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

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I'd really like to try this brew out. I love Belgian strongs. Im limited to about to a six gallon fermenter, so a 5 gallon recipe is what I'd need. Do you have any tips for down sizing the recipe from 6 gallons down to 5 gallons?
 
Wow this beer is smelling really good. You're right about the banana smell... kind of like banana bread.

I'll start by saying that I'm new to the game and I didn't use a starter, after 24 hours it was fermenting like I've never seen before. Well my lock couldn't keep up with it and it blew the lid sky high. I saved it, sterilized, and converted it to a blow-off tube and let it rumble. So much gas.

It's since calmed down and I'm back on the lock. Here's to hoping that this is an awesome beer :mug:
 
Just started the WLP500 starter today, and gonna brew this in the next day or so. Adjusted the grain bill to get to 10% ABV and can't wait to get this into bottles. :D I also had to sub some of the hops (Crystal for Hallertau and Fuggle for Stryian Goldings).

09-26-10 Brewed this today all went good ended up with an OG of 1.099 for 6 gallons, and pitched a half gallon starter.
 
I hit submit too early on this one, complete thought/post below:

Just brewed this last Saturday - I did 8 lbs of Light DME instead of the 3 x 3.3lbs Pilsner Light malt extract LME, used only one vial of WLP500, and I used only 1 lb of the Candi Sugar. I added the Candi with 10 minutes left on the boil. I read the differing opinions for when to add the sugar and decided to go with the boil rather than in the fermenter. I did a 1 L starter about two days before brewing and boy did the airlock on that reek of banana!!!

I also broke my hydrometer right before brewing so I have no idea what the OG was (though Brewtarget is telling me somewhere in the 1.075 - 1.085 range).

So I brew it up, pop it in the bucket for primary, open a craft beer, watch some college football and go to sleep. I wake up, go down to my basement and smell the beer before I could see it. It blew over, though not all that violently... It just flooded the airlock and pushed the lid open on one side. I clean and sanitized the lid and airlock and put it back on. 10 minutes later - Boom! Then I decide to hook up a blow off - everything looks good... 10 Minutes later - Boom! I then use car hook cables (there's a better word for them but whatever you use to tie stuff down to the roof of a car) wrapped around the height of the bucket to secure the lid. 20 Minutes later - Boom! Though this time it just blew the airlock end of the blow off tube off. For the next two hours I gradually check on it and it somehow forces the lid open a few more times and gradually it calms down... Thankfully before football started at 1 :p I hope there wasn't too much contamination going on at that point, but we'll wait and see.

So I would definitely suggest to anyone who is gonna use a starter on this to expect to use a blow-off tube...
 
Just brewed this last Saturday - I did 8 lbs of Light DME instead of the 3 x 3.3lbs Pilsner Light malt extract LME, and I used only 1 lb of the Candi Sugar. I added the Candi with 10 minutes left on the boil. I rea

Nice, how big was your batch? and what did your OG come out to?
 
Nice, how big was your batch? and what did your OG come out to?

I just did a 5 gallon batch... I just guesstimated the OG at around 1.086 as that's around what Brewtarget gave me, and I had broken my hydrometer while cleaning it - And looked at the clock right when it happened - 5 minutes after LHBS closed :p

The way that yeast was attacking it I dunno that I'm gonna be too worried about it getting all the way down - I'm gonna give it the suggested 14 days in the primary, 21 days in the secondary, then 3 weeks after bottling, so I guess I'll have to wait for 11/20 to see if and how bad I mangled this one
 
First off I love this beer so thanks a lot for the recipe, but I have a few questions since i'm still a rookie.

First, did anyone try a late extract addition technique with this recipe? Would it be recommended at all?

Also for the starters Mr. Malty says 4.61 liters for a starter @ the beer's OG of 1.080. Is using 1 to 2 liters enough? Or am I splitting hairs here? Am I even reading the calculator right? I've never made a starter so I might need to be spoon fed some information.
 
I got this started this morning. OG of 1.078 which is a bit lower than i was hoping, but im still very much looking forward to this brew.
 
9 days later and its at 1.016 and already tastes pretty damn good! Ive been reading about people moving away from using secondaries I was wondering of keeping this beer in the primary for three more weeks would hurt it at all. Any suggestions from those who've produced finished batches?
 
9 days later and its at 1.016 and already tastes pretty damn good! Ive been reading about people moving away from using secondaries I was wondering of keeping this beer in the primary for three more weeks would hurt it at all. Any suggestions from those who've produced finished batches?

I never use a secondary but, I keg my beer. I'd cold crash the secondary if i was bottling it.
 
Is there anything stopping me from cold crashing the primary and still skipping the secondary? If I cold crash will i still have enough viable yeast to to bottle carb a beer with this high of an alcohol content?
 
After much style-debate, I've decided that I'm definitely brewing this for a club-brew next weekend. This is gonna be awesome. My first Belgian.

Just a thought - has anyone modified the grain bill to account for a little more head retention/mouthfeel? I'm considering adding a little biscuit and/or flaked barley to this...
 
Purchased the ingredients for this recipe last night. To account for the aforementioned "mouthfeel/head retention" I consulted the LHBS owner, who said that .5 lbs carapils would do the trick without taking away from the traditional flavor/style of a Belgian Tripel. I went in that direction.

Stoked to brew this!
 
Purchased the ingredients for this recipe last night. To account for the aforementioned "mouthfeel/head retention" I consulted the LHBS owner, who said that .5 lbs carapils would do the trick without taking away from the traditional flavor/style of a Belgian Tripel. I went in that direction.

Stoked to brew this!

Good luck, keep us updated!
 
Good luck, keep us updated!

Will do. I will only have 1 lb of candi sugar, though. BS states that my expected ABV will be in the 8-9% range. I don't think it'll take away from anything.

I'm also planning on adding the sugar during the last 15 minutes of the boil. I'm wondering if going the same route Lodovico did makes it more difficult to calculate your efficiency. I guess you'd just account for the grain bill w/o the sugar, right?

Additionally, I'm making my WLP500 starter tonight - 1 cup to 1 pint w/yeast nutrient sound about right?
 
You can always use normal sugar, try to look for surgar that was made from beets.

- figure out your efficiency before you add the surgar.
- I would go with a 2 to 1 ratio, two cups of water and one cup of DME with nutrients. Do a 15min boil on the DME, cool it down, then put in a container and add yeast.
 
You can always use normal sugar, try to look for surgar that was made from beets.

- figure out your efficiency before you add the surgar.
- I would go with a 2 to 1 ratio, two cups of water and one cup of DME with nutrients. Do a 15min boil on the DME, cool it down, then put in a container and add yeast.

Thanks...I already got Belgian candi sugar from my LHBS in my order - with an 8% discount through my brewer's association, it works out to be a little cheaper anyways than any other sugar I was able to find.

For basic starters, I had always heard a 1-1 ratio (1 cup DME to 1 pint water), but in this case, I'll do 2 cups - which I don't think is much more liquid than a pint. I'll definitely let everyone know how it goes.
 
Brewing went well...by Beersmith calculations, I ended up with a 66-70% efficiency - which I'll blame on perhaps adding less water than needed in the original mash and the LHBS crushing.

However, I was definitely pissed off that my LHBS forgot to include the candi sugar in the order. Typically, for pickup orders such as these, they'll include sealed items on top of the milled grains inside a paper grocery bag - which is then taped up. I was surprised, to say the least, not to find any sugar when I was setting up everything on Saturday.

In a pinch, I was only able to get about .75 lbs of organic cane sugar into the boil. I ended up with a 1.075 starting gravity. I might try Lodovico's post primary fermentation sugar addition - boiling up 2 cups/dextrose to a pint of water - then adding it in after the fact.

Fermentation, on the other hand, has been going well - no blowoff in my 6g carboy - with a temp of 71-72. Nice solid krauzen head though. I'm going to wait till it goes down to add the dextrose mix.
 
I dumped in my dextrose mix about 30 minutes ago (2 cups dextrose to 2 cups water & boiled for 10 minutes). Krauzen level had sunk down quite a bit from Monday & Sunday's vigorous fermentation - averaging around 55-60 CO2 bubbles/minute today.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that within 20 minutes of me adding in the sugar mix, the fermentation activity picked up again - up to 70-75 bubbles/minute!

From what I've read regarding gravity measurement with late sugar additions, the addition (during fermentation) initially raises the OG, but the FG will be lower than initially intended. Given that this is a Tripel, I thought the drier the better. Considering that it's only a 2 cup dextrose addition, I don't anticipate my FG to be that much lower...I just wanted it to be more in the middle range of ABV% for a traditional Tripel, as opposed to the low-end.

As usual, I'll report back.
 
This looks like a great beer, can't wait to try it. I really like that someone converted it to extract and was able to post the results.

Definetly going in the recipe book, and then the fermenter!
 
Hello, I'm the originator of this post and converted it to LME. This is not directed at you Grasslands, but is a response to some of your comments and what you have read so far from others. Don't listen to the whole adding sugar after the malt fermented!

Adding the sugar, candi sugar, beet sugar or whatever you want to call it NEEDS to be added at the beginning phase (at boil) as instructed. This is what the recipe calls for and has a purpose behind it. To others arguments of a dry(er) beer, you can still get down to 1.006 to 1.010 easily, it's all on your mash schedule. And it's possible to get an extract to 1.012, I have done it personally. I have NEVER EVER had issues getting the FG down when adding sugar during the boil. ESPECIALLY with a high attenuation of WLP500!

Now, the reason you add the sugar at the last minute boil phase vs. adding after fermentation is... One, keeps it sanitary. Two and importantly, it allows the sugar to be fermented first!!! key word, fermented first! When adding sugar later, you run into the possibility that you will only ferment 70% or less of the sugar, Opposed to having slightly more malt (for which this style was designed to have a small amount of malt left). Thus affecting the flavor and truly straying away from the style.

Guys, I admire your willingness to experiment and try new things. But don't pass your "Experiments" off like they are the gospel and tried and tested with OUT MERIT!!! Nothing annoys me more when I see someone new say they are going to try this and try their ass hat method with no follow up or anything to back in a diligent and scientific manner. The fact is, the original recipe that I posted is about authentic as you can get. And will get you to the closet style of the original beer, and other TRUE BELGIAN(s), for which I have been in Europe and tasted personally.

With so many new people coming on the scene and what I truly believe is the next revolution/renaissance of our time, we need to direct people down the proper paths. Sorry for ranting, I just want to clear stuff up with people on this post. It's had a lot of hits, and I had a lot of private messages and such.
 
Hello, I'm the originator of this post and converted it to LME. This is not directed at you Grasslands, but is a response to some of your comments and what you have read so far from others. Don't listen to the whole adding sugar after the malt fermented!

Adding the sugar, candi sugar, beet sugar or whatever you want to call it NEEDS to be added at the beginning phase (at boil) as instructed. This is what the recipe calls for and has a purpose behind it. To others arguments of a dry(er) beer, you can still get down to 1.006 to 1.010 easily, it's all on your mash schedule. And it's possible to get an extract to 1.012, I have done it personally. I have NEVER EVER had issues getting the FG down when adding sugar during the boil. ESPECIALLY with a high attenuation of WLP500!

Now, the reason you add the sugar at the last minute boil phase vs. adding after fermentation is... One, keeps it sanitary. Two and importantly, it allows the sugar to be fermented first!!! key word, fermented first! When adding sugar later, you run into the possibility that you will only ferment 70% or less of the sugar, Opposed to having slightly more malt (for which this style was designed to have a small amount of malt left). Thus affecting the flavor and truly straying away from the style.



I couldn't agree more!! No reason to reinvente the wheel.
 
Hello, I'm the originator of this post and converted it to LME. This is not directed at you Grasslands, but is a response to some of your comments and what you have read so far from others. Don't listen to the whole adding sugar after the malt fermented!

Adding the sugar, candi sugar, beet sugar or whatever you want to call it NEEDS to be added at the beginning phase (at boil) as instructed. This is what the recipe calls for and has a purpose behind it. To others arguments of a dry(er) beer, you can still get down to 1.006 to 1.010 easily, it's all on your mash schedule. And it's possible to get an extract to 1.012, I have done it personally. I have NEVER EVER had issues getting the FG down when adding sugar during the boil. ESPECIALLY with a high attenuation of WLP500!

Now, the reason you add the sugar at the last minute boil phase vs. adding after fermentation is... One, keeps it sanitary. Two and importantly, it allows the sugar to be fermented first!!! key word, fermented first! When adding sugar later, you run into the possibility that you will only ferment 70% or less of the sugar, Opposed to having slightly more malt (for which this style was designed to have a small amount of malt left). Thus affecting the flavor and truly straying away from the style.

Guys, I admire your willingness to experiment and try new things. But don't pass your "Experiments" off like they are the gospel and tried and tested with OUT MERIT!!! Nothing annoys me more when I see someone new say they are going to try this and try their ass hat method with no follow up or anything to back in a diligent and scientific manner. The fact is, the original recipe that I posted is about authentic as you can get. And will get you to the closet style of the original beer, and other TRUE BELGIAN(s), for which I have been in Europe and tasted personally.

With so many new people coming on the scene and what I truly believe is the next revolution/renaissance of our time, we need to direct people down the proper paths. Sorry for ranting, I just want to clear stuff up with people on this post. It's had a lot of hits, and I had a lot of private messages and such.

While I understand that the above post/rant wasn't directed at me (but perhaps indirectly), I think I should at least respond.

No intention of pissin' you off, man. I figured that given my LHBS' oversight (not including the candi sugar) was an admission that I wasn't going along with the initial recipe - and not by choice; I simply couldn't. Aside from adding in .5 lbs of carapils (which I practically add into every recipe I make - clone or of my own design), I would've abided by your instructions to the "t".

By my own admission, I wanted to get the FG up (to the OP's stated requirements in this clone) and the only way I was able to do that was with a post-boil sugar addition - and then report back what I was able to accomplish/taste/etc. I have no means to compare this to the real thing as it is, but I figured that it wasn't necessary for me to start a new thread talking about my specific experiences; I thought it fit better here.

Hurricane, I can see that you take this seriously, but I also see it as a compliment that this thread has received a ton of hits and that you've received a bunch of PMs as a result of your input - I see it also as a compliment that people are taking your recipe and adding in their own touches here and there - not that they're going down the "wrong path" or in jeopardy of influencing others to do so. Perhaps others are like me - looking for a base recipe to try their hand at something and "experiment" - and hopefully learn in the process.

In my unique case, post-boil sugar addition was the only means that I could get to your specific FG, given the absence of candi sugar prior to my boil. After reading/viewing the review on the beer itself, I wanted to have a touch more head retention/mouthfeel, so that's the reason for me adding in a half pound of carapils.

Like I initially said, I didn't intend on recreating the Final Absolution-wheel, I was kind of forced to go in a roundabout way to get to (hopefully) a similar final product. In a longwinded way, I apologize if my posts served as a catalyst for getting you riled up. Never was the intention - I figured the more information out there the better - that's certainly how I've learned as much as I have through HBT.
 
beltriple1of1.jpg



:drunk:
 
Hello, I'm the originator of this post and converted it to LME. This is not directed at you Grasslands, but is a response to some of your comments and what you have read so far from others. Don't listen to the whole adding sugar after the malt fermented!

Adding the sugar, candi sugar, beet sugar or whatever you want to call it NEEDS to be added at the beginning phase (at boil) as instructed. This is what the recipe calls for and has a purpose behind it. To others arguments of a dry(er) beer, you can still get down to 1.006 to 1.010 easily, it's all on your mash schedule. And it's possible to get an extract to 1.012, I have done it personally. I have NEVER EVER had issues getting the FG down when adding sugar during the boil. ESPECIALLY with a high attenuation of WLP500!

Now, the reason you add the sugar at the last minute boil phase vs. adding after fermentation is... One, keeps it sanitary. Two and importantly, it allows the sugar to be fermented first!!! key word, fermented first! When adding sugar later, you run into the possibility that you will only ferment 70% or less of the sugar, Opposed to having slightly more malt (for which this style was designed to have a small amount of malt left). Thus affecting the flavor and truly straying away from the style.

Guys, I admire your willingness to experiment and try new things. But don't pass your "Experiments" off like they are the gospel and tried and tested with OUT MERIT!!! Nothing annoys me more when I see someone new say they are going to try this and try their ass hat method with no follow up or anything to back in a diligent and scientific manner. The fact is, the original recipe that I posted is about authentic as you can get. And will get you to the closet style of the original beer, and other TRUE BELGIAN(s), for which I have been in Europe and tasted personally.

With so many new people coming on the scene and what I truly believe is the next revolution/renaissance of our time, we need to direct people down the proper paths. Sorry for ranting, I just want to clear stuff up with people on this post. It's had a lot of hits, and I had a lot of private messages and such.

This isn't a fly by the hip strategy that was mentioned (adding the sugar after fermentation has been underway for a few days). You keep using the word experiment. This is a pretty common method and it certainly isn't an "experiment." I've heard Jamil and Palmer talk about this several times.

Go listen to the Jamil podcast on Tripels and he mentions that if you add the candi or table sugar during the boil, that many times the yeast go on a feeding frenzy because they go after the simple sugar first and you risk them "pooping out" and not being able to eat the rest of the fermentables.

He even makes the comparison of the two sugars being like hot dogs and prime rib. Which would you eat first?

So I understand what you're trying to say but I don't think it's a cut and dry 100% point that it needs to be done the way you are stating.

You mention sanitation concerns with this method which is not an issue at ALL. You boil a couple of cups of water with the sugar and gently pour it through a sanitized funnel. Where is the sanitation concern?

Again, props on this recipe. I've posted many times in this thread. For the record, I brewed this and added the sugar 5 days into fermentation and the beer dried out right where it needed to and I hit my gravity.

Brewing it using this method won me a first place ribbon in the Belgian category. So this method does work if done correctly.
 
I racked my 5g batch to a secondary yesterday (12 days primary) and I came back with an SG of 1.012 (from 1.075) and it tasted awesome!

In the secondary, it looks like it's trying to figure out what final color it wants to be...darker toward the top, lighter on down to the bottom. Interesting process indeed. It's still bubbling here & there, but I'm planning on bottling this sucker up after 12 more days.

Can't wait for it to get ready!
 
I'm drinking this now and wow, it's amazing that this has nearly 10 percent and drinks so well. What a great recipe! Thank you guys so much!
 
Hi everyone,
Can't wait to brew this next Sunday. A few quick questions:

1) Brewtarget is predicting a final gravity of 1.021, will mashing lower make more fermentables, or should I just trust the yeast?

2) Most people have said they would keep the IBU's down, and BT is predicting 25.4 for me at 5.5 gallons, but is calling it extra malty. (Also predicting 1.085 for OG)

I can't give much advice on my typical efficiency, because this is the first time that I am going to use my new cooler/mash tun.
 
Hi everyone,
Can't wait to brew this next Sunday. A few quick questions:

1) Brewtarget is predicting a final gravity of 1.021, will mashing lower make more fermentables, or should I just trust the yeast?

2) Most people have said they would keep the IBU's down, and BT is predicting 25.4 for me at 5.5 gallons, but is calling it extra malty. (Also predicting 1.085 for OG)

I can't give much advice on my typical efficiency, because this is the first time that I am going to use my new cooler/mash tun.

I easily hit 1.012 - and even down to 1.010 as of this past Thursday (3 days after racking to a secondary) - though I did add a post-boil dextrose addition.

I would go with the mash schedule as Hurricane listed and make a yeast starter 36 hours in advance and keep it in 70-72 temps. Also, given the hop schedule, just adjust accordingly based on your AA% to get to the IBU level initially listed.
 
Hit an FG of 1.013 before bottling last week. Coming in at 9% ABV and quite tasty warm and flat. Hoping to enjoy this at Thanksgiving.
 
Hit an FG of 1.013 before bottling last week. Coming in at 9% ABV and quite tasty warm and flat. Hoping to enjoy this at Thanksgiving.

I know it might be tough to wait, but I envision this beer hitting its stride after a couple months - I'm going to do my very best to pace myself after bottling tonight.
 
I know it might be tough to wait, but I envision this beer hitting its stride after a couple months - I'm going to do my very best to pace myself after bottling tonight.

Yes, this beer is a bit rough early on, but this is getting better every day. I should hold off and bottle my other brew so that this can work itself out a little bit. It took a long time to carb in the bottle, but the wait is worth it!
 
Yes, this beer is a bit rough early on, but this is getting better every day. I should hold off and bottle my other brew so that this can work itself out a little bit. It took a long time to carb in the bottle, but the wait is worth it!

I'm planning on bottle priming with cane sugar - how long did yours take to carb?
 
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