belgian tripel fermenting

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milehighsuds

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Sunday i brewed my first Belgian Tripel everything went fairly good, slightly lower OG then i was shooting for, 1.079. my question is about the primary, i pitched my yeast (wlp530) at about 66-67 degrees and let it rise to about 71-73 over the first 24 hours, it blew off like crazy for about 24 hours and has now slowed to a good bubble. anyway, i am going to be adding sugar to the primary once it slows some more, probably tomorrow, friday. Should i pitch some yeast at that point and or yeast nutrient with the sugar?

cheers
 
Did you use a starter originally?

If yes, then just pitch the sugar, no worries.
If no, then I'd still say pitch the sugar, very slight almost negligible worry.
 
I wouldn't add more yeast at that point. But I would add some nutrient just for good measure....That is something I do when I 'feed a fermentation' and it seems to work well.
 
lol, i'm in a similar boat, except I started at 1.069. pitched at 70, and my heater took 6 hours to get it to 75, but it held solid since. 48 hours after pitching the krausen fell and airlock slowed....wlp550
 
Just add the sugar and call it good, people worry too much, much like not adding the sugar during the boil because they worry the yeast.... anyways LOL
 
Skip nutrient, the yeast has already propagated as far as it will. Just add your sugar and sit back. I like adding it at high krausen rather than after the slowdown, but I think it's a matter of preference.
 
@Jrome, no starter

figure im just going to add the sugar. less is more sometimes. everything else went well with the brew. thanks. looking forward to trying this one just have to be patient
 
I would add nutrient. Nutrient is not only tied to propagation but also fermentation. (This is why you have to add nutrient in stages as you ferment mead.)

The yeast have undoubtedly used a lot of minerals out of the beer during the initial fermentation. The additional sugar will fuel additional fermentation as long as the other nutrients are present. If the beer runs out of the proper minerals before fermentation is complete you could get a stuck fermentation or a very slow completion of fermentation.
 
Nutrients are not necessary at this point. Go ahead and add the sugar and relax. I keep my tripels in primary for 3-4 weeks and always rack to secondary for another 2-3 weeks. One of the few beers I ever do a secondary...
 
Curious - Why didn't you add sugar to the boil? Why after initial fermentation? I have a belgian tripel in secondary that started at 1.091 and was 1.022 when I racked to secondary. I used WLP500 w/ starter. Were you strictly worried about the yeast being able to handle it, or did I risk some sort of off flavor. FWIW, it tasted awesome when I racked it.

EDIT: I added the candi sugar to the boil
 
Yeah i was worried about the yeast handling it because i didnt make a starter. learned alot from this brew and going to be changing a few things next go around.
 
Just tried the first bottle, good stuff. its still a bit "green" as its only been in the bottle for about 3 weeks i had to try it. light banana/clove aroma nice mouth feel to it can barely notice the coriander, just enough. great head on it, lacy two fingers. Im very pleased with the way it came out. Just need to get some more thoughts on it, going to be taking it to some local clubs/shops for a second opinion. I will be brewing again with a few changes.(Huge starter, and add sugar at end of boil)
cheers
 
i am going to be adding sugar to the primary once it slows some more, probably tomorrow, friday. Should i pitch some yeast at that point and or yeast nutrient with the sugar?

Just add the sugar. I have done that with several brews and it works just fine. The yeast multiplies during the first part of fermentation and eats up a good portion of the fermentable sugars in the wort. When you add the sugar the yeast goes on another feeding frenzy. Be prepared for blow off, so make sure you have a tube in place. About 30 minutes after adding the sugar it will go crazy again.
 
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