Make mine a Funky Dubble

Rodney and I have been thinking about making an interpretation of a Dubble for a while now, and we're about ready to brew it in the next few weeks. We've been talking about flavor profiles and what we want to achieve.

A Dubbel is a very sneaky beer. Rich malts, fruits and chocolate with a velvety mouth feel. Complex beyond belief (at least the good ones are). A good Dubbel should be very attenuated and drinkable, but not thin, rich and warming.

We have a pretty good arsenal of tricks up our sleeves. One in particular is the use of Belgian Candi Syrup. As far as getting close to traditional, this is the stuff that is actually used. It is more or less a product of centrifuged caramelized beet sugar. Sugar is traditionally used in Belgian beers to increase the alcohol without increasing the body too much. These sugars and syrups also lend a ton of complexity to the brew.

So it has been decided to make a simple Dubble recipe, and to carry on our habits of experimentation lately, split the batch. Half will be left alone, corked and bottle conditioned. The second half will be taking the train on down to funky town.

5 gallons will be inoculated with a Lambic culture of all sorts of funky little critters and micro biota to age and sour over the course of a few months. After the first couple of months a concoction of cherries soaked in Bourbon, then reduced and caramelized and added to everything else a la Tim Hayner's Burnt Bourbon Cherry Stout, (I like to call it Haynerized, or Haynerizing the syrup). I present to you : Maker's Mark and the Funky Bunch.Not to be confused with these guys...


I'm hoping to achieve big fruit profiles in this beer, with a subtle tartness to balance out the richness and dark fruits with a hint of bourbon in the back ground. This may turn out to be a disaster, but it could be off the hook.This is what I love about brewing.