Duvel clone

This recipe requires a temperature controlled fermentation environment as the process ramps and cools the ambient during the fermentation cycle.

Cycle is:
Fermentation - 2 weeks
Lager - 2 weeks
Bottle carb - 2 weeks
Cold cellar - 6 weeks

Set aside 8oz of sugar in the recipe for the dosage, use explained below.

Use a soft water profile.

Primary - Initial
Start at 68F and after lag phase hold for 2 days then ramp temperature 2 deg/day to 78F. This first phase of fermentation should take about a week.

Primary - Dosage
Reduce temp to 72F and add the dosage(1gram yeast nutrient + 8-12oz sugar dissolved in 160 deg water and held at temp for 15 min) to primary. This will start an additional fermentation and keep in primary for additional week. Total primary fermentation time should be around 2 weeks. Adding the dosage will dry out the beer which will get the yeast to an 88-90% attenuation which is important for the style. The recipe has the dosage included the fermetables for total OG value calculation.

Lager
Rack to secondary if desired. Lager at 48F moving to 34F for 2 weeks.

Bottle
Use bottles rated for 4 - 4.5 volumes of CO2. Prime for this CO2 level.

Add 1 packet of dry champagne yeast(or other yeast with a neutral profile) proofed for 30 minutes to batch along with priming sugar for bottling.

Hold at 75F for 2 weeks for carbonation.
Cellar cold for additional 4-6 weeks to mature.