8 replies to this topic

[Thirsty]

I've got a tripel I brewed last fall that started at 1.102, and got down to 1.040 with wy1388. I think I mashed too high and just couldnt get it down. So I put in some wy3278 lambic blend in december. It has gotten down to 1.018 now, darkened up and soured nicely, but is still too sweet. So trying to figure out where to go from here. So i've got roughly an 11%abv beer on my hands, so I would think I will need to blend it(?) I have never done anything outside of regular sac. cerv. would pitching lacto be a good thing and dry it out more? Am I beyond alcohol tolerance? I was also thinking about making a fruit wheat beer to cut it with. Maybe a rhubarb or cherry wheat, and blend the 2.

[siouxbrewer]

Probably too late for lacto, it tends to be a wimp in the presence of other critters, alcohol, or low pH. Your OG was pretty high for a tripel so you may be stuck with a higher FG than desired. Brett does a good job of drying a beer out, you may want to give it time, which may be a long time.

[ANUSTART]

from Wyeast's website:

Contains a selection of Saccharomyces and non-Saccharomyces including Belgian-style wheat beer yeast, sherry yeast, two Brettanomyces strains and lactic acid bacteria.

LinkI'm thinking that means there's already lactobacillus in there, right? It's probably what made it sour. I'm not sure if there's anything else that could be called lactic acid bacteria other than lactobacillus but admittedly I'm not very knowledgeable in those sorts of things.

[Jimmy James]

Good question Odacrem, there are different types of lactic acid bacteria and they include lactobacillus as well as others. The only one you'd typically want in a fermentation (of beer) would probably be a homofermentative lactobacillus like L. delbruckeii which yields mainly lactic acid as a fermentation product. I agree with sioux that the lacto probably won't do anything at this point as it doesn't tolerate a lot of alcohol, and with odacrem that you probably had lacto in your fermentation already anyways. You could certainly blend it. If it has been in a fairly cool environment, you could try warming it up to 80 degrees to see if you get more activity if you don't want to use it for blending. 1.018 is pretty low and over 80% attenuation - the sweetness you are tasting could be more due to fruity esters and ketones from the Brett and not so much the residual sugar. This could be mitigated somewhat by carbonation which would accentuate the acidity. Just keep that in mind before doing anything rash.

[Slainte]

from Wyeast's website:LinkI'm thinking that means there's already lactobacillus in there, right? It's probably what made it sour. I'm not sure if there's anything else that could be called lactic acid bacteria other than lactobacillus but admittedly I'm not very knowledgeable in those sorts of things.

It's Pediococcus that's in there.

[DubbelEntendre]

Thirsty, Is it sweet or is it cloying?If it tastes sweet, then it might not be the amount of residual sugar. As JJ suggested it might be byproducts of fermentation that is giving it a sweet flavor. If it is cloying, then I would look to try to bring the sugar down some more. Carbonation helps too. A little bit of fizz goes a long way to changing sweetness perception, and Tripels get lots of carbonation.I'm curious as to how big of a starter you made for a 1.102 Tripel?

[3rd party JKor]

Dry champagne yeast?

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

Dry champagne yeast?

The big guns!

[Thirsty]

Thirsty, Is it sweet or is it cloying?

It is actually very balanced, not cloying, but still sweet not dry and overwhelmingly tart like I would like.

Dry champagne yeast?

Tried that back when it first stalled. Didnt do shit. Dropped maybe 3-5 pts. I am thinking of a very dry low mashed wheat beer, with a neutral yeast. Maybe a 1.045 50% wheat, 50% pale, and a us05 ferment cool. Then secondary it with Belaton cherries too be "overcherried" by a bit, then blend the 2 together and hope for a 7% or so blend, then maybe another dose of lacto once blended?