First crack at a Duvel clone

[joshuahardie]

I am also in the no candi sugar camp.
my recipe is is 80 pils 20% table sugar

you won't make a great clone without the duvel yeast strain, which is WY1388

in practice I dumped all the sugar in the boil and got a very poor fermentation.

Next time I will feed the beer with at least half of the sugar when fermentation is below 1020

Now that I check my notes the fermentation profile was start at 18 degrees for 4 days and allow to rise slowly over a week to 28 degrees. I think this was too agressive and the beer was far too hot. Mybe next time I would not go over 25.

 

[mr_wibble]

I was talking to MHB the other day, and he said (please correct any miss-quotes MHB) that belgian candi sugar is primarily made from sugarbeet sugar and not cane sugar. This effects the flavour, particularly with dark beers.

I know they're both mainly sucrose, but I guess subtle differences in ingredients make for subtle differences in flavour.

 

[Mardoo]

Yep, cane sugar and beet sugar have slightly different flavors when caramelized as with candi syrup. The cane sugar is a much "cleaner" flavor, valued by pastry chefs but perhaps not so much by brewers. This is from my years as a pastry chef.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Thanks for all the info guys. I have the next few days off work so I plan on giving the decoction method a crack.
After watching some you tube vids it doesn't look super difficult. Appreciate all the helpful replies.

 

[Jaded and Bitter]

Top stuff - decoction rules :super:

 

[humulus]

Ive brewed Mants Duvel Clone absolute cracker of a beer!

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Ill make sure I post my results from the brew day. Either miserable failure or a joyous success haha.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

One question I do have just in regards to water volumes.
When doing single infusion mashes when I brew I usually start with 40l.
I no chill so I end up with about 22ish liters in my cube.
Just wondering when I perform a step mash with a decoction will my initial water volumes have to be different or do I just carry on as normal?

 

[mje1980]

You might have to mash in a bit thicker than normal so you don't end up at total mash volume and still need to do a step. Just keep track of how much water is going into the mash tun and make sure you don't add more than you need. It's a little tricky but do able.

 

[manticle]

You can manipulate strike water calculators to give you an indication of how much to add.

It depends though - for infusion mashing you want to start with less but for decoction mashing you can remain the same. Add decoction in slowly until temp is reached and reserve any remainder. Have some hot and cold water on hand to adjust if needed.

Step mashing is made easy for me using an OTS immersion element but I've done it with infusions and decoctions before too.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Finished with my brew day. Managed to cube 21L at an og of 1.064. Assuming I did it correctly step mashing with a single decoction wasn't too hard. Thanks to everyone who gave some advice. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Milk-lizard84]

Hey guys, about to start fermenting this bad boy in about a week. Just wondering when adding the extra dextrose during fermentation does this affect the og or the fg?
Also when adding the extra dextrose is it better to add it as a water solution or just as is?

 

[manticle]

Water solution, boiled. It affects neither og, nor fg, all things being equal; however to calculate its effect on gravity and abv, drop it into software/spreadsheet as if you had added it all at the beginning (so using og vs fg to calculate abv as per normal).

Think of it as affecting specific gravity rather than original or final.

 

[bradmcm]

It affects both the FG and what would have been the OG,
with the extra dextrose I would dissolve it in boiling water from the kettle (in something that can take the boiling water ;-) ) and pour it straight into the fermenter. No real harm if you add it as sugar crystals, it will dissolve anyway but I like to sterilize!

 

[Milk-lizard84]

So finally after a move and settling in to my new place I have finally started to ferment this batch. Made up a dextrose solution to add gradually to this as ferment dies down. Second time using a liquid yeast so hopefully all goes well. Actually drinking a duval as I type in hope that it tastes something like this. Thanks again for all the help through out.

 

[manticle]

Interested to hear how it ends up.

 

[poggor]

I made a Duvel clone a few weeks back. Such a cracking beer (the real thing i mean!- no idea about my beer yet)

My recipe was :

Pilsner 80%
Carapils 3%
Dex 17%

Goldings and Saaz

OG 1.082
FG 1.012
ABV 9.4%
SRM 4.1
IBU 30

I did a single temp mash (68c) with mashout at 77c (mashed for 90 mins, efficiency 70%)
On bottling day it tasted great and the colour was very nice and pale golden. ...We'll see....
Since I'm George.... it GeoVel

 

[Milk-lizard84]

So after a bloody long time I finally get to taste my first crack at a Duval clone. It's easily the clearest beer I've ever made. Maybe thanks to 3 weeks at 3 degrees cold crashing. Been in the bottle just under a month and it has carbed up great. Pours with a nice creamy white head and has a nice lacing. Taste wise still seems a bit fresh but I am enjoying it. Will have to try it side by side with the original and see how it stacks up. Glad I went to all the trouble to try something different method wise when brewing this one. Thanks again to everyone that helped with great comments.
Cheers

 

[Adr_0]

Wow, awesome thread and good result.

The head brewer from Matilda Bay (Scott something?) said the Belgians treat their beer very gently (no splashing around) which allows them to keep good head despite the alcohol, and good shelf life . Although he didn't say it, I understand lagering will help too.

I guess the key with head is which proteins are still in the beer when it is served. Splashing around allows the "right ones" to come out of suspension (which then drift away somewhere/sink /break down?) while lagering lets the less good ones drop out of suspension.

Similarly, my understanding is that the 55-59 range is better for head retention than the 50-55 range.

Any comments or science on this?

 

[syl]

Haven't seen any science re:55-59 being better than 51-55 (normal protein rest)