Bottling Belgian Dubbels

[Mike_G]

Just brewed the Belgian Dubbel extract kit from Northern Brewer. NB advertises the OG as 1062. I will leave it in the primary for two weeks and the about a month in the secondary. When it comes time to bottle I am wondering about adding additional yeast. I have read about adding additional Belgian yeast prior to bottling to get authentic Belgian style carbonation levels. This article in Brew Your Own online talks about how to do it. http://byo.com/stories/item/1207-on-the-yeast-guide-to-bottle-conditioning. I have also heard of adding Champagne yeast prior to bottling. I have also read that there should be enough yeast in suspension prior to bottling to handle carbonation. I would like to get as close to an authentic Belgian as I again with an extract kit. What do you guys think?

Second part of the question is if I add additional yeast at bottling do I need to do 750ml bottles with cork and cage or will regular bottles work?

 

[Cyclman]

I don't think you need to add yeast, when I did that kit I didn't. It takes awhile to carb up, took mine 2+ months. It is best after 6 months or so.

Don't add a yeast that attenuates more than the original, it could overly dry it out.

I just re-did this recipe with home made belgian candi sugar, an AG batch. Ageing it 3 months, should be ready for fall. Great recipe.

 

[BigFloyd]

I cold-crashed my current dubbel a week at 35-36*F before bottling and it still has enough yeast (WLP530) to handle bottle carbing. Now it just has to have another 2 months to mature.