Feedback on a recipe for a dark Belgian table beer?

Firstly, your recipe as is looks pretty good to me. My house Belgian Ale is basically a Dubbel and there are a lot of similarities between my Dubbel recipe and your recipe for a dark Belgian table beer.

I just have thoughts for your consideration:

I recognize your reasoning for the selection of the crystal malts you are using (using leftovers). I think these will work just fine. My preference for crystal malts is a combination of Caravienne and Special B. You may want to consider these crystal malts for a follow up Belgian Ale.

You recipe only has a Bittering addition. I like to add some flavor/aroma hops to my Dubbel: ½ ounce East Kent Goldings at 15 minutes left in the boil and at flameout.

I have used Wyeast 3787 many, many times (maybe 50 times?). Wyeast 3787 is my personal favorite Belgian yeast strain since it is very expressive; lots of esters and phenol flavors. That yeast has a fairly broad recommended fermentation temperature: 64-78F. If you ferment cool (e.g., 65°F) that strain will produce fairly neutral flavors. I have fermented with 3787 between 68-72°F. At 68°F it produces some ‘Belgiany’ flavors. At 72°F it produces more ‘Belgiany’ flavors. I have considered fermenting at 74°F but I have not done that yet.

So, the top end of the recommended range is 78°F. Do you think you can stay under that? A very simple way to keep temperatures down a few degrees is to just place the fermenter in a shallow pan of water. Below is a description of my cooling strategies. I would highly recommend that you use 3787 is you like ‘Belgiany’ flavors: esters (fruits) and phenols (spicy).

Good luck with your dark Belgian table beer.

Cheers!

Cooling strategies from a previous post:

“My homebrewing area (utility room in my half basement) is a bit too warm now (ambient about 72-73°F). My preference is to ferment my Wit beers around 70°F (although 72°F would be OK). So, since fermentation is an exothermic reaction (it produces heat) I need to ‘manage’ the fermentation temperature. Right now I am able to do that by simply placing my bucket on the basement floor; the basement floor operates like a heat sink drawing the ‘excess’ heat away. I will just use the ‘floor method’ unless the fermentation temperature exceeds 72°F. If that occurs I will place my fermenter in a shallow Rubbermaid pan (about 5 inches tall) and put water in the pan. The presence of water increases the heat sink effect by cooling a couple more degrees. If I should need even more cooling I will place a towel (or a T-shirt) around the bucket for evaporative cooling. If even more cooling is needed I add a fan to the mix. If even more cooling is required I add some ice to the water; refreezable blue ice blocks.”

 

I also use a little Hallertau, about .75 oz, at 20 minutes for a small but important flavor component.

 

Along with what Jack says about broad temperature tolerance, I find this strain has a broad flavor profile.

You could play with 3787 forever, I also like this strain. I have gotten apples and tangerine in a dubbel, pear in a low gravity (mild) stout, holy cow what is going on here phenolics and esters in RIS, pitched a dubbel on a whole cake and thought it was the chico strain.

Your approach seems reasonable. Take notes on pitching rate, temp and gravity of the wort and go for it!

You were probably looking for advice on the grain bill, looks fine to me I will leave that to others.

 

I really like this idea, and I think its a good idea to pull the special B to 8oz. It's a pretty strong malt, and could easily give you more flavor in a table beer than you're shooting for.