11 replies to this topic

[ncbeerbrewer]

So a buddy of mine and me are going to brew up a 10 gallon brew and split it between us. I have a bag of Franco Belges Pilsner and thought it would be fun to brew a Belgian Tripel next month. I have never brewed a Tripel and my recipe at last by ingredients is roughly based off of Brewing Classic Styles the malt is at least. I am just trying to create a balanced beer between malt, hops, and some spices. I am open to suggestions overall but would love to know how my hop additions would work and also my spice additions. Lastly would the Trappist yeast be the best yeast for this style? I can't get White Labs here so its Wyeast or Dry yeast. I would like some Belgain Yeast character though too. If you think another yeast is better than 3787 then please let me know. I brewed with 3787 before but in this style and shooting for a SG of 1.080-1.085 don't care to do incremental feedings of the yeast either. So please let me know what you think and ask any questions as well. For spices does anyone think there is a better spice to go with ginger other than black pepper suggest away too. Thanks agian. Tripel Belgian Tripel Type: All GrainBatch Size: 10.25 galBoil Size: 12.83 gal Boil Time: 60 min Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 21.00 lb Franco Belges Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 70.00 % 2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 6.67 % 0.50 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 1.67 % 0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.67 % 2.00 oz Magnum [12.10 %] (60 min) Hops 31.4 IBU 1.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 2.1 IBU 1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (0 min) Hops - 2.05 oz Ginger Root (Secondary) 0.25oz Crushed Black Peppercorns (10mins)5.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 16.67 % 1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 3.33 % 1 Pkgs Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) Yeast-Wheat Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.090 SGEstimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.27 % Bitterness: 33.6 IBU Calories: 373 cal/pint Est Color: 5.5 SRM Color Mash Profile Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 24.00 lb Sparge Water: 9.01 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F

[drewseslu]

I like my Tripels around 1.080 OG, as far as the grist, you could narrow it down to just the Pils and Vienna, but what you have is fine. You would also be ok with just table sugar as your adjunct.You'll need lots of 3787, enough that it would be worth brewing up another beer to propogate it (and have something to drink while the Tripel ages).Personally, I don't see much need for any spices in a Tripel, but, its Belgian, so there are no 'rules' (like I ever cared for those, anyway).I like looks your hop bill is good, you need some hops to balance all that malt and alcohol.Just my 1/50th USD...Happy brewings!

[Jimmy James]

I agree on the sugar - no reason to use the light candi sugar as table sugar will do the same. I think if you want color and flavor you need a sugar with some molasses which isn't probably what you're looking for in a trippel. Classic Styles probably has a good suggestion on mash temp and duration of the rest. I'd definitely go with a 90-minute conversion rest with something that big. It won't hurt anyways. As far as hops go my trippels just get one addition at 60 minutes, to about the same IBU as you have. I usually use a Noble. I think it's fine to go with flavor and aroma hops but probably you want to make sure they will play well with your spice additions. You could always pull off a gravity sample when you rack to secondary and then add a small amount of your spices steeped in a little water to see how it works before going all in.

[Yeasty Boy]

That much ginger will wreck this beer. I put a fifth oz of ginger in a Belgian pale, secondary, and it turned it into a ginger beer. Trippel is going to have some pretty delicate malt and yeast aromas going on, and 2oz of ginger will seriously kill it. People who are bent on spicing their beer won't not spice, but nonetheless my recommendation is to make this beer w/o spices, and see if you pick up hints of spice that you'd like to augment and put it down for v 2.0.I think your attenuation estimate is realistic even with all of that sugar, so the big IBU's will come in handy.I'd prefer to knock the gravity down a bit, say 80-82, and get the IBU's in the mid- to high- 20's, then work out closer to 80% AA. You could do this just by dropping your table sugar....Which brings me to the other thing: You realize that's like 30% of your fermentables, right?You're in danger of a couple of things when you go that high: If you go much over 70° you may have way more fusel than you can stomach; if you ferment cool you may not get the attenuation you want and you end up with a syrupy beer that you have to sit on for three years and call something else besides "trippel." Sugar makes a lot of alcohol which can poison the yeast and make it drop out prematurely. It also has no nutrient value, so you'll be wise to add some yeast food. As a rule I think 20% should be the top end, and you ought to be able to get the job done somewhere more in the 12-15% range.Take your grain bill, lose the pricey candi and drop the table sugar to 3.5# and you'll give your yeast a much easier time. That puts you at 1.082 and ~20% sugar. From 1.082 it's a little easier to get to 80% AA and find yourself around 1.016-7 TG, giving those 33 IBU's a little more presence.Another thing I'd suggest is dumping the carapils. There's just no need for it in a big beer like this. It doesn't make any sense to dump a ton of sugar in it to make it light and then adding dextrin to give it body. Replace that .5# with more pils.Taste the beer before adding the ginger, and if you like it, consider letting it be. If you must, add like an eighth of an ounce and peel it. It also matters how thin you slice or mince the stuff.Good luck with it! Aerate big and pitch big. Consider giving the first two days of fermentation about 70° before bumping to mid-70's.

[MetlGuy]

So how did this turn out?

[ncbeerbrewer]

So how did this turn out?

MetlGuy, I should repost this recipe since I ended up changing it based on suggestions from the board and my friend also did not take part so I brewed a 5 gallon batch instead of 10 gallons. As to how it turned out: I brewed this one on 5/31/09 and it currently is sitting in secondary as well. So as to the finished product will have to wait since I figured I would age this one till September. As to how did brewing this beer go, I feel it went excellent. My intended gravity was 1.082 and I came in at 1.080 as well. I did not use any spices but I did use table sugar at 2.25lbs. I fermented this at 70 degrees with a nice cake of Wyeast 3522 and it fermented down in 10 days FG= 1.010. Tasting the gravity sample I think it tasted really good as I remember. I will post back once this is carbonated and on tap though too in a months time. Thanks for the inquiry. Are you looking to brew a Tripel? Mike Type: All Grain Date: 5/31/2009 Batch Size: 5.25 gal Boil Time: 60 min Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 10.50 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 73.68 % 1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7.02 % 0.25 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 % 0.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 % 0.75 oz Magnum [12.10 %] (60 min) Hops 24.4 IBU 1.25 oz Mt. Hood [5.10 %] (30 min) Hops 11.9 IBU 0.50 oz Mt. Hood [5.10 %] (10 min) Hops 2.2 IBU 0.50 oz Saaz [5.90 %] (10 min) Hops 2.9 IBU 1.00 oz Saaz [5.90 %] (0 min) Hops - 1.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.10 %] (0 min) Hops - 2.25 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 15.79 % 1 Pkgs Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) Yeast-Wheat Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.082 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.080 SG Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.09 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.16 % Bitterness: 41.4 IBU Calories: 362 cal/pint Est Color: 5.3 SRM

[drewseslu]

Well done, I expect splendid results with this one.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Well done, I expect splendid results with this one.

I appreciate the feedback and your approval. I am looking forward to trying this one too. I am sure like all your beers you make a fine Tripel as well.

[ncbeerbrewer]

So how did this turn out?

Well done, I expect splendid results with this one.

Well I went to a local event hosted by a up and coming microbrewery and toted along a keg of this Tripel along with three other beers of mine. Served it to about a crowd of 250 and people loved it. It was really cool. People were coming up to my table and saying can I try the Tripel I was told it was excellent. I went with a full keg and only have about a quarter left at most. Amazing to me for a 9.2% but I am pleased. So all in all this turned out amazing and I am surely planning to brew and age it again.

[Jimmy James]

Awesome! Sounds like a good thing in that you got a lot of positive feedback on what turned out to be a super beer. Sounds like a bad thing in that now it's almost all gone Or, you can turn that to your advantage and use it as an excuse to brew again so it's all good. Do you have any tasting notes? I am particularly curious how the hopping schedule worked with that yeast. Sounds like it worked well, just curious what flavors dominated. Congrats on a good one.

Well I went to a local event hosted by a up and coming microbrewery and toted along a keg of this Tripel along with three other beers of mine. Served it to about a crowd of 250 and people loved it. It was really cool. People were coming up to my table and saying can I try the Tripel I was told it was excellent. I went with a full keg and only have about a quarter left at most. Amazing to me for a 9.2% but I am pleased. So all in all this turned out amazing and I am surely planning to brew and age it again.

[ncbeerbrewer]

Awesome! Sounds like a good thing in that you got a lot of positive feedback on what turned out to be a super beer. Sounds like a bad thing in that now it's almost all gone Or, you can turn that to your advantage and use it as an excuse to brew again so it's all good. Do you have any tasting notes? I am particularly curious how the hopping schedule worked with that yeast. Sounds like it worked well, just curious what flavors dominated. Congrats on a good one.

Thanks again JJ. You are right about running out it is definitely an excuse to brew more no doubts. This one is a keeper in my mind. I am planning to brew a few beers with a fresh smack pack of 3522 Belgian Pumpkin, IPA, maybe Dubbel, then this Tripel. Flavor profile. I would say initially the flavor comes in with a soft belgian character and flavor, nothing harsh or puckering, following that I feel that the 41 IBU's contribute. Not as you would find in an IPA but they show their presence. To me this beer seems to be a smooth mellow Belgian flavored from the yeast beer with a nice smooth bitterness coming from the Saaz and Mt Hoods. Maybe we can swap some of this Tripel with your Cali Belqi beer you said you plan to brew again. Thanks Mike

[Jdtirado]

I am soooo going to make this sometime soon