1.5 lbs) Dark Belgian Candi Syrup (beet sugar)

Hops:
-1oz East Kent Golding hop pellets (5.5% AA, 60 minutes)
-1oz Saaz hop pellets (4% AA, 15 minutes)
-1oz Saaz hop pellets (4% AA, 5 minutes)

Mash:
-4 gallons of water at 162F for the mash
-Mash temp stabilized at 148F (where I wanted it)
-Mashed for 90 minutes
-Sparged with 4.75 Gallons at 168F

The gravity wound up at 1.070 (temperature corrected). The yeast was Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale. I was really happy that the mash temp came in where I wanted it, as I did not want this being too unfermentable. It's supposed to be a fairly light (in body) style, so I didn't want the temp to be too high in the mash. It came in at the temperature I was aiming for. The gravity also came out where I was hoping it would. I haven't brewed a Belgian in a long time, so I'm hoping this comes out well. The brew day was pretty much free of screwups, so I'm hopeful.

Beer Review: Koningshoeven Quad

Quad, Koningshoeven

Pour
The Quad pours with a thin white head that dissipates quickly. There is no lacing to speak of other than a thin white ring around the edge of the glass just floating on the beer.

Aroma
The nose is met initially with a moderately sweet malty aroma. There is a light, almost honey-like aroma behind the malt with a mild bitter citrus aroma. The background aroma is more like a bitter orange rind than anything, and blends beautifully with the honey-malt aroma. These aromas are all reinforced by a strongly floral set of esters from the yeast.

Appearance
This one is a dark amber color with a light haze. There are several dozen columns of carbonation bubbles rising to the surface.

Flavor
The tip of the tongue is met with a sharp sting from the traditionally high level of carbonation seen in Belgian beers. The sides of the tongue get a candy-like sweetness, while the rest of the mouth gets a combination of a syrupy sweetness, a touch of hops bitterness, some orange flavor, and a hint of bread. Initially, the alcohol blends with the rest of the flavors and not distinguishable. The aftertaste leaves a fair bit of alcohol warmth, like the last lingering warmth from a shot of whiskey.

Mouthfeel
After the initial sharpness of the carbonation, the beer has a thinner syrup-like quality akin to what 100% pure maple syrup would have.

Overall
The flavors work really well together, making it seem like someone mixed syrup with some orange rinds and some flowers. If you're looking for a quad that isn't as overly thick as some others tend to be, this is the one. None of the flavors is over powering, and they all seem to blend really well. Absolutely delicious. Highly recommended.

Brewing Series

I really liked doing a series of brews using the same yeast cake. The fermentations were excellent and quick, so I'm already planning on my next series. I haven't brewed anything Belgian in a long time, and they really like to have lots of yeast pitched into them, so I think it's about time.

I'm thinking something along the lines of doing a relatively weaker beer, then a mid-strength beer, then something uber. Maybe do: Belgian brown (5%-ish), a dubbel (7%-ish), and finish with a quad or a dark strong or something similar (9-12%-ish). Style, yeast and recipe suggestions are always welcome. Obviously I'm going for a series of dark beers, but I could just as easily go light (pale - blonde - tripel?).