Belgian Tripel - BB kit, bottle conditioning time

Hi all. Disclaimer: I'm still pretty new, so be gentle.

I have a Brewer's Best Belgian Tripel kit beer all bottled up. It's been two weeks since bottling. The OG was around 1.090 (a touch higher than suggested) and the FG turned out about 1.022 (a bit higher than suggested, but frankly I have a helluva time reading that damn gauge).

My question, though, has to do with bottle conditioning time. I've not done a lot of kits yet, but it seems sometimes they have generic instructions on conditioning, and this one reads "Over the next two weeks the bottles will naturally carbonate. Carbonation times vary depending on the temperature and beer style, so be patient if it takes a week or so longer."

Varies by beer style? You KNOW the beer style... put it on there if it varies! But I digress. I've read a little on here that suggests Belgians tend to need more conditioning to mature, but I'm not sure if y'all were talking about all-grain, kits or if there's even a difference. I get the impression that 10-14 days is the general rule for most beers, but I don't want to drink this all up if it's going to be much better in, say, two months (my palette isn't all that developed, so I don't know if I'd detect an under-conditioned beer).

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any suggestions.

= DM =

With an OG of 1.090 you can expect it to take a LOT longer than 2 weeks for it to be carb'd up. I would open the first bottle at 2 or 3 months and see how it is.

Thanks! So in general, high OG = long bottle-conditioning time?

Curiosity got the better of me last night and I popped one open. It had a pretty frothy head on it and seemed carbonated.

Wait at least a month before you open the next one to let it condition and try to remember what the first one tasted like and make a comparison. Then wait another month before you open the next and compare again.

In the meanwhile, don't waste time, brew something else. Try something like a wheat or cream ale and you'll have a decent beer to drink in much less time.

It was carb'd already? Wow, that's surprising. I have a similar gravity tripel (it ended lower at 1.018 or 1.016) and it's only had a slight hiss when I opened a bottle at 5 weeks.

bknifefight said:

It was carb'd already? Wow, that's surprising. I have a similar gravity tripel (it ended lower at 1.018 or 1.016) and it's only had a slight hiss when I opened a bottle at 5 weeks.

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Yeah, it definitely had a good head on it and decent carbonation. I'll take you fellas' advice, though and let it go longer. It can only get better, right?

Thanks for the advice!