Need help with Tripel recipe

I'd like to take a stab at a tripel for my first Belgian beer. It's named after the street I live in in Washington - sometimes you need a strong beer to venture out there in the day time. What do you think about the recipe? Please help me improve!

H Street Tripel:
3 Gal
OG: 1.083
FG: 1.020
SRM: 7
IBU: 24.8
ABV: 8.4%

Mash @154 for 60 mins
7.75 lb Belgian pale
.25 lb Aromatic
.25 lb Carapils
.75 lb light candi syrup (can i substitute table sugar?)

Boil:
.5 oz Palisade @ 60 min
.25 oz Saaz @ 5 min
.5 tsp Coriander @ 1 min
1 tangerine peel @ 1 min

Ferment:
Wyeast high gravity trappist 3787 @ 70F

With so many Belgian yeasts out there, is this the right one? Ideally, I'd like to get the FG down, but can't figure out how. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Don't worry too much about getting the FG down; between the table sugar (yes, you can use table sugar instead of the syrup, in fact I would recommend it) and the malts you should be getting good attenuation (mash accordingly of course). Actually, I would suggest upping the sugar content to at least a full pound, probably more. Around 12% of the fermentables is where I would try to get it personally. The yeast selection is fine, just make sure you under pitch a bit and ramp the temperature up after the first 24 hours to get the most out of the yeast. My only thought beyond that would be to switch it from Belgian pale malt to pilsner malt for maximum om nom nom.

I like 70% pils, 15%Munich, and 15% table sugar, and 530 with a big starter--delicious!

Coriander and orange peel is way out of place in a tripel! It's fine for something like a wit, but not a tripel.

A tripel is a super simple beer. I'd use Belgian pilsner malt, possibly some aromatic malt if you feel you have to, and then up to 20% sugar.

I'd try to use Styrian goldings hops, and not palisade but that might be nit-picky. But don't use late hops- you can either move the saaz up to bittering if you have enough, or leave them out.

I would Use Pilsner instead of Belgian pale and up the grains.
In fact my recipe looks like

90% Pilsner
10% Table sugar

Leave the Carapils if you want. but keep it simple. Let the yeast do most of the work.

Piratwolf said:

I like 70% pils, 15%Munich, and 15% table sugar, and 530 with a big starter--delicious!

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This works. The real basic tripel recipe is 80% pils, 20% sugar. So a variant of that is less pils and some Munich.

Shoot for a BU:GU ratio of .375.

3787 is a great choice for a tripel.

Lose the spices.

DonRikkles said:

Mash @154 for 60 mins
7.75 lb Belgian pale
.25 lb Aromatic
.25 lb Carapils
.75 lb light candi syrup (can i substitute table sugar?)

Click to expand...

I would strongly suggest you actually get some candi syrup, the flavor profile can be extremely complex due to the mallard reactions taking place during the manufacturing. Table sugar will ferment out completely and offer nothing but thinner beer and higher ABV.

Unless that is what you are looking for..

There are recipes here that come close to the real candi syrup, but initially it will cost you more than buying a package of the real stuff.


The grain bill looks good, keep your mash profile right and it will ferment out nicely. Best between 148-152F for 90 minutes or so.

Satisfaction said:

Table sugar will ferment out completely and offer nothing but thinner beer and higher ABV.

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Not necessarily. Throw some table sugar in at the start of the boil and let the magic happen. Two hours in the kettle and you can be certain you're going to get some interesting notes from the sucrose inverting, and subsequently undergoing Maillard reactions in the wort. Just don't wait to the last minute to add the sugar.

Yooper said:

Coriander and orange peel is way out of place in a tripel! It's fine for something like a wit, but not a tripel.

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Yes and no. Ever had La Fin du Monde from Unibroue? That beer has something like 9 spices in it. It isn't exactly traditional and I guess you can argue it isn't really a Tripel after you add spice, but there are brewers who do it.

Also, keep the Saaz! Dry hop your Tripel! Stop the hop hate!

SixStringBeer said:

Yes and no. Ever had La Fin du Monde from Unibroue? That beer has something like 9 spices in it. It isn't exactly traditional and I guess you can argue it isn't really a Tripel after you add spice, but there are brewers who do it.

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I'm glad you said this! La Fin Du Monde is one of my favorite beers and the style i'm looking for in this beer.

Interesting that I'll put the sugar in the boil. What's the difference between adding it to the boil and not the mash?

DonRikkles said:

I'm glad you said this! La Fin Du Monde is one of my favorite beers and the style i'm looking for in this beer.

Interesting that I'll put the sugar in the boil. What's the difference between adding it to the boil and not the mash?

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I've never heard of adding sugar to the mash. Seems almost counterproductive to me, you're trying to extract sugars into solution from the grain, I feel like your efficiency may suffer if you're saturating the water with even more sugars. But that's just my logic, it could make a negligible difference given the high solubility of sugar.

I've brewed Belgians that usually don't call for spices with a touch of coriander, and I like the little bit of character it adds. Don't overdo it though, 3787 will give plenty of flavor and aroma by itself. And it will finish plenty dry, even with pretty high OGs.

Satisfaction said:

I would strongly suggest you actually get some candi syrup, the flavor profile can be extremely complex due to the mallard reactions taking place during the manufacturing. Table sugar will ferment out completely and offer nothing but thinner beer and higher ABV....

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According to BLAM and to the BN, Belgian breweries use the cheapest sugar possible, table sugar.

Also, I would NOT add sugar to the mash. In fact, I add mine with 10min left in the boil just to make sure it's mixed in. You could also make a simple syrup and add it to the fermenter.

Personally, I hate coriander so I'm against the spice additions. To me, Belgians are all about honoring the yeast. That being said, one great thing about Homebrew is that you can make whatever you like!

BTW, I just looked it up--apparently wlp530 & Wyeast 3787 are the same . GMTA!

Piratwolf said:

According to BLAM and to the BN, Belgian breweries use the cheapest sugar possible, table sugar.

Also, I would NOT add sugar to the mash. In fact, I add mine with 10min left in the boil just to make sure it's mixed in. You could also make a simple syrup and add it to the fermenter.

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The candi syrups are simple cheap sugars, just put through another process.

If you try to use just plain old table sugar you quickly find out that the flavor profile is not the same and not close to what the monks make.

Without these syrups it is not possible for us to duplicate say Westvleteren 12 for example. That dark color does not come from the malt.


Either which way it will be a good beer, I completely agree that this style is about the ester profile of the yeast.



Here is a post for the candi syrup recipe that I use and turns out great. The commercial product is significantly better than this though.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-sugar-jar-yeast-nutrient-114837/

Guys if you haven't yet get yourself a copy of Brew like Monk. Great book and in it tell you that Monks never used that hard candy sugar. They kept their cost low by all means. I never read that putting the sugar in at the beginning changes the flavor, makes sense though.

What I do is make candy sugar syrup on my stove. Real simple all you need is a candy thermometer.

The calculated FG is way high. Your recipe looks great. NO coriander or orange peel on this one. The sugar DOES matter, not so much from a ferment able aspect, but flavor. White table sugar is refined, and takes out all the impurities that are found in Belgian candi sugar. These impurities make subtle, but noticeable differences in the final product. If I were you, I would use a whole pound of white candi sugar ( replace the syrup, it's definitely no good) in your recipe and keep everything EXACTLY the same. Mash at 150*.

Daver77 said:

Guys if you haven't yet get yourself a copy of Brew like Monk. Great book and in it tell you that Monks never used that hard candy sugar. They kept their cost low by all means. I never read that putting the sugar in at the beginning changes the flavor, makes sense though.

What I do is make candy sugar syrup on my stove. Real simple all you need is a candy thermometer.

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Sorry if I wasn't clear, this is what I am talking about.. Water + Table Sugar + Nitrogen Source + Heat.

I would be very surprised if this could be made in a boiling wort, would be interested in learning how to do that.

If you try to use just plain old table sugar you quickly find out that the flavor profile is not the same and not close to what the monks make.

Without these syrups it is not possible for us to duplicate say Westvleteren 12 for example. That dark color does not come from the malt.

Click to expand...

The OP is talking about a tripel so using plain table sugar is fine . Does not matter if it is cane or beet sugar according to BLAM.

I do agree for the darker Belgian styles nothing beats the good candi syrup for flavor. D-180 provides a great flavor to these brews. Homemade just cannot match the flavor so I spend a few bucks for the good D-180.

Table sugar and low mash temp worked for the last two Big Belgians I made. 20% sugar in a golden strong, mashed at 149F. 1.074 to 1.008 in ten days.

Tripel is still going. 1.082 to 1.012 in a week. 12% cheapo sugar, mash at 150f.

Basically just pilsen malt in the strong, pilsen and 5% specialty malts in the tripel.

I think any higher FG than 1.010 might come across as very sweet. Even though the sugar ferments completely, the esters, pilsen, and sugar give the impression of sweetness which tricks the mind into tasting sweetness.

Spices work for commercial brewers because their process is totally different. If I fermented the Unibroue yeast at 77f like they do, its ass in a glass. So they can spice it, ferment it hot, under pressure and get a smooth beer.

A carboy with foil on the mouth is totally different. I bet you don't need the spices.

Trust in the yeast.

highgravitybacon said:

I think any higher FG than 1.010 might come across as very sweet. Even though the sugar ferments completely, the esters, pilsen, and sugar give the impression of sweetness which tricks the mind into tasting sweetness.

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Can I rely just on the yeast to reduce the FG to around 1.012, or should I repitch the same or different yeast to get down to the low teens?

Satisfaction said:

The candi syrups are simple cheap sugars, just put through another process.

If you try to use just plain old table sugar you quickly find out that the flavor profile is not the same and not close to what the monks make.

Without these syrups it is not possible for us to duplicate say Westvleteren 12 for example. That dark color does not come from the malt.

Click to expand...

if the OP had posted a request for making a dubbel or a quad, I wouldn't argue this (in fact, wouldn't have posted since I've never made either style & don't much care for them). But since he asked specifically about a Tripel, your advice to use dark candy sugar is out of place & I didn't want the OP to go the wrong direction.

If I do try a quad some day, i'ma give your sugar recipe a try. Cheers!

Piratwolf said:

if the OP had posted a request for making a dubbel or a quad, I wouldn't argue this (in fact, wouldn't have posted since I've never made either style & don't much care for them). But since he asked specifically about a Tripel, your advice to use dark candy sugar is out of place & I didn't want the OP to go the wrong direction.

If I do try a quad some day, i'ma give your sugar recipe a try. Cheers!

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Never did say which syrup to use.. I guess it can be implied though


If for a tripel recipe it would either be D-45 or lighter. The picture up above was something I made for a dark belgian strong.

DonRikkles said:

Can I rely just on the yeast to reduce the FG to around 1.012, or should I repitch the same or different yeast to get down to the low teens?

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Low mash temp, healthy yeast with appropriate starter, aeration and some means to maintain a reasonable temp and the yeast will take care of the rest.

If you give them a nice comfy home, plenty to eat, they will be quite happy.

No need to pitch different yeast in most cases.

Satisfaction said:

Sorry if I wasn't clear, this is what I am talking about.. Water + Table Sugar + Nitrogen Source + Heat.

I would be very surprised if this could be made in a boiling wort, would be interested in learning how to do that.

Click to expand...

Nice!

Update!

I brewed this last week after making a nice 2L starter with the 3787. Brew day went well and I just pulled a sample. After measuring a 1.084 OG last Sunday, the monster yeast has brought it down to 1.011 already. Wow... The sample tasted great, lots of fruity esters but definitely needs to sit in the primary for a little bit longer. I think there are a few more points to be had and the yeast needs to drop out and clean up after itself.

So far, so good!