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Belgian Dupple

jack

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Recently boiled up a dupple.  My efficiency was way better than I expected and OG is 1.087.  Thankfully I pitched a three liter starter which should be able to handle the wort.  To keep the yeast active I tweaked the fermenter with two sugar syrup infusions - starting four days after I pitched yeast (wy3789).  Now its nine days after I pitched yeast, it's still chugging away, but the beer is not clarifying at all and still has all kinds of nasties floating around.  Temp is about 72 degrees and I was planning to ramp that up to mid 80's for a day or two.

This is the largest beer I've brewed and the first attempt with belgian yeast.  Based on what I've said does it should like this extended fermentation and resistance to clarify is normal or do I have a problem?
 
Sounds normal to me. What I have seen is each sugar addition will add about 4 days to the primary fermentation. I normally separate the sugar additions by about 2 days. You picked a good yeast for the job (3789) IMO, it should be nice. Rumor has it 3789 is very close to Orval which is one of my favorites! This style takes time to come around. I normally leave a double in the primary for a minimum of 14 days. Then the secondary for about 30 days. Then bottle and ageing for 3-4 months. I am experimenting with a Triple that I made about 4 months ago. Instead of bottle conditioning it, I am force carbonating it and bulk conditioning in a corny. After that I will bottle it and enjoy. As of two weeks ago it is almost right. I may tap it this weekend and try it again.  8)

I have a couple questions.  ???
Was that 1.087 before the sugar, or was that where you expect it to be with the sugar additions?
What kind and how much did you add for each sugar addition?
Are you rousting the yeast any to help keep it in suspension?

If you don't already have them, I would suggest the following reading material for the style:
Brew Like a Monk by Stan Hieronymus, Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski, and Wild Brews by Jeff Sparrow. There is a lot of good information there, It helped me to perfect the style and gave me some good pointers to boot.

Best of luck with the style!

Cheers
Preston
 
jack said:
Temp is about 72 degrees and I was planning to ramp that up to mid 80's for a day or two.

I know saison needs to be warmer at the end of fermentation to finish and dry out to 1.006 or so, but do all Belgian styles benefit from that?  It is less likely to create fusels that late, but is there a benefit in warming up styles that do not necessarily need that drying out?

1.087 wort plus two doses of sugar far exceeds a typical dubbel and enters Dark Strong territory, so I'd add even more primary time and conditioning to ensure it melds nicely and smooths out.  Should be tasty given time.
 
I keep mine in the 65-70F range the entire primary fermentation. The Secondary I leave at room temp which is usually about 75-80F depending on the time of day. The yeast should give it the Belgian flavors needed (Raisin's and Clove flavors along with a sour note typical in Belgians).

Cheers
Preston
 
Thanks for comments - I feel better about what going on.
Sugar syrup was abt 2/3 of a two litre bottle - made up of 1lb Belgian candy and rest just table sugar.  I added abt 2/3 of that at first infusion and remainder at second infusion.  My club is having a winter warmer contest and I figured I'd do this since I've never done a Belgian before.  Hope it's ready by than.

1/087 is what OG would have shown including the sugar syrup
I have been rousting the yeast every two days or so.
 
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