Tripel/Golden Strong Special Recipes

I am going to make a Belgian Tripel or Golden Strong Ale this week and I was wondering If any of you out there had any good ideas or recipes to put a little twist on the recipe.

I know that pretty much all of the beers character for this kind of beer comes from the flavorful and aromatic Belgian yeast, so I am looking for any thing else I could add to the beer, that would not throw the flavor out of balance and add a nice subtle complexity to it.

Any ideas or suggestions?

The most basic Tripel is 80% pils, 20% sugar, bitter to a .375 BU:GU ratio with 2/3 of the IBU's at 60, 1/3 at 30.

To add a little complexity you can add a little Munich (3-5 %). I also have tried some Turbinado sugar instead of plain white sugar. It adds a subtle difference.

If you add any spices, such as corriander or orange peel, add very little so the flavor is barey noticable. I prefer a simple tripel but that is my taste.

You are right, the yeast is the star, so different yeasts will produce differnt flavor. They all are good, but my favorite is 3787, followed closely by 1214. 3522 is another good one.

in the tripel issue of BYO, they suggested that a tripel could have up to 10% of either munich or wheat - so 70% pils, up to 10% munich or wheat, and 20% sugar. beergolf's earlier suggestion of 80 pils/20 sugar is indeed the more classical tripel recipe.

beergolf said:

The most basic Tripel is 80% pils, 20% sugar, bitter to a .375 BU:GU ratio with 2/3 of the IBU's at 60, 1/3 at 30.

To add a little complexity you can add a little Munich (3-5 %). I also have tried some Turbinado sugar instead of plain white sugar. It adds a subtle difference.

If you add any spices, such as corriander or orange peel, add very little so the flavor is barey noticable. I prefer a simple tripel but that is my taste.

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What is Turbinado sugar and what did it add to your beer? (I'll google it lol)

I too enjoy a nice clean simple Tripel, but i plan on entering mine into a competition for mainly Tripels and Golden Strong Ale's, so I wanted to do something to make it stand out.

Have you had any luck with adding citrus?

WhiteDog87 said:

What is Turbinado sugar and what did it add to your beer? (I'll google it lol)

I too enjoy a nice clean simple Tripel, but i plan on entering mine into a competition for mainly Tripels and Golden Strong Ale's, so I wanted to do something to make it stand out.

Have you had any luck with adding citrus?

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Turbinado is a less refined cane sugar. It is a little darker, so if you are going to enter it into a comp, check the SRM to see if it stays in guidlines. It just adds a subtle difference in the flavor. Hard to explain.

beergolf said:

I also have tried some Turbinado sugar instead of plain white sugar. It adds a subtle difference.

If you add any spices, such as corriander or orange peel, add very little so the flavor is barey noticable. I prefer a simple tripel but that is my taste.

You are right, the yeast is the star, so different yeasts will produce differnt flavor. They all are good, but my favorite is 3787, followed closely by 1214. 3522 is another good one.

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What does the Turbinado do? I've never used it, just plain sugar.

For the OP: Add Grains of Paradise, Corriander, or orange zest, but as BG noted, it needs to be subtle. If you can tell what it is, it is too much, and the judges might think so too.

I too was thinking of making Tripel soon. I'd like to have a thick lacy head on it. I know cara-pils or more appropriately the wheat in this recipe will help with head retention. How do you make the tiny bubbles that lace the rim? Skip the protease rest?
Not trying to hijack you White Dog. I'm sure this info can't hurt your recipe.

Climber said:

Not trying to hijack you White Dog. I'm sure this info can't hurt your recipe.

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No worries, info never hurts. I think using a good Belgian pils malt helps with the lacing too, along with the wheat you were talking about.

After thinking about it some more I think I may turn my recipe into a "Belgian Specialty Ale" because I want to make something really interesting and unique for this competition, and doing that will probably change the beer so it dosnt fit in the style guidelines. Or hey, I just might make both!!!

Spices typically are not used in a Belgian golden strong, so if you add spices, like say corriander which is like a La Chouffe enter it in cat. 16E Belgian specialty.

Using Belgian candi sugar makes a difference in taste compared to cane sugar.

Also, as far as a twist, using a small amount of coriander and orange peel (a teaspoon of each in a grain bag) for 5-10 minutes of the boil will add complexity but not overwhelm the recipe.

I use WLP500 or WLP530.

TripleF said:

Using Belgian candi sugar makes a difference in taste compared to cane sugar.

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a lot of people will disagree with that statement. candi sugar crystals are simply inverted sugar and some coloring. no belgian brewery that i know of uses "belgian candi" crystals. they all use plain table sugar or candi syrup. candi syrup will impart flavor.

sweetcell said:

a lot of people will disagree with that statement. candi sugar crystals are simply inverted sugar and some coloring. no belgian brewery that i know of uses "belgian candi" crystals. they all use plain table sugar or candi syrup. candi syrup will impart flavor.

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Just out of curiosity, what is "inverted sugar"? And by that I mean what is the process or what do they do to it that makes it inverted?

Also do you know what flavors candi syrup will impart?

Candi sugar and candi syrup come from beets and I would view the flavors as equivalent. Cane sugar comes from sugar cane and never really imparts the same flavors. I'm a fan of Tripels and I can usually taste when a beer has the candi sugar (in either rock or syrup form).

WhiteDog87 said:

Just out of curiosity, what is "inverted sugar"? And by that I mean what is the process or what do they do to it that makes it inverted?

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lots of threads have already covered this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/how-do-you-invert-sugar-276785/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/invert-sugar-candy-sugar-8359/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/candi-syrup-invert-sugar-273112/

WhiteDog87 said:

Also do you know what flavors candi syrup will impart?

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http://www.candisyrup.com/index.html
http://www.darkcandi.com/d.html + http://www.darkcandi.com/d2.html

TripleF said:

Candi sugar and candi syrup come from beets and I would view the flavors as equivalent.

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that is true for clear candi syrup, maybe. but there are no candi crystals that can mimic the taste of dark syrup.

IMHO, and I've not passed the BJCP tasting part yet so take it with a grain of salt, if you want to make a style stand out it's about perfecting your process rather than adding things that are not to style. I've only judged in four competitions, but the beers that have stood out (not just to me but to the other judges) are those that are well made and well fermented. If you feel you must add spices, I'd echo the call for subtlety.

Just my 2 cents.

Piratwolf said:

IMHO, and I've not passed the BJCP tasting part yet so take it with a grain of salt, if you want to make a style stand out it's about perfecting your process rather than adding things that are not to style. I've only judged in four competitions, but the beers that have stood out (not just to me but to the other judges) are those that are well made and well fermented. If you feel you must add spices, I'd echo the call for subtlety.

Just my 2 cents.

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I agree with this whole heartedly, from what I noticed so far in competitions it's the well made to style beers that win the medals. The specialty ones usually don't take home the gold.(not to say they can't).

Im waiting to see how it turns out, but If the extra ingredients I added have anything more than a subtle background note, then I am going to call it a Belgian Specialty Ale, instead of a Tripel for competition.

My inspiration for making a Tripel with some unique ingredients was definitely inspired by my recent trip to "The Bruery" in Placentia CA. I had their special holiday beer called "5 Golden Rings" which was either called a tripel or belgian golden ale with pineapple juice and spices. it was delicious and way too drinkable for its 10% ABV

WhiteDog87 said:

Im waiting to see how it turns out, but If the extra ingredients I added have anything more than a subtle background note, then I am going to call it a Belgian Specialty Ale, instead of a Tripel for competition.

My inspiration for making a Tripel with some unique ingredients was definitely inspired by my recent trip to "The Bruery" in Placentia CA. I had their special holiday beer called "5 Golden Rings" which was either called a tripel or belgian golden ale with pineapple juice and spices. it was delicious and way too drinkable for its 10% ABV

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Sounds amazing! Glad to see you have a plan & a back-up. I hope you'll post back with your results!

I just tasted my hydrometer sample from my Tripel with apple juice and cinnamon and it tasted awesome! My fiance is a huge fan of tripels and strong belgian beers and she was even more excited about the beer than I was. Hopefully its carbed up by christmas! Will definitely be brewing this one again!