carnevoodoo

Recipes 

Aeration helps with anything. I wouldn't even consider making a beer like this without a starter as well. I've been lazy from time to time and have aerated less than I perhaps should and I have never had a stuck fermentation, but I've also underpitched and always been fine too, so I can't say one way or the other. There's not relly one key to any of this though. It is a combination of all the best practices that turn out consistently good beer.

To the OP: I would skip the clear Belgian candy sugar and just use regular sugar. There's no real difference in taste profile and you'll save yourself some money. The only Belgian sugars I prefer are the syrups, but for a golden strong, plain sugar is just fine.

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beersydoesit

Recipes 

I agree. I thought the starter thing was settled. Yes make a starter for big beers.

Regards

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Dave in Madison

NicePelos

Recipes 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I was talking to my local homebrew shop owner and he said he gave brown sugar a shot in a triple with great results. He said it added a little rum flavor to the batch. Anybody tried this?

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Primary:
Secondary: Belgian tripel
Bottle: American amber ale
Up next: American wheat

HairyDogBrewing

Recipes 

Brown sugar = table sugar (sucrose) + molasses.
A lot of brewers frown upon sucrose in beer.
It's described as having a "cidery" effect.
Others say it gets a bad rap, just don't go overboard.

Many tripel recipes call for some kind of sugar.
The best is "candi syrup", a by-product of candy making.
It's authentic, but expensive.
The candy rocks are pure sucrose, like table sugar but much
more expensive.

Another option is to make your own invert sugar.
Heat and acid breaks the sucrose into glucose and dextrose,
which are better yeast food.
My recipe is 1.5 lbs table sugar, 1/8 tsp citric acid, water to dissolve.
Heat to 275 and hold 15 minutes for clear, 90 minutes for dark.
Carefully add a pint or so of water and pour into kettle or a mason jar.

syd138

Recipes 

here is an easy how-to on making Belgian Candi.. I tried it the other day, and made some good dark Candi. Pretty easy.

How to make Candi Sugar - Home Brewing Wiki