Saturday, April 10, 2010

This beer needs a good name.

Ok. It's either my scale, or MoreBeer, or both, but every time I weigh my hop pellets out, the total is less than the 2oz I'm paying for. It's possible that there's some moisture loss between these batches, but I don't think it would account for nearly a third of an ounce, especially considering these things are already dried before being pelletized. Anyway. A couple months back I had the Grimbergen Dubbel and decided I needed to brew something in that style. So tasty...

Batch #57
Dubbel
--14lbs Ger. Pils
--1lbs Munich
--8oz Belg. Aromatic
--8oz Special B
--8oz CaraMunich
--1lb Belg. Candi Syrup "D" (80 SRM, 1.032ppg)
--1/3 tsp table salt (~2.5g, infusion water)
--1oz Perle 7.5%AA (60min)
--Whirlfloc (15min)
--WLP530 - Abbey Ale Yeast (sufficient starter)
OG: 1.085
FG: 1.015
ABV: 8.8%
IBU: ~18

Single infusion mash 154F in 21qts water + salt addition, fly sparge with 14qts at 170F. I ended up just shy of 7 gallons wort at 1.062, making for a whopping 82% efficiency (I even widened the gap on my mill today...just goes to show how much more efficient fly sparging is when you've got the time). Ninety minute boil, add hops at 60m mark. I initially planned to add a little near knockout for some aroma, but once again, I've been shortchanged. The salt is to add a little sodium to the beer to boost the perceived malt flavor. The amount I threw in is around 50ppm in 5 gallons of beer, so it should be enough to make a difference, but not so much that the beer is at all salty.