Brewer's Best Belgian Tripel question

I'm brewing my first batch with my own kit (helped a friend in the past) and have a question about when to transfer to secondary. My Belgian Tripel started fermenting very shortly after transferring it to primary fermenter (like within 8 hours) and seems to have stopped after about another 24 hours or so of fermentation. I took OG reading when I topped it off with water after transferring to primary (1.085 -- right where it was supposed to be). That was Friday night. I took another hydrometer reading after about 36 or so hours of fermentation since the airlock had stopped bubbling and I had gotten a little needlessly worried (again, this is my first brew of my own). That reading was 1.030 on Sunday afternoon. Checked it again yesterday (Tuesday) and it was unchanged (1.030).

I was planning on transferring it to the secondary fermenter on Friday, but according to the kit the FG should be about 1.017-1.020. Should I hold off on transferring it to the secondary if the SG doesn't hit FG by Friday, one week after it started fermenting?

Leave it for another week would be my recommendation.
Though, if your gravity isn't still falling there may be other issues to work though, if it still isn't moving in a couple more days I would rouse the yeast gently.

Okay, that's what I figured but I wasn't sure. I didn't know if it was possible for the gravity to just stop at 1.030 or what. Thanks for the help!

I brewed this kit once when i first started brewing. It was actually the first kit that i didnt alter in some way. I brewed it for a camping trip and it was a popular choice. We finished all the home brew before we finished the stuff ever one else bought.

I reccomend giving your carboy a stir and kicking up the yeast cake. that will help get things going again, you should see active fermentation soon after. Also, I didnt 2ndary the beer, it didnt really need it. I just transfered to the bottleing bucket and let it settle for 24 hours before bottling. Added some priming sugar syrup and stirred gently right before we bottled.

good luck and enjoy!

oh on another note, according the BJCP guidelines: my beer actually turned out to be a Belgian strong ale with that kit.

The same exact thing is happening to me right now. I am on my fifth day of 1.030. I have gave it a stir and still no change. Any update of how this turned out?

Rouse the yeast and get the temp up to 72-74F and keep it there for another week then re-check. Belgian yeast is a unique beast and it can take awhile to shave off the last points of the fermentation. It doesn't tolerate temperature drops well and should be increased gradually through the primary fermentation.

I think helibrewer is right on, according to my experience. It didn't end up at the 8.5-9% it was supposed to end up at, but this recipe can use a little more time than they recommend. I bottled it about four and a half weeks ago and it keeps getting better all the time. I had a similar experience to MZRIS though I think. Mine ended up as more of a Belgian Strong Ale than a Tripel.

I know this is an old thread, but this is the same issue I'm having with this same kit. It refuses to drop past 1.030.

Was in primary for 3 weeks, and just racked to secondary yesterday. Now with this kit, they don't provide a true Belgian yeast, in fact it's S-33.

Should I just leave it in secondary at 1.030 o should I consider re-pitching some new yeast?

Also, shouldn't a tripel be lighter?

I have one of these kits that is also stuck at 1.030 im gonna go ahead and let it clear and bottle and see what happens. I tried everthing, rousing the yeast warming to 78 nothing kicked it off again.

I to have the same problem, my OG was 1086 I had it in primary for a month and it never did drop below 1030. I cold crashed it for about 24 hours and kegged it. It's not a bad beer it's just not a really good beer, it's a little to sweet.

thegame310 said:

Also, shouldn't a tripel be lighter?

Click to expand...

I think that was about the color I ended up with. I think that candi sugar carmelizes easily and gets you that slightly darker color, but that's just my hypothesis. Also, I ended up at about 1.030 and it looks like that's pretty much where everyone else who has commented ended up. It's a decent beer but not quite what I was hoping for. Mine was also a little too sweet. Was hoping for something a little drier. I think you're onto something with the yeast. I've been having a similar problem with all my kits but I've only used dry yeast so far. I think if you use liquid yeast or a do a yeast starter you might get a little more attenuation. I'm an amateur though, so it would be best if an experienced brewer could chime in on my comments.

MZRIS said:

I brewed this kit once when i first started brewing. It was actually the first kit that i didnt alter in some way. I brewed it for a camping trip and it was a popular choice. We finished all the home brew before we finished the stuff ever one else bought.

I reccomend giving your carboy a stir and kicking up the yeast cake. that will help get things going again, you should see active fermentation soon after. Also, I didnt 2ndary the beer, it didnt really need it. I just transfered to the bottleing bucket and let it settle for 24 hours before bottling. Added some priming sugar syrup and stirred gently right before we bottled.

good luck and enjoy!

oh on another note, according the BJCP guidelines: my beer actually turned out to be a Belgian strong ale with that kit.

Click to expand...

Could you post instructions for making that in one fermenter? Many thanks!

First off I would suggest when you brew a batch, leave it alone for 2 weeks, don't touch it or do any readings.

If it's stuck at whatever then it is what it is. I've yet to have a FG reading that was still to high and do something to "fix" it.

I've shakin, stirred, pitched more fresh yeast, done wild chants around camp fires, you name it and it did nothing to the FG. yeah it sucks but it's still beer....

I did a tripel a week ago (not a brewersbest kit) and have no plan to check the gravity for 3 weeks, then will let it sit for another 3 weeks before it goes to bottle where it will sit for a month or so before I taste it.....

From what i've read these belgian tripels take a LONG time to age and get that good taste to them.

I did not touch mine for A MONTH and it finished at 1030

Just did a gravity reading on my tripel that is 10 days old an it was 1.018

OG = 1.078

This was a partial mash that should be around 8% so it's right on target.

I would suspect that the kit simply does not supply enough yeast which is why it seems to be stopping at 1.030 for most people that brew this kit.

I too am trying this kit and it was very active for a few days(7) so I racked it to my bottling bucket after it stopped and have let it sit for several more days (17 days total).Where should my readings be at this point as I will be taking a reading shortly.

I know those kits say rack or bottle after 5-7-10 days or something but you should really let that yeast do it's thang for 2-3 weeks especially with a high gravity beer. Take a reading and see were it's at, hard to say to be honest.

O.K I too am at 1.030 although I suck at hydrometer readings some times it's hard for me to float correctly (sticks to the sides).

I just racked mine to a glass carboy secondary after 4 weeks in the primary. SG was 1.09 and FG was 1.03. The kit actually did come with Abbey dry yeast. Mine is also dark for this type of beer. I plan on leaving it in secondary at 74* for 2 months before bottling... unless there's a reason to do it differently.

I did the same kit a 2 years ago. I left it for 3 weeks before I took first reading. Was around 022 if I remember. ... wasn't as low as I wanted so I gave a vigorous shake and let in some air, seemed to do the trick and dropped it down to 012 in a few days, repeated and left for 2 more weeks and fg ended up at .009.
I also added an extra 1/2 llb or 1lb dme to boil to bring up og I don't remember which. I made this for our Christmas beer for all the neighbors that stop by on thanksgiving night when we turn on the Christmas lights. Went over very well.

I'm thinking you are right...oxygen must have been the problem. I will remember that from now on. I'll bet your Christmas beer was great and that the ABV was really high.
thanks,
Bob

If I remember correctly .... I had to go look... sg was .094 fg was .012 abv was 10.76 and this was a full 5 gallons maybe slightly more. Most people that came over that night had only one or two. Unfortunately I won't get to do anything this year because of an accident I had in June. ... for now I only get to read the forum and dream about brewing, already have people asking what time we are turning on the lights. Sorry none this year, I can't get up the ladder.

wow...that's what I was hoping for...oh well, next time. Sorry to hear about your accident. I put an eye out in March so I understand. They got it back in but between the detached retina and less than 50% vision in it...life has changed somewhat. I plan on making this beer again and will carefully make sure that oxygen is not a problem next time.

Hehe, so I just bottled this kit today; funny about that 1.030...

Split my batch (using 2x 3 gal. Carboys), #1 I used the yeast that came with the kit. #2 I used the following: Mangrove Jack's Craft Series Yeast M79 Burton Union. Last 10 minutes of the boil, I added 1 lb. of dark cherries in a bag; not sur how this might change the gravity.

When I transferred them to secondary, the OG was 1.083 for both. Today (Bottling Day), the FG and ABV for each is as follows:

#1 - 1.028 FG, 7.218 ABV
#2 - 1.024 FG, 7.743 ABV

What affect does adding the cherries (or anything else) have on the FG/ABV?