Dreg Series: Westmalle Belgian Dubbel

This is not going to be a long post (because the background has been explained in a previous post), but more of a post so that I can keep updating with the beer's progress. My initial plan for the 2 - 1 gal batches using dregs from Belgian beers was to try Westmalle and Achel. The reason for this is because they use the same yeast according to Brew Like a Monk. So it would have been neat to see if how closely they turned out. Unfortunately, after building up the yeast in the bottle of Achel it may have had an infection. The Westmalle yeast had no problems.





According to the Mr Malty Yest comparison charts, White Labs 530 and Wyeast 3787 are both the Westmalle strain. So you can read those descriptions to get an idea if it is worth it for you to try using the dregs. Personnally, I really like Westmalle Dubbel. It is somewhat clean for a Belgian yeast with just a little bit of fruit to it. Which I think fits perfectly for a Dubbel and a Grand Cru.

I used my standard procedure for building dregs: 6 oz of 1.030 starter wort + nutrients boiled and cooled. And added directly to the 750 ml bottle. Do this 3 days before and shake as often as possible. I had activity in 12 hours and this beer seemed to ferment out in less than a week. Then it was bottled after 3 weeks.

12 hours













24 hours













Day 3