Belgian Beer Series: Dubbel

The next beer in my Belgian Beer Series. The Singel turned out great and I think I'll have to write a review for that one. Having the WLP550 yeast that the Singel built up, I 'm going to pitch it into a Dubbel. For me, Dubbels seem like very complex beers but the best ones seem to smooth out that complexity. I have never brewed one before so I decided to start with Jamil's Recipe. I like that Jamil designed this beer at the lower end of the BJCP starting gravity scale. The one thing I am changing is that I want to try my hand at making candi syrup. I did a lot of reading on the matter and the consensus is that no one so far has been able to replicate the flavors from Dark Candi Inc.'s syrups. Well, this is homebrewing and I'm going for it. Look for a future post of my experience.

I am also fermenting this on the cooler side to reduce the chance at over the top fruitiness. I do like a big dark fruit (Plum, fig) taste in my Dubbels but I hope to get most of that from the Special B and dark candi syrup.

Recipe: Belgian Dubbel
O.G.-1.066  F.G.-TBD   IBU-22.5
SRM-17(?)   ABV-6.7-7.4%%   Cal-215

Grain Bill (76% Efficiency):

9 lb Pilsner Malt (72.7%)
1 lb  Munich Malt 10L (8.1%)
8 oz Aromatic Malt (4%)
8 oz Caramunich I (4%) 
6 oz Special B (3%) 
1lb Homemade Candi Syrup (8.1%)  
 

Hops:
.75 oz Saaz, 6.8%, pellet, 90 min 22.5 IBU
  
Yeast:
150-200 mL White Labs WLP550 (From Belgian Singel)


Brew Day:
Brewed: 9/5/10
Kegged: TBD

Water:
San Diego (Alvarado) Tap Water
1 campden tablet for 5 gal.

Mash Details:
H2O/Grain Ratio: 1.3 qt/lb
Mash Volume: 3.67 gal
Sacc Rest. Temp/Time: 149F @ 60min
Strike Temp: 162F
Batch Sparge Volume: 5.5 gal
Sparge Temp/Time: 170F @ 30min

Boil Details:
Boil Volume: 7 gal
Boil Time: 90min
Post Boil Volume: 5.5 gal

Ferment Details:
O.G.: 1.060 + candi syrup
Ferment Temp: 65-68F
Length: 21 days in primary (added 1 lb of candi syrup on day 5, still active fermentation)
F.G.: TBD