NCBEX & the Brew Crew on the Dubbel!
NC Beer Explorer paves the way for the Fendol Farms Beer Club to make beer!
BEER U
Ben Marmaduke
8/15/20266 min read
The Brew Crew
Our entourage of eight possessed varying levels of beer knowledge and homebrewing experience, and this would be my first effort at homebrewing (although I had previously made some not-very-good wine). I have a helpful background in chemical engineering, so between beer blogging and studying to be a beer judge, I’ve learned quite a bit about brewing and ingredients.
But reading and doing are two different things. This is where I relied on our beer bro, John, who had homebrewed several times a few years back and also has a background in microbiology. Not a bad background for a wingman!
Rebecca contributed to this mad science in the form of moral support, snacks, and environmental adaptation on the homefront.
Important NC Beer Explorer Tip: When consuming alcohol, always have a designated driver. Be safe out there, friends! Follow these simple tips for safer consumption.
What to Brew
We kicked off our project with a build-your-own-taco bar (courtesy of Rebecca) and provided samples of four different beers that were potential candidates. They included an American porter, a brown ale, an Irish stout and a Belgian dubbel — specifically, Chimay Red. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that our crew chose the Chimay, since it’s considered by many to be one of the finest beers in the world.
Rebecca and I share a deep affection for the movie A Christmas Story, so of course we wanted to call our beer “Dubbel Dog Dare.” As it turns out, we aren’t the first brewers to grab this particular piece of low-hanging fruit, but with all the fantastic possibilities for art and branding, the group forged ahead with the name. Since we weren’t making the beer to sell, we figured we could avoid any legal troubles over trademark infringement.
As far as the needed ingredients, Northern Brewer carries a Belgian dubbel kit that gets very high marks from the homebrewers who have tried it, and I was able to pull together most of the equipment needed from my former winemaking effort.
The ingredients in the kit were impressive: malt extract, dry malt, two different hops, Belgian candi sugar (like rock candy) and Belgian yeast.
Belgian Dubbel Homebrew Project
They (whoever “they” are) say that those who can brew do, while those who can’t blog. But as beer nerds who never shrink from a challenge, we at NC Beer Explorer decided to blaze a new trail with our neighborhood beer club and kick off a homebrew project. For about eight weeks, we were at the epicenter of a fanatical geek-out. Now, for our devoted fans (this means you, Reader), we’re going to walk you through the agonies and ecstasies of our adventure.
The Brew Crew plotted its brewing strategy at NC Beer Explorer's headquarters.
Brew Day
On Brew Day, our team tackled tasks including cleaning and sanitizing the equipment, boiling water, cooling and pouring the wort, and finally, pitching the yeast.
Everything went smoothly until we added the candi sugar. We added it too quickly and got a boil-over! Foaming wort and chunks of sugar erupted onto the burner, causing flames to leap into the air and disturbing what had been a calm affair up to that point. We put the fire out quickly, but for several days afterward, Rebecca scrubbed at the stovetop while giving me a slight side-eye.
The next challenge was cooling. We had an ice bath ready for our kettle, and we got the temperature down to about 85°F before pouring the wort into the plastic fermentation bucket. I had figured we could get down to the target of 73°F with the almost two gallons of chilled dilution water, but the wort was still too warm for the yeast addition. So, we put the entire plastic bucket into the ice bath to cool it further.
Unfortunately, plastic does not conduct heat as well as metal, so it took a while longer than expected, and the wort probably could have used more cooling. But we were eager to press on.
We measured the Original Gravity, and when we hit the target range specified in the detailed recipe kit instructions, we decided to move forward with the yeast. We pitched the liquid yeast packet, sealed the bucket and rolled it back and forth on its side to distribute the yeast without exposing the wort to further oxygen.
Our kitchen became a brewery when we assembled the Brew Crew to make a Belgian Dubbel.
Anticipation
The next step was the most difficult — waiting!
We knew it could take as long as two days for active fermentation to start. But after 36 hours, I saw no activity in the airlock bubbler. I was pretty sure I had either a) under-pitched the yeast — not enough for the high-gravity wort of the Belgian dubbel — or b) compromised the fermentation with the elevated temperature.
Fortunately, there’s an excellent brewer’s supply store in Raleigh (shout out to American Brewmaster!), and they had some fresh, dry Belgian yeast. I added this to the batch, gave it some more side-rolling, and had active bubbling within two hours. Yay!
The bubbling continued for several days and eventually calmed down. My research said that after two weeks, I should check the Final Gravity to be sure fermentation had completed. I did, and it was right on target! Huzzah!
Rebecca accepts sole responsibility for this Rocky Horror Picture Show meme.
Bottling Day
We waited four weeks for fermentation and “resting,” and then we were ready to bottle. Our bottling team was much more streamlined: John, Rebecca and me. This actually worked out well because we operated assembly-line style.
I had wrestled with exactly how I was going to add the right amount of priming sugar. The standard method is to add a sugar solution and gently stir, but I was concerned about stirring up all the sediment I had so patiently allowed to settle. I researched and calculated that exactly one sugar cube would be needed to prime a 12-ounce bottle. So, our line looked like this:
Rebecca shoved a sugar cube into each sanitized bottle.
John filled the bottles from the bucket’s spigot, fitted with a hose and bottle filler.
I capped each bottle.
Our process ran smooth as glass — pun intended — and our yield was 46 bottles.
Release Party
Two weeks later, we were fully staffed for the potluck release party at Susan’s house! 😄 We brought several chilled bottles for our tasting event. The first hurdle was to see if the bottles were over-carbonated, so we opened the first bottle carefully over the sink of our host’s kitchen.
No raging spray or overflow! Whew! Our “baby” was doing fine and was ready for sampling.
Click above to watch our related (very short) YouTube video.
Our homebrewing project was a runaway success, and so was our celebratory potluck.
Tasting Notes
Our Belgian dubbel poured smoothly into a goblet, revealing a deep reddish-amber beer with 1½ fingers of beige, airy foam. The nose was banana, bread crust, clove and dark fruit. The taste was banana bread, caramel and fig. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied, and the carbonation was a tad bright for the style (more time in the bottle should solve that). The beer was well-balanced between sweetness and hop bitterness, which made itself known only mildly in the finish.
Overall, the beer exceeded our expectations in terms of both nose and taste. The only miss was some over-carbonation. We put away a few bottles and expect the beer to respond well to aging. Because we do not have access to cellar-temperature aging, we are opting for room-temperature aging for no longer than six months. A wine cooler would provide the optimum temperature for longer-term aging, and we may make that investment for future homebrewing projects.
Final Thoughts
Our team had a blast doing this project together and enjoying the results of our efforts and investment. The entire team is on board for the next project, probably in February. We liked the process of sampling a few different beer styles before deciding what to brew, and we’re considering a range of ales, including an “extra stout” and an amber ale. Unfortunately, lagers are not a good option at this point because of the lower temperatures required.
We’re stoked by a successful first brew and ready to take on our next challenge!