Belgian Tripel Belgian Trippel (2006 World Beer Cup Gold Medal: Dragonmead Final Absolution clone)

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pabloj13 said:
I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?
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I do, but ill have to dig it out later. I punched the numbers into the EZ water calc spreadsheet and the estimated mash pH was still pretty high - we have very alkaline water, AFAIK.
 
HuRRiC4Ne said:
Let me start of by saying, this recipe is simple to make. I converted over to extracts to save on prep time. I wanted something simple that most can make. The Belgian is going to be a clone of a 2006 Gold Medal winner in the World Beer cup in 2006 (Dragonmead Final Absolution). I was lucky enough to get the recipe. I converted the recipe over to LME and DME. I made a few changes to it also. I changed the 60mins hops from Hallertauer Mittelfruh to German Hallertau and used DME amber instead of munich malt. I didn't use a starter either, I opted for using two vials of WLP500 instead (so i wouldn't have to wait). I regret not making a starter though, because It took 24 hours before it took off. I had to stir it up a little bit then it started fermenting instantly.

Let me know what you guys think? I'm dabating on adding another 3.3lbs of Pilsner light LME to get around 10%. But I'm not sure how the the final gravity will end up at. I heard some people with attenuation of around 85%. I figure if i get 77% then this will be 8.2%. The recipe is supposed to be 8.5%. I think I just may leave this alone and see how it comes out then go from there. I will keep everyone updated on how it comes out.

Day 5: It has a very nice smell of a light banana, fruit hints with some spice! WOW, can't wait until this is done!
Day 6: Took hydro reading of 1.020 (thats 8% after 6 days) Smells very good! Has the look and consistancy of a Belgian but it's cloudy (but that's expected), has a very nice yellow color. I'm waiting until day 10 to 14 to rack into secondary.
Day 10: 1.016 gravity, going to give it a few more days before i rack it into the secondary.
Day 16: Reracked into secondary, 1.016 gravity still.
Day 32: Kegged it!!!! same gravity and all I can say is WOWWWWW
Here is a video review of the beer i'm cloning:

Extract:
3 x 3.3lbs Pilsner Light malt extract LME
1 x 1lbs Amber DME
1 x 1.5lbs Belgian Candy
12.4 total pounds of fermentables

Hops: (IBU came out at 23 but you can range from 20 to 25)
2 oz. German Hallertau 3.8%AA 60min
1 oz. Styrian Goldings 3.4% AA 30min
1 oz. Saaz 2.8% AA 3min

Yeast:
2 x WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast

This beer is one of my favorites and I can't wait until it is finished. I have a couple of questions:

-I know that I must have read this somewhere on this thread but I used a starter as was suggested (2 cups DME to 4 cups water). Should I have used 1 vial of yeast or 2 (I used one).

-Also, I am equipped to brew 5 gal. batches so that is what I did here. My OG was 1.14 which I know is way too high. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this at this point or is this just destined to be a really strong beer? I just brewed today.
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mistercameron said:
I do, but ill have to dig it out later. I punched the numbers into the EZ water calc spreadsheet and the estimated mash pH was still pretty high - we have very alkaline water, AFAIK.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Yeah, punching that into Bru'N water gives you a mash pH of 5.6. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just going off of strike water pH. So what would you do next time, add some acid malt or some acids to the water? :mug:
 
pabloj13 said:
Gotcha. Yeah, punching that into Bru'N water gives you a mash pH of 5.6. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just going off of strike water pH. So what would you do next time, add some acid malt or some acids to the water? :mug:
Click to expand...

I was going to start with the easiest route - 5.2 stabilizer from 5-star. It was several weeks ago that I looked at the spreadsheet, but I seem to remember the mash pH was well over 6. Given the mineral content of our water, I'm hesitant to try other additions because we're already "up there" on the key ones. I think my best bet would be straight acid (muratic?), but the spreadsheet doesn't have that in its calculations.
 
mistercameron said:
I was going to start with the easiest route - 5.2 stabilizer from 5-star. It was several weeks ago that I looked at the spreadsheet, but I seem to remember the mash pH was well over 6. Given the mineral content of our water, I'm hesitant to try other additions because we're already "up there" on the key ones. I think my best bet would be straight acid (muratic?), but the spreadsheet doesn't have that in its calculations.
Click to expand...

I would avoid that. It is a crappy buffer and it adds a ton of sodium. Bru'N water has a section for acid additions. Alternatively you could cut your water with some RO water. That pH5.2 stuff is junk.
 
pabloj13 said:
I would avoid that. It is a crappy buffer and it adds a ton of sodium. Bru'N water has a section for acid additions. Alternatively you could cut your water with some RO water. That pH5.2 stuff is junk.
Click to expand...

I bought 5.2 stabilizer after seeing people post on it a couple of times. Seemed like magic powder!

Brought it home, used the internets to figure out how to use it, and surprise: everyone hates it. Evidently there is no such thing as magic powder.

Never ended up using it. Not going to risk a batch or precious beer.
 
I was going to add an extra 2 lbs of LME to this--I have 12 lbs on hand but I'm worried about a high final gravity. I wanted to up the ABV% to around 9.5-10% or so. 2lbs LME ups the ABV about 1% and the FG to from about (1.016 original recipe) to about 1.018 per my calcs. Anyone think it's a better idea to just add more sugar/candi and save the 2 extra lbs of LME for my next brew?
 
cheesemoney said:
I was going to add an extra 2 lbs of LME to this--I have 12 lbs on hand but I'm worried about a high final gravity. I wanted to up the ABV% to around 9.5-10% or so. 2lbs LME ups the ABV about 1% and the FG to from about (1.016 original recipe) to about 1.018 per my calcs. Anyone think it's a better idea to just add more sugar/candi and save the 2 extra lbs of LME for my next brew?
Click to expand...

I vote sugar for a lower fg.
 
Thanks! I think I'm going to go through with it this weekend and I will just add some extra sugar.

Final question regarding the DME. I was going to make a 4L starter for a 6 gallon batch, which will take 14oz of DME. Anything wrong with just pitching almost the whole 1lb of amber DME that this extract recipe calls for from my 4L starter into the carboy and calling it a day? I can just use 14 oz in the starter and add 2oz to the boil, adjusting hops as necessary (doing a 4G boil and topping off with H2O anyway).
 
I brewed up the extract version this weekend. Fermenter is bubbling away and giving off a beautiful banana smell. Can't wait for it to be ready.
 
Heya! I got all the ingredients, sort of I need to go back and swap some misplaced hops that I drove home with, but I digress.

Instead of the 1.5 lb of candy sugar, i remembered that I had 1lb of D-90 candy syrup in my basement I've been wanting to get rid of. I went ahead and got light DME instead of amber to compensate for the color, but it will still come out with a copper to red to brown color according to hopville.

Will the D-90 candi syrup change anything other than color?

Should I go ahead and invert a 1/2lb of sugar to add also? or will the 1lb be enough?

Thanks!
 
Question from a noob. If I want to get 6 gallons out of this, should I boil 7ish gallons of water (counting on evaporation)? I ask because I would like to not have to top it off with water.
 
I started with 6.5 gallons of water and ended up with a little less than 5.5 gallons of product. This gave me about 5 gallons of beer to bottle. I leave the stuff in the bottom of the fermenter out of the final bottling product.
 
Instead of the WLP500 I bought 1 smack pack of the wyeast 3787 trappist high gavity. I have an O.K. starter in the fridge now settling out the yeast for tonight.

Anyway, what differences will I see between the 2 yeast strains?
Home brew guy just shrugged and said its pretty much the same so I went with it, now Im all like crap, should just followed the recipe....
 
JRapp said:
Heya! I got all the ingredients, sort of I need to go back and swap some misplaced hops that I drove home with, but I digress.

Instead of the 1.5 lb of candy sugar, i remembered that I had 1lb of D-90 candy syrup in my basement I've been wanting to get rid of. I went ahead and got light DME instead of amber to compensate for the color, but it will still come out with a copper to red to brown color according to hopville.

Will the D-90 candi syrup change anything other than color?

Should I go ahead and invert a 1/2lb of sugar to add also? or will the 1lb be enough?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

D-90 is probably best used in a dubbel or quad. The darker syrups create intense flavor contributions. You could use it in a Westmalle Dubbel as only 1lb of D-90 is required. Here's the recipe link:

http://www.candisyrup.com/uploads/6/0/3/5/6035776/westmalle_dubbel_-_variation_004x.pdf

Cheers!
 
I thought about this for a month and finally got off my .. chair and brewed an extract version. Really looking forward to this. Given the date, this could be Jedi beer. May the 4th be with you.....
 
Forgive me if this was answered but is two vials of yeast necessary if I'm in no hurry? ?.. couldn't I just let it sit for 3-5 weeks to completely ferment out pitching just 1 vial of the white labs.. thanks alot
 
horsepackage said:
Forgive me if this was answered but is two vials of yeast necessary if I'm in no hurry? ?.. couldn't I just let it sit for 3-5 weeks to completely ferment out pitching just 1 vial of the white labs.. thanks alot
Click to expand...

You would be severely under pitching. You can use one vial and make a large starter. That's what I did.
 
I pitched my 5 gallon batch with one packet of yeast and it took off vigorously within 8 hours. Foam was just roaring out of the airlock like always. I am skeptical that the use of two packets really matters that much. I know there has been work to show that the amount of yeast matters and that too small is a problem as well as too much is a problem. What I don't understand is why a reasonable amount of yeast doesn't just grow to a population size that balances the oxygen, sugars, etc that are available for it's use. My son is a winemaker and I had posed the question to him as well. His opinion was that the yeast population will grow to a certain size with little difference between a smaller pitch and a larger pitch.

Aside from pitching so little that the batch never starts, what will be the result of using one pouch of yeast rather than two.
 
betadave said:
I pitched my 5 gallon batch with one packet of yeast and it took off vigorously within 8 hours. Foam was just roaring out of the airlock like always. I am skeptical that the use of two packets really matters that much. I know there has been work to show that the amount of yeast matters and that too small is a problem as well as too much is a problem. What I don't understand is why a reasonable amount of yeast doesn't just grow to a population size that balances the oxygen, sugars, etc that are available for it's use. My son is a winemaker and I had posed the question to him as well. His opinion was that the yeast population will grow to a certain size with little difference between a smaller pitch and a larger pitch.

Aside from pitching so little that the batch never starts, what will be the result of using one pouch of yeast rather than two.
Click to expand...

The question is not whether they will reproduce or not, they will. It is whether they will get stressed and produce off flavors during that process, they possibly will. Why not just pitch one yeast cell?
 
I've never made a starter and had never had a problem with a well shaken room temp vial of white labs blowing through the airlock in the first 24.. even producing higher gravity clones of things like mad elf ( 10% abv)... haven't noticed off flavors but then again I've never brewed with 2 vials so I can't really compare
 
Wow, ok I made this recipe(but a wee bit stronger) maybe 3 weeks ago, but following my LHBS advice who incorrectly told me that Wyeast 3787 is the same as WLP 500 I am going to have an extra strong Westmalle instead. SG was 1093, and I still get the occasional airlock bubble but its at a fantastic 1015 for an ABV of 10.4. though quite young Tastes like it will age perfectly, not a single off flavor in site, nothing that should not be in a good abbey beer.

I am fairly excited as I've really come to love the big belgians and cant wait to make it with the WLP 500 next time and try them side by side.
 
I just brewed this yesterday. This is one of my favorite Trippels. I was super excited. But 40 minutes into the boil my burner ran out of propane and it was my backup tank! So I dumped the Saaz and 5 lbs of extract and candi sugar in ASAP and am hoping for the best. Anyone know what I can expect? I assume a much sweeter beer since the hops utilization will be low due to the shorter boil time. My LHBS only had one pack of Wyeast 1388 (and no other good substitutes), so I grabbed that and a pack of safale T58 to pitch. Question, is it ok to pitch to different yeast types at the same time? Or will they fight it out like little yeast ninjas and destroy one another? Which would be awesome if I didn't care if the beer turned out ok.
Thanks for any insight!
 
mdawson9 said:
I just brewed this yesterday. This is one of my favorite Trippels. I was super excited. But 40 minutes into the boil my burner ran out of propane and it was my backup tank! So I dumped the Saaz and 5 lbs of extract and candi sugar in ASAP and am hoping for the best. Anyone know what I can expect? I assume a much sweeter beer since the hops utilization will be low due to the shorter boil time. My LHBS only had one pack of Wyeast 1388 (and no other good substitutes), so I grabbed that and a pack of safale T58 to pitch. Question, is it ok to pitch to different yeast types at the same time? Or will they fight it out like little yeast ninjas and destroy one another? Which would be awesome if I didn't care if the beer turned out ok.
Thanks for any insight!
Click to expand...

How did it turn out using 1388? Im about to brew but my lbs was out of wlp500
 
This recipe looks awesome. Thanks for posting.

I have been "Brewing" for a few months with a Mr. Beer kit I got a while back, while slowly accumulating the equipment to make a 5 gal batch, and reading everything I can get my hands on about beer.

I am chomping at the bit to start a batch, but have been deliberating over what to make. This looks like its a great next step for me, as its still extract, so not too complicated, but will allow me to expand my skills.

Did you steep any specialty grains prior to you boil? (Sorry if I missed this in your post)

I am headed to my LHBS tonight, and will be making this Saturday. Can't wait!
 
Mark me down for 5 gallons brewed this weekend. Went with the wyeast instead of the white labs, hoping for a slightly higher pitching rate, but of course I screwed up and didn't smack one of my two packs. Either way it's chugging along great now, gonna be tough waiting for this one to be ready
 
Brewed this over the weekend... 5 gal.
Grains:
10 lbs. Belgian pilsner
2.5 lbs 2-row
2.5 lbs candi sugar

Completely missed the protein rest. Hit 148 degF. Added some more boiling water to hit 150 degF and mashed for 60mins.

Boil:
2 oz. Hallertau (60 mins.)
0.5 oz Glacier (30 mins.) --> LBHS out of S. Golding
1 oz. Saaz (3 mins.)
0.5 oz Glacier (0 mins.)

Finished with OG of 1.082 (Target was 1.084)

Used Wyeast 3787 (ofcourse, made a starter)

Fermentation took-off with in few hrs... Got violent after 16 hrs.
Replaced air lock with blow-off tube.

After 24. hrs I see some hop, yeast mix being blown off the tube...
Got some yeast +hop slurry on the basement carpet (renting a rug doctor before wife imposes ban on brewing)

Hope there is enough yeast still in there to take the FG down.

Anyone care to share a picture of the final product.... please
 
Just wondering. On big beers like that I like to wait and add the syrup 48-72 hours after pitching. Usually gives the yeast a head start so their not overwhelmed.
 
Hey guys.

I brewed this on Thursday the 4th and used two vials of WLP500 with no starter (all ingredients came from AHS so should be fresh). Aerated the wort well before pitching (pitch temp was 65). Still no active fermentation as of today, 36 hours later. Any tips on getting this bad boy started?

Edit 7/8/13-
Yesterday I went and shook the hell out of the fermenter to try and agitate it more to wake the yeast. Seemed to work. As of this morning it's finally going! Took it a while. If I had to guess, I would think maybe I need to make a starter to get the yeast going before pitching on such a big OG beer. I thought just using two vials of yeast would be okay, but in my case it took a lot to get them going.
 
Pastorken said:
Just wondering. On big beers like that I like to wait and add the syrup 48-72 hours after pitching. Usually gives the yeast a head start so their not overwhelmed.
Click to expand...

I thought about it but I was not sure how I was going to break the crystallized sugar and get all of it into the primary. I am also paranoid about infection while doing so...

Its been 10 day and still seeing about 80 bubble/min
 
Great recipe!

I just received 5th place in the category at the San Diego County Fair. The bottle is at about 10-11 months old right now..

I think the one thing holding it back was that my starter could have been a bit more substantial - got more warm alcohol than I was expecting. Fermentation temps were kept steady toward the middle of the yeast's range (recipe notes say 69°F).
 
I just brewed this recipe last night with a starter. It is bubbling like crazy going to add the candie in about 24 hours in or so to try out this technique. Never used candie before but it is already smelling and looking good.

thanks again hurricane for posting this. I have read every post on this recipe and have been wanting to try it for a few months now. Will be updating as it progresses :D
 

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