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

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Doing the all grain version of this tomorrow. I have a question about the hops. The all grain recipe posted earlier in the thread (for a 5 gallon batch) lists whole hops. Normally I would make an adjustment when using pellets by cutting back hops by 10-15%. However, it could be that whomever posted the recipe to beersmith was just lazy. Should I make the adjustment and reduce hops for pellet use?

Here is the recipe:

Dragonmead Final Absolution Triple Clone

AHA Style 02-C Belgian and French Ale, Tripel
Min OG: 1.060 Max OG: 1.096
Min IBU: 20 Max IBU: 25
Min Clr: 4 Max Clr: 6 Color in SRM, Lovibond

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.80 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfruh Whole 4.50 29.7 60 min
0.40 oz. Styrian Goldings Whole 5.25 3.9 30 min
0.80 oz. Czech Saaz Whole 3.50 1.7 3 min
 
I only had 1lb of Belgian candy when I brewed. Could I substitute some of the corn sugar with the other 0.5 lbs of Belgian candy (beet sugar) when I bottle?
 
It's to late to add sugar when you bottle because fermentation will be complete. By adding to much sugar once you bottle you run the risk of over carbbing and creating bottle bombs as well.
 
Isn't corn sugar in the same category has beet sugar? If not...what's the difference? Higher concentration of food for the yeast or something...still new at this.
 
I did all grain, mashed 30 minutes at 120° and 45 minutes at 150°, stirring frequently.

I did a 60 minute boil, and used my immersion cooler. I shook up the WLP 500 and poured it right into the wort. The next morning I remembered I hadn't added the sugar. I siphoned out a quart, discarded a little, dissolved the sugar into it, boiled it briefly, and when it was cool added it. Now it's three days old and bubbling constantly, but without any blow off.

There's a delicious aroma of bananas.

Also I added a full oz of the hops rather than .8 oz.
 
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

Kegged on 7/27
FG 1.012

This is a very tasty brew...

Looks hazy golden with 1" creamy head that quickly disappears...
Smells very refreshing, low on the biterness...hint if sweetness... has fruity notes and finishes of with a slight alcohol warming down the throat.

Also, this is one potent brew... 2 pints and I was looking for a pillow.

I am a hophead but still like this beer... anyone on the fence.... BREW IT!!!
 
I just bottled a batch of extract I brewed on Memorial Day. I had enough left over for a couple glasses after filling all my bottles. Even flat it's good. Fantastic nose, bananas and other proper Belgium ester smells. Taste is fantastic, with a noticeable alcohol taste on the back end, but not in a bad way. All in all I'm excited for this to carb up and hopefully I can wait till late fall to go through most of them
 
I'm happy to see the response from everyone! I never thought I would get this much feedback from everyone! I set out to really clone an awesome Belgian that i really love. I got to visit Belgium last year and I went to Delirium monasterium in Brussels, I got to sample a ton of triples and i honestly thought this beer came very close to them. I think I hit the head on the nail. It might not be 100% spot on, but either way this clone attempt deserves it's own praise for being simple, easy to make and very very good! Thanks again everyone for the huge response!!!! And keep the clones/experimentation coming!!!!
 
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).


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

Notes:

HuRRiC4Ne,

I'm about to try the all extract version of this and I had a question for you. This is my only second time brewing so I'm still learning. You mentioned making this into a Quad so is that only adding another 3.3 lbs of LME? Also what is the total boil time for this recipe 60 or 90 min?

Thanks
 
HuRRiC4Ne,

I'm about to try the all extract version of this and I had a question for you. This is my only second time brewing so I'm still learning. You mentioned making this into a Quad so is that only adding another 3.3 lbs of LME? Also what is the total boil time for this recipe 60 or 90 min?

Thanks

Quads are usually around 11 to 12%, so use this tool to calculate what you will get. Remember that yeast will have a very high attenuation. http://www.brewersfriend.com/extract-ogfg/

And a boil time of 60 minutes, no reason to boil any longer. Note, if your going with a quad, then i would counter balance it with higher IBU's... So maybe a 90 minute boil? and/or more hops... use brewerfriend.com to figure out the IBU's also. It's all personal preference, so experiment... I would guess a 35 to 40 IBU would be nice for a Belgian quad.
 
I brewed this on Sept 28 and it's bubbling away at 72 degrees. Let's say fermentation is done and I transfer to a secondary at 14 days. Main reason for the secondary is to split the batch. 3 gallons regular and 2.5 gallons on oak chips. I've done a lot of reading on the quantity of oak as well as the time in the secondary with oak but I'm all ears if you have brewed an oak beer before. My question is: Will the beer be ready to bottle at 4 weeks since I will be leaving town for 6 weeks and would like it to be ready when I get back mid December?
I can bottle Oct 28 or 29 and let the beer condition and carb for 6 weeks or should I give it the extra 6 weeks in a carboy?
 
You could get some ideas from the Allagash Curieux clone thread, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/allagash-curieux-clone-250654/. I currently have that one in a primary and will be adding the oak cubes and racking to secondary this weekend.

2 weeks of oak chips for 2.5 gal might end up giving it a very strong oak character. Oak chips seem to give more oakiness due to the higher contact area than cubes. If you go with oak chips you may want to think about only keeping it on the oak for 4 -7 days, try a sample every couple days, when it's got the oak that you're looking for rack and bottle.
 
What sparge temp is preferable with this brew? got the ingridients today and want to try this when im back from a business trip in a few days.. And has anyone tried adding a spoon of servomycsis to the brew?
 
What sparge temp is preferable with this brew? got the ingridients today and want to try this when im back from a business trip in a few days.. And has anyone tried adding a spoon of servomycsis to the brew?

I sparged today with 190-200F water. I really don't think it matters. You'll find that sparge temperature is by no means a crucial part of brewing up a recipe. As long as it's enough to achieve a mash-out temperature and wash away the majority of the residual sugars you want in order to achieve your desired efficiency, it'll be fine.
 
nickmv said:
I sparged today with 190-200F water. I really don't think it matters. You'll find that sparge temperature is by no means a crucial part of brewing up a recipe. As long as it's enough to achieve a mash-out temperature and wash away the majority of the residual sugars you want in order to achieve your desired efficiency, it'll be fine.

Minor correction - high sparge temp causes tannins to leach from the grain husks which is of particular interest when making Lambics - it gives the bugs more to feed on.
 
Sooo doing the AG in BIAB. My first try at BIAB... hope i did goood :p
Another thing.. it too late now.. but i did not get styrian goldings.. MY Brew shop didnt have them. so got some East kent goldings... Will this alter the taste allot?


Uuuhm what the hell went wrong xD got a OG at 1.090 :p guessing this will be a blackout beer....

i used what was in the AG description. tho i used liquid belgian brown candy instead.

uhm.. so it took 26h before fermentation started... Which is a good thing in a way... but its not a vigorous fermentation. kinda like brown ale.. is this normal? smells like banana tho :p
 
This beer tastet weird... well its done in primary... and kinda taste like Tou (Norwegian beer) with 9.20% xD
 
What sparge temp is preferable with this brew? got the ingridients today and want to try this when im back from a business trip in a few days.. And has anyone tried adding a spoon of servomycsis to the brew?

Sparge at 165 -168F...preferably no more than 170F.
 
Sparge at 165 -168F...preferably no more than 170F.

Was not able to sparge... Not enough room under the exh fan and did not have a strainer that could hold all the grains.

Im kinda freaked out now that i messed this up. My home brew store did not have styrgian goldings.. so i used EKG instead, and they did not have belgian pilsner but gave me pilsner malt heidelberg and munich malt.... will this alter the taste allot? when i took an FG reading yesterday its pretty done fermenting.. but did taste like beer thats been out for a day or two...
 
Songe - I wouldn't worry too much. I have read on these boards and many others that many of the Belgian breweries don't always use Belgian Pilsner malt, it all comes down to availability, so I think you're okay on the malts. As for the hops Fuggles or Willamette seem to be the best subs for Styrians. I think you'll be ok with EKG as long as you calculated out the IBU's and got close to keeping them the same.

In the end you made beer!!! I doubt making the subs that you made would make a medal winning beer bad. It will be different from the subs but I don't think it'll be bad because of the subs you made.
 
Songe - I wouldn't worry too much. I have read on these boards and many others that many of the Belgian breweries don't always use Belgian Pilsner malt, it all comes down to availability, so I think you're okay on the malts. As for the hops Fuggles or Willamette seem to be the best subs for Styrians. I think you'll be ok with EKG as long as you calculated out the IBU's and got close to keeping them the same.

In the end you made beer!!! I doubt making the subs that you made would make a medal winning beer bad. It will be different from the subs but I don't think it'll be bad because of the subs you made.

hope so. gonna age it a hell of allot longer in bottles though. Thats the nice thing working as a marine engineer cadet. staying away from home for 6 weeks. but im guessing this should age for 3 months or so?
 
I'm brewing this up in a few. It'll be my first time not using any specialty grains. Should be quick and easy:)
 
I'm planning on trying this splendid-sounding recipe but I have one question... The recipe is in US gallons not Imperial?
 
I brewed this aboutvsix weeks ago, bottled last weekend. It still tasted pretty hot at bottling. I'm hoping it will mellow.
 
I used wyeast 3787, and I noticed no signs of fermentation on Monday morning ( I pitched on Sunday around 6 pm). Monday night, nothing, Tuesday morning, nothing. So during lunch I picked up another pack of the same 3787. I had to pick up the lady after work from the airport and by the time I got home, 11:15, it had finally started and bubbled every second. I had smacked the new pack around 6 so I opened the bucket to see a nice kraussen layer, and dumped in the yeast. It was going again yesterday pretty good. This morning it looks like all signs have stopped, but I won't check it until maybe this weekend, and maybe stir up some yeast tonight. I know I shouldn't bottle it after 2 weeks, but if it's done, I'm going to bottle it just so I have more beer for Thanksgiving to let people try. I'll have 5 brews, pretty excited about that!
 
Ok it started up again and just a few minutes ago,I heard a weird noise...the hose was clogged and I had to clean it out because the co2 was coming out between the grommet and hose. Then the kraussen started to spew out the top when I took out the hose. That's a first in 14+ beers this had ever happened. I'm so excited, haha
 
I made an extract version of this yesterday. I did the extract because I just wanted a fast, no fuss brew. It was a piece of cake.

had my 2L starter ready, and dropped it into my 1.093 OG brew. Had vigorous action in just a few hours. I used fermcap to try to keep the krausen down, it still had a nice head on it though. Cant imagine the monster it would be without it. Hoping to go home after work and see it all still happily contained in the carboy, and not all over the ceiling and walls.

I sure smells good...
 
I made an extract version of this yesterday. I did the extract because I just wanted a fast, no fuss brew. It was a piece of cake.

had my 2L starter ready, and dropped it into my 1.093 OG brew. Had vigorous action in just a few hours. I used fermcap to try to keep the krausen down, it still had a nice head on it though. Cant imagine the monster it would be without it. Hoping to go home after work and see it all still happily contained in the carboy, and not all over the ceiling and walls.

I sure smells good...

Were you able to find all of the ingredients in one place? Online or local? I'm trying to find the cheapest place get my extract and hops.
 
I did find it all in 1 place.
Midwest Supplies is my local homebrew shop. They had everything. I made my own Belgian Candy Sugar however. They did have it for sale, but I couldnt bring myself to pay the price they wanted for it when its so easy to make.

I did have to sub Czech Saaz. I dont know if all Saaz is Czech or not, but thats what they had.
I only used 1 vial of yeast, but I made a large starter. and it seems to be chugging along just fine. In fact its rolling in the other room right now. I can hear it.. 3-4 bubbles per second out of the blow off tube.
 
I cracked my first one of these on Tuesday, just about a week and a half after bottling. It had some carbonation, and it tasted great! I was surprised at the positive change in just 10 days in the bottle.
 
^Ahh temptation got you! I bottled this last Sunday and I'm going to hold out for 3-4 weeks. Luckily I bottled another batch last week also.

This beer smelled nice and fruity, not much of a hot alcohol taste/smll which is good since this happens to high ABV beers
 
I'm considering bottling this today? I just checked the gravity and it reads 1.014. That seems pretty good at 9.8%. A little higher than I expected, but I'm not complaining. I don't think it'll drop any more. I want to serve some on Thanksgiving to family and relatives. I think I'm going to do it.
Edit: fermenting for 14 days.
 
I made a slightly modified extract version of this last week; it smells amazing and it sure went crazy with fermentation. I have a question about primary/secondary with this beer that I'd like some opinions on, based on my work schedule and having only one 6.5 gallon carboy. I am gone from Dec 7th to Jan 4th, so I have a few options I can think of:

1. Leave beer in primary (3.5 weeks) and then bottle
2. Leave beer in primary until I return (8 weeks) and then bottle
3. Leave beer in primary (3 weeks) then transfer to secondary (using bottle bucket and back into same, cleaned/sanitized carboy with removed yeast cake) (5 weeks) and then bottle

I've heard mixed reviews of leaving beers in primary for over two months, so I am leaning towards either 1. or 3. I also understand option 3 could lead to increased oxidation, but mixing seems pretty low when using an auto-siphon/hose.

It would be great to get some thoughts based on experience with this beer. Thanks!
 
Yes I do...

It's 12.8lbs Pilsner
1.6lbs Munich Malt (2row)
1.6lbsCandy sugar

1.8oz hallertauer mittelfruh
.4oz styrian goldings
.8 chzech saaz

same yeast

I want to try to brew this up this weekend. Can anyone tell me what temp they're mashing in and for how long? This will be my first AG brew so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Strike water (155 degrees?): 4.5Gallons
Sparge (170 degrees?): (1.5x's strike?) ~6.75Gallons
Hopefully will yield in 7gallons preboil?
^I will either stop adding sparge water or add additional sparge water - as needed - until I make 7 gallons of wort (good idea? bad idea?)

I plan to add homemade Candy Sugar @ 5min.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks all in advance!
 
I want to try to brew this up this weekend. Can anyone tell me what temp they're mashing in and for how long? This will be my first AG brew so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Strike water (155 degrees?): 4.5Gallons
Sparge (170 degrees?): (1.5x's strike?) ~6.75Gallons
Hopefully will yield in 7gallons preboil?
^I will either stop adding sparge water or add additional sparge water - as needed - until I make 7 gallons of wort (good idea? bad idea?)

I plan to add homemade Candy Sugar @ 5min.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks all in advance!

Making your own ends up essentially sucrose (minus the hour it took to make it). The acid only inverts a very small percentile so it's a lot of effort for not much gain. Just add the same weight in sucrose, (table sugar). It nets out to the same composition as any of the homemade recipes.
 
I made a slightly modified extract version of this last week; it smells amazing and it sure went crazy with fermentation. I have a question about primary/secondary with this beer that I'd like some opinions on, based on my work schedule and having only one 6.5 gallon carboy. I am gone from Dec 7th to Jan 4th, so I have a few options I can think of:

1. Leave beer in primary (3.5 weeks) and then bottle
2. Leave beer in primary until I return (8 weeks) and then bottle
3. Leave beer in primary (3 weeks) then transfer to secondary (using bottle bucket and back into same, cleaned/sanitized carboy with removed yeast cake) (5 weeks) and then bottle

I've heard mixed reviews of leaving beers in primary for over two months, so I am leaning towards either 1. or 3. I also understand option 3 could lead to increased oxidation, but mixing seems pretty low when using an auto-siphon/hose.

It would be great to get some thoughts based on experience with this beer. Thanks!

Leaving an ale on a decomposing yeast+trub in primary for 2 months sounds like questionable advice IMHO.
 
Leaving an ale on a decomposing yeast+trub in primary for 2 months sounds like questionable advice IMHO.

Yea, I agree on that. I'm leaning towards primary for 3 weeks and secondary for 5 weeks; will there still be enough yeast to carb bottles after 8 weeks since production?
 
Making your own ends up essentially sucrose (minus the hour it took to make it). The acid only inverts a very small percentile so it's a lot of effort for not much gain. Just add the same weight in sucrose, (table sugar). It nets out to the same composition as any of the homemade recipes.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

Anyone else brew via all grain? Any comments on my post regarding temp/time/volume would be greatly appreciated.
 
Mike-C,

Once it's in secondary you're basically just bulk aging for 5 weeks. That's what I would do. And, yes, after 8 weeks there should be plenty of yeast left for conditioning. You shouldn't have any problems unless you were going to age it for like 6 months or more.
Safe travels!
 
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