# 🍺 Top-down Brew: Clone - Duvel

## Recipe Variables

Enter the parameters
name: Duvel clone og: 1.080 malt: Belgian or continental pilsner malt, 90, 2, 80 malt: CaraPils dextrin, 2, 12, 72 sugar: Corn sugar, 8, 1, 80 ibu: 30 hop: Styrian goldings, 80, 5.75, 90 hop: Saaz, 20, 5.75, 10 yeast: ale vol: 5.5 system: US eff: 75 prime: 2.7, 72

### Variations

For malt extract:

- Delete the pilsner and Carapils malt lines.
- For liquid malt extract, add sugar: Liquid light (Pilsner) malt extract, 80, 5, 76
- For dry malt extract, add sugar: Dry light (Pilsner) malt extract, 80, 3.5, 96
- Modify the sugar line to 20%: sugar: corn sugar, 20, 1, 80. Also consider making this a fermenter addition instead of a kettle addition: sugarferm: corn sugar, 20, 1, 80.

### Explore other malts, sugars, and hops

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## Results

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## Notes

Duvel is a classic Belgian beer. The brewery web site provides this description: "Duvel is a natural beer with a subtle bitterness, a refined flavour and a distinctive hop character. The refermentation in the bottle and a long maturation, guarantees a pure character, delicate effervescence and a pleasant sweet taste of alcohol."

The default values of this calculator are a combination of three clone recipes plus information from the Duvel web site. The ingredients are pretty simple and straightforward. The processes though must be handled with care to get the best results.

The mash goal should be to achieve the most fermentable wort possible. According to Dornbusch (2006), the brewery uses a four-hour step mash procedure to maximize fermentability. While four hours might be unnecessary, the high fermentability goal is essential. Aim for mashing in the lower range, such as 145 to 150F (63 to 66C). Step-mashing might be worth pursuing. Consider a 90 minute mash with multiple temperature steps that include stirring the mash.

A 90 minute boil is recommended for eliminating dimethyl sulfide (DMS) that might be present in pilsner malt.

The sugar could be added at the end of the boil for simplicity. Another strategy though to promote high attenuation is to add the sugar to the fermenter when signs of activity have diminished. Dissolve the sugar in hot water and hold at at least 160F (71C) for sanitation reasons. Cool to fermentation temperature before adding it to the fermenter. Using yeast nutrient at the end of the boil and possibly even during fermentation is also advisable given that sugars are devoid of nutrients.

The suggested malt extract variation has increased corn sugar (20%, possibly up to 30%) compared to the all-grain version for promoting fermentability (Zainasheff, 2011).

The recommended yeasts are Wyeast 1388 or White Labs WLP570. A larger than usual yeast pitch will be needed due to high original gravity. Pitching the right amount is a step towards to the goal of high attenuation.

The Duvel web site also provides information about their fermentation process:

- Primary fermentation is 20 to 26C (68 to 79F). Comment: Start low, then let it rise.
- Crash cool to freezing temperatures.
- Bottle conditioning at 24C (75F) for two weeks.
- Cold conditioning for six weeks.

## References

BYO (2007, January-February). Mike's "Devilish" Belgian Strong Golden Batch #121, p. 36

BYO (2018). The Brew Your Own Big Book of Clone Recipes, p. 149-150.

Dornbusch, H. (2006, May-June). Belgian golden ale: The Belgian's classic blond brew. BYO, p. 19 - 21.

Szamatulski, T. and Szamatulski, T., Clonebrews, p. 53

Zainasheff, J. (2011, March-April). Big and Belgian: Belgian strong golden ale. BYO, p. 19 - 22.