Recipe Formulation: American Brown/Dubbel split batch

Posted: November 21, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I am finding that one of the nice things about having a ten gallon system is the ability to split a batch in two and do two different beers.  Last time this involved splitting the ABF Saison between the two Wyeast strains: 3711 & 3724.  Those beers are subtly different with 3711 a little spicier and dryer and 3724 slightly fruitier with a little more body, but also quite dry.

For my next batch I wanted two more distinctly different beers.  American Brown & Dubbel both have some similarities in general color and low bitterness, but also some differences.  The big differentiator will be the yeast.  American Ale II has a clean profile with a slightly nutty body.  I also have a tone of it washed and ready to go in the fridge.  For the belgian strain I have been meaning to use Belgian Ardennes (the La Choffe yeast) for a long time.  These two yeast alone should produce strong flavor differences, but with some additional adjustments I am going to see if I can get “in-style” on both without really adding any time to my brew day.  The style guidlines are as follows:

Style OG FG Color IBU ABV
American Brown 1.045 – 1.060 1.010 – 1.016 18.0 SRM – 35.0 SRM 20 IBU – 40 IBU 4.3% – 6.2%
Dubbel 1.062 – 1.075 1.008 – 1.018 10.0 SRM – 17.0 SRM 15 IBU – 25 IBU 6.0% – 7.6%

The styles overlap in IBUs & FG, but not in OG or Color.  I started with a malt bill in common, that is the lesser of the two in each case where they diverge:

  • 13.5 lb Maris Otter
  • 3 lb Amber Malt (20L)
  • 1.5 lb Brown Malt (57L)
  • 1 lb Belgian Caramel Vienna
  • 1 lb Caramel 40L
  • 60 Min 2.5 oz Crystal
  • 30 Min 2 oz Willamette
  • At turn off 2.5 oz Crystal

Next step was to figure out where they would diverge.  Raising the gravity of the Dubbel called for the obvious move of adding sugar.  I opted for a combination of D2 & turbinado sugar.  For the American Brown a little more creativity was in line.  I wanted more color and bitterness.  There is a process by which additional malt (particularly dark malts) are added to the Mash Tun and a first or second batch sparge is done with the additional grain.  I’ve also read some recent/posts articles on adding hops in a similar mannor; the effect being something close to first wort hopping. My guess is the bitterness will be different/less than first wort hopping as the second sparge will be added at the end of the boil.  So the all in looks something like this (ingredients split in half to reflect 5g volume):
American Brown Dubbel
Malt Bill
  • 6.75lb Maris Otter
  • 1.5lb Amber Malt (20L)
  • 12oz Brown Malt (57L)
  • 8oz Belgian Caramel Vienna
  • 8oz Caramel 40L
  • 4oz Chocolate Malt (350L) — second batch sparge
  • 12oz Brown Malt (57L) — second batch sparge
  • 6.75lb Maris Otter
  • 1.5lb Amber Malt (20L)
  • 12oz Brown Malt (57L)
  • 8oz Belgian Caramel Vienna
  • 8oz Caramel 40L
  • 1lb D2 Sugar
  • 8oz Turbinado Sugar
Hops
  • 60 Min 2.5 oz Crystal
  • 30 Min 2 oz Willamette
  • At turn off 2.5 oz Crystal
  • Batch Sparge Hops 2oz Willamette
  • 60 Min 2.5 oz Crystal
  • 30 Min 2 oz Willamette
  • At turn off 2.5 oz Crystal
Yeast Wyeast 1272-American Ale II Wyeast 3522-Belgian Ardennes
Effective OG 1.056 1.062
Target FG 1.014 1.010
IBU 40 (calculated as first wort hops, probably less) 24
SRM 19.9 16.9
ABV 5.6% 6.9%

Should be two pretty different beers, one still relatively tight brew day. More to come…