50L (13Gl) Dubbel Style Ale
BREWER'S CORNER : This is part 2 of the Gruit Ale'plorations project. In order to mix and sample different brewing herbs in beer, I've previously prepared brewing tinctures, and in order to use them I wanted to prepare a hefty and malted beer which could support and balance the blending of strong herbal tinctures. An Abbey styled beer seemed appropriate: a strong, dark-amber beer that is lightly hopped. Here, I chose not to use any hops at all, but the recipe and mashing process are essentialy the same as for any Abbey beer recipe.
Expect this recipe to wield about 50L (13Gl) of beer at 6.4% ABV. The grain bill recipe is posted on the Unhopped Dubbel recipe page here.
Beer specifications:
- Original gravity: 16°P (1.065)
- Final gravity: 4°P (1.017)
Water requirements:
- Mash: 25L (6 1/2Gl)
- Raise: 12L (3Gl)
- Sparge: 45L (12Gl)
1. Protein rest
- Bring 25L (6.6Gl) of water to 55°C (130°F).
- Mash in grain and rest at 50°C (120°F) for 35 minutes. In step mashing, you begin with a thick mash which favors the protein-degrading enzymes.
2. Saccharification rest
- Prepare 10L (2.6Gl) of 80°C (175°F) water.
- Raise mash to 65°C (150°F).
- Hold for one hour. Raising the temperature with water thins the mash and favors the starch-degrading enzymes.
3. Mashing out
- Raise heat to 75°C (167°F).
- Hold 10 minutes to decrease viscosity of the mash. This is done to stop enzyme activity and decrease wort viscosity before sparging.
4. Sparging
- Sparge with 50L of 80°C (175°F) water.
- Aim to collect 55L (14.5Gl).
5. Boiling
- Bring the wort to a one hour boil.
- Add irish moss in the final 10 minutes.
6. Cooling
- Cool wort as quickly as possible.
- Transfer to primary fermentor when 25°C (77°) is reached.
7. Pithing the yeast
- Areate the wort.
- Pitch yeast.
