Chimay Red

Chimay Red (Belgian Abbey Dubbel-Style Beer)

Chimay Red, known as 'Première,' is a Belgian Trappist dubbel brewed by monks at the Scourmont Abbey. This home-brewer interpretation follows the classic profile: a dark amber ale with notes of caramel, dark fruit, and gentle spice.

Prep

90 min

Cook

420 min

Total

510 min

Serves

19 L (5 US gal)

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •4500 g (10 lb) Belgian Pilsner malt, base malt
• •900 g (2 lb) Munich malt, for color and maltiness
• •450 g (1 lb) Special B malt, Belgian caramel malt; gives dark fruit character
• •340 g (12 oz) D2 candi syrup, dark Belgian candi syrup for color and raisin notes
• •45 g (1.6 oz) Saaz hops, low alpha, bittering and aroma
• •60 g (2 oz) Styrian Goldings hops, for noble aroma
• •11 g (0.4 oz) Saaz hop pellets, late kettle addition
• •19 L (5 US gal) brewing water, low mineral content preferred; treat as needed
• •1 pkg Trappist ale yeast, e.g., Wyeast 3787 or White Labs WLP530
• •1 tsp Irish moss, clarifier, optional
• •115 g (4 oz) priming sugar, for bottle carbonation

Steps

1. 1 Step 1: Heat 15 L (4 US gal) of strike water to 71°C (160°F). Mash the Pilsner, Munich, and Special B malts in a tun at 67°C (152°F) for 60 minutes. Aim for a final wort gravity around 1.062-1.068.
2. 2 Step 2: Sparge slowly with hot water at 76°C (169°F) until you collect about 27 L (7 US gal) of runoff.
3. 3 Step 3: Boil the wort for 90 minutes. Add Saaz hops (bittering) at 60 minutes, Styrian Goldings at 15 minutes, and remaining Saaz at flameout. Add the D2 candi syrup at the start of the boil for color and flavor.
4. 4 Step 4: Add Irish moss with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool the wort rapidly to 20°C (68°F) and transfer to a sanitized fermenter.
5. 5 Step 5: Pitch the Trappist yeast when the wort is at fermentation temperature. Ferment at 20-22°C (68-72°F) for 7-10 days, allowing the temperature to rise naturally toward the end.
6. 6 Step 6: When fermentation slows, transfer (rack) the beer to a secondary vessel and age at 15-18°C (59-64°F) for 4-6 weeks to develop the dubbel character.
7. 7 Step 7: Bottle the beer with priming sugar dissolved in a small amount of boiled water, aiming for 2.5 volumes of CO2. Condition bottles at room temperature for at least 2 weeks, ideally 4-6 weeks.
8. 8 Step 8: Chill bottles to 10-13°C (50-55°F) before serving. Decant carefully to leave yeast sediment in the bottle. Expect a dark amber color, soft malt body, and aromas of dark fruit, brown sugar, and light spice.