"Belgian" Dubble Graff

This was my New Year's brew for 2013--it turned out fairly good, but seems to have only gotten better with time; I opened one of the few remaining bottles last night and it was amazing.  Ripe with dried fruit flavours.

This is one of my graffs--a cider with malted grains--which has a Belgian dubble based grain bill, and contains home made dark candi syrup.  Belgian yeast was not available to me at the time, and I ended up--for some unknown reason--using a lager yeast (and fermenting in cold temperatures, of course).  I actually consider that to be a success--it was drinkable extremely quickly, and might not have been with a quicker fermentation.

Belgian Dubble Apple Ale

4 lb pale ale

1 lb crystal 120     

1 lb Special B (Cara aroma used because Special B wasn't available)

1 lb raisins

1 pounds honey

2 pounds sugar

2.5 tsp DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate

4 gallons apple cider

Saflager S-23

Grains and raisins with 2 gallons of water.  Pour into sanitized and preheated cooler and close like when it is down to 160F.  Sparg with another gallon of hot water.  Cook sugar, DAP, and 1 cup water to deep amber (290 degrees), and slowly add wort to dissolve.  Boil down to ½ gallon (or syrup—whichever first).  Cool with 1 gallon apple cider and mix in honey.  Pour into carboy with other three gallons, and pitch yeast.

9-15-13; OG is 1.070

10-6-13; SG is 1.014. Taste is much dryer and not as much flavour.  Added enough honey to bring the SG up to 1.026 (forgot to add at the beginning).  The plan is to let it go for another week or so, bulk pasteurize, then add another couple pounds of candi syrup.  7.5% ABV

11-10-13; SG has fermented back down to 1.013.  Taste is better.  Left at Dun Gleanne.  9.3% ABV.

11-16-13; SG hasn’t changed.  Bottled 16 crown caps, with ½ tsp of sugar in each for bottle carbing and conditioning.

12-10-13: Racked off of lees and put in refrigerator to cold crash.

12-16-13:  Added the reserved ½ gallon of wort to carboy, mixed gently, pulled off ½ gallon growler to carb, and returned to fridge.

1-26-14: Finally bottled.  Pitched ½ pack of 1116 in the carboy to guarantee viable cells, and bottled.  17 crown caps.

Notes: Next time, chop raisins and add to boil.  Add 1 vanilla bean.  USE PROPER YEAST—Belgian ale yeast (possibly cultivated from commercial), NOT a lager yeast.  Double stage fermentation (apple juice first, at cooler temps, then add wort syrup and bring up to 70s)?

I much preferred the second bottling with the reserved wort.

8-17-15; Opened one of the bottles--don't know which bottling it was.  Flavour was lovely, dark dried fruit. 

The Candi Syrup

Graff Wort before boiling.

And in the fermentor

© John Frey, 2015. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material.  The recipes, photographs and other contents therein may not be used for any commercial purposes.