Belgian tripel tastes like puke

Fellow brewers.I tasted my Belgian tripel that has been in the secondary because I didn't get an accurate reading in the initial and to me it has a sour taste. Much like a queasy stomach after a night of partying. Is this normal? It was an extract kit from BB. Will the smell die down after bottling?

tripels take a very long time to mellow out, give it time, lots of it.

How long since you brewed it? How long was it in the primary, and how long in the secondary? Which yeast did you use?

beergolf said:

How long since you brewed it? How long was it in the primary, and how long in the secondary? Which yeast did you use?

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It was in the initial for 5 days. The fermentation was vigorous and quick. It has been in the secondary for 7 days now. The yeast was part of the BB kit so I don't remember specifics.

Ya man way more time.. if it tasted good after 12 days nobody would wait 2 months. I would give it at least 3 more weeks before I even bottled and probably 2 weeks after that. Fermentation is a stinky process. I've smelt some and tried some of mine early on and been like what the fuk I effed up and ruined it, but they all turn out pretty good. Even if you do get some bugs in there it doesn't mean its ruined, you might just be making a sour now. If it tastes ****ty after its bottled just wait a while and try another, if it still sucks wait longer

send it to me, I have the patience to sit it on the shelf for 8 months before I crack them open.

H-Man said:

It was in the initial for 5 days. The fermentation was vigorous and quick. It has been in the secondary for 7 days now. The yeast was part of the BB kit so I don't remember specifics.

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FYI that's too short a time in primary, especially if this is a true tripel (i.e. high gravity). i wouldn't think about moving it for at least two weeks.

Ok. I'll let her in for many more weeks since all the responses have been describing the problem. You are the pro's and I thank you for your insight.

Cheers

i think i speak for many when i say that i'm not a pro, i just play one online

your beer may have a problem, or it may be just fine. the problem is that at such a young age it's hard to tell based only on an online description.

do you belong to a homebrew club? if you do, once you bottle you could bring a sample to a meeting and ask more experienced brewers (a BJCP judge would be ideal, but not always available) what they think.

Chad Yakobson has reported good results using brett to convert butyric acid (bile) to ethyl butyrate (passion fruit), but that it could take a long time.

unionrdr said:

Well,those belgian trappist style ales all heve a lil sour bret funk to them. It's part of the style.

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Yeah, if you pitch WLP510 or some dregs from Orval. Otherwise, all you should experience is the typical flavor profile from whatever Belgian yeast used.

Tripels (and most any other strong Belgian for that matter) take quite a while to ferment and develop, and moving it out of the primary fermenter after only 5 days probably wasn't the best course of action for this style. Give it a while to finish in its current vessel. If it's not an infection causing the puke smell, you'll be quite pleased with the result of a little patience.

unionrdr said:

Well,those belgian trappist style ales all heve a lil sour bret funk to them. It's part of the style.

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Disagree. Most Belgians have some fruity/funky notes, but that's just due to the yeast straings - there's no Brett funkiness involved.

Edit: what Phenry said.

phenry said:

Yeah, if you pitch WLP510 or some dregs from Orval. Otherwise, all you should experience is the typical flavor profile from whatever Belgian yeast used.

Tripels (and most any other strong Belgian for that matter) take quite a while to ferment and develop, and moving it out of the primary fermenter after only 5 days probably wasn't the best course of action for this style. Give it a while to finish in its current vessel. If it's not an infection causing the puke smell, you'll be quite pleased with the result of a little patience.

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I was just going by what the instructions called for. Could I post add some yeast at this point in time? If I didn't give it a full initial fermentation would additional yeast help? Thanks for you advice.

It's been fermenting for 13 days now right? What yeast came with the kit? I usually use Wy3787 with my Belgians, and it can take a while to fully ferment out.

H-Man said:

I was just going by what the instructions called for. Could I post add some yeast at this point in time? If I didn't give it a full initial fermentation would additional yeast help? Thanks for you advice.

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right, don't worry about the talk about brett. you didn't pitch any, so there isn't any in there (at least there shouldn't be!).

adding more yeast: have you taken a gravity reading yet? yeast won't be very effective if most of the fermentation has already happened and there is a lot of alcohol in there. also, you might already be a final gravity (FG), i.e. your fermentation is done and additional yeast is pointless.

phenry said:

What yeast came with the kit?

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it's a Better Brewer kit, so it was probably a dry yeast - S-33 or T-58.

homebrewdad said:

Disagree. Most Belgians have some fruity/funky notes, but that's just due to the yeast straings - there's no Brett funkiness involved.

Edit: what Phenry said.

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I was going off two on my wishlist. Wyeast ACT 3278,& bretomyces lambicus activator. But they're both for Belgian lambics. Ooops. I got about the same flavors in trapist ales,just not quite the same as lambics though.