Quick Question, second try at a Tripel

I've started another batch. This time with a yeast starter.
6 lbs DME
3.15 lbs LME
2 lbs light Candi

I used Wyeast 1762 (Abbey II)

OG 1.092

pitched at 62.4 degrees, let it ferment in the basement at 65 degrees for a week, now its upstairs at 70-72.

I can already smell a bit of Rochefort #8 in the blow off jug. Can't wait!!!

So what do y'all think? 2 weeks in the primary, 2 weeks in the secondary, bottle and wait? or just leave it in the primary 4 weeks and bottle from there?

Leave it in the primary. That is a pretty big beer and the yeast will really slow down toward the end. Belgians can take as long to drop the last 3 points as it took to get there in the first place. Plan on at least 4 weeks and let the temp go from here on, don't try to keep it cool.

cool, thanks...

so if after 4 weeks it still hasn't gotten low enough, maybe pick up another smack pack and re-pitch to get it to finish?

Agree, let it go 4 in primary. I like to secondary as it drops more yeast and it needs to age condition anyway. So keeping it in secondary keeps my hands off it till I bottle at about 4 months from brew date. Give it a couple of months in the bottle and let her rip.

No need to add any more yeast. See if you can raise the temp another 2-4 degrees over the next couple of weeks to make sure it finishes. Then when its done, you can drop it down into the 50's or low 60's.

jslande01 said:

so if after 4 weeks it still hasn't gotten low enough, maybe pick up another smack pack and re-pitch to get it to finish?

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That would just be a waste of money. Try bumping the temp up to 80 for a few days to help it along.

I've only brewed a few Belgians but I do 3 weeks in primary, 8 weeks in secondary and 8 weeks in bottle before tasting. I think I'm rushing things though. The batch I bottled in January of this year is still improving.

That's a lot of aging everyone's doing. I let my tripels sit in primary for 4 weeks then keg or bottle to carb up. If it's kegged, I'll let it sit for 4 weeks cold conditioning, if it's bottled I let it sit at room temp and drink at about 6 weeks.

I have a batch of Jaspers St. Krausied's Triple in my primary right now. It fermented really vigorously for the first three days but has slowed down since. It will be at 3 weeks in the primary on 11/1. My plan is to rack it to a seconday for a few weeks after that. Most recomendations are to give each batch the time it needs to finish, especially big beers. Triples seem to do really well with age. They do drink well younger but should last in the bottle for a long time if you can wait. The armoa from my batch is already making me want to try some.

Just some sidebar feedback on aging Belgians. I've made 2 Tripels, 1 Dubbel, 2 Patersbiers, 1 Golden Strong Ale, and 1 Dark Strong Ale. The only ones that drank better young (under 6 months) IMO were the Patersbiers (duh, its under 1.050 OG) and the Dubbel (1.065 OG). I thought the Dubbel peaked around the 4-5 month mark. The Tripels, Golden Strong, and Dark Strong all peaked between 9 and 18 months. Just food for thought if you haven't tried aging one. I would recommend drinking some throughout a 1.5-2 year span and decide for yourself what you like best.

The Tripels, Golden Strong, and Dark Strong all peaked between 9 and 18 months. Just food for thought if you haven't tried aging one. I would recommend drinking some throughout a 1.5-2 year span and decide for yourself what you like best.

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I had a Kasteel Tripel once in 2010 that had a bottle date of 2008, so roughly 2 years in the bottle. I have had that beer since then but it has never been as good as those bottles with the age on them. I keep trying to find more of it to store away but they dont sell it anywhere near where I live now.

I'm just afraid to let it sit too long before I bottle like I did my first tripel because that never really carbed up properly... Midwest gave me some "rescue yeast" stuff (CBC-1) that I put in my first batch, yes it has bubbles now, but it definitely changed the flavor (and not in a good way). Won't use that crap again.

I'm fine letting it bottle condition for quite a while, so maybe I'll throw a bucket belt on it for the final week and go straight to bottle after 4 weeks.


Appreciate all the advice guys.

In brew like a monk, the common practice is to add new neutral yeast (NOTTY or US-05) along with the priming sugar. High gravity really kills off the yeast, so this gives the needed power for carbing when bottle conditioning.


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right, I should have stuck to my guns and just used more 1762 and priming sugar because of the high abv...

Also in Brew Like A Monk, I was surprised to find that MOST Belgian fermentation schedules are close to this:
Pitch at 64-70 F
Let rise over time to 72-84 F
Cold crash after ONLY 7-14 days
Hold at low temp for 2-14 days
Bottle condition for 4-12 weeks.

As you can see, the initial fermentation is very short. Much shorter than most on the forums would suggest...

TastyAdventure said:

Also in Brew Like A Monk, I was surprised to find that MOST Belgian fermentation schedules are close to this:
Pitch at 64-70 F
Let rise over time to 72-84 F
Cold crash after ONLY 7-14 days
Hold at low temp for 2-14 days
Bottle condition for 4-12 weeks.

As you can see, the initial fermentation is very short. Much shorter than most on the forums would suggest...

Click to expand...

Good Point. A high OG beer usually improves with age, but I think that is is easy to get carried away. I usually age in the bottle and start sampling early. A tripel may taste better at 9 months than 2 months (for example) but it should be tasting pretty good early if it is going to taste great later.

Yeah. I can wait and wait on bottling, but unfortunately once it gets in the bottles, my patience runs out...

So I tried again... used someone's tried and true "DragonMead Tripel" clone I think it was (can't find the post now)...

Anyway:
9.1 lbs light lme
2 lbs plain extra light dme
1.5 lbs cane sugar
12.6 lbs total, 12% sugar

1.8 oz Hallertau @60min
.4 oz Goldings @30min
.8 oz Saaz @3min

I held 3 lbs of the lme and the sugar until the last 10 minutes

2 vials wlp500 in a 1.5l starter on a stirplate for 48 hours

OG ended up at 1.092, pitched a little warm at 75 degrees, but then put in a 62 degree room. Fermentation started within 6 hours, was pretty slow after a week, but still going, so i put a heat belt on the bucket, was still bubbling a little after 2 weeks so I wrapped it in a blanket. Racked to secondary after 3 weeks, gravity at 1.012.

Let it sit in the secondary for 4 weeks, kegged it up, its a bit malty sweet (didn't expect that with it getting down to 1.012), but also a bit sour at this point. Just needs more time probably? Keep it at kegerator temp? or 60 degrees?

Fyi, my last tripel ended up horribly sour like it got infected along the way, gave it several months, never got any better.

Don't want to give up on my favorite beer style, but this is now try number 4 and they just aren't working out.

I've made 3 Tripels and that sour taste was not an issue. The flavors were certainly pretty flat until the 6 month from brew date. So I would say aging can really help in bringing out the yeast characteristics. Most of them peaked around month 9 and were great until they were all drank up.

Hmm, shouldn't be sour. I would think possible sanitation issue there. If it does become infected, might as well buy some sour beers w/ live bugs and intentionally dose it with the dregs. That's a fun offshoot as well, and a high gravity Belgian would be a good candidate for it.

I would choose a different yeast. WLP500 is too sweet and a bit less attenuative than the other typical trappist style yeasts, at least in my experience. Its better suited for dubbels and BSDAs where you want a plum/fig character. WLP550 or 530 are more spicy and better suited IMO. Personally, i like using Unibroue's yeast WY3864

One trick I started doing is to add a tiny bit of saison yeast with your regular yeast to get it to attenuate very low. Below 1.010 is usually my goal. This really help with the clean ncie finish that commercial examples like karmeliet have

Ive found tripels can easily be drinkable less than 2 months from the brew date. They get better over a year or so but if its not drinkable after a month or two, I think there is something wrong with your process

also, you should let the yeast free rise during fermentation. this will bring out more esters and help the yeast attenuate ebtter