Triple with Aromatic Malt

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Shonuff

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I'm brewing a triple this weekend and the grain bill is

14 lbs of Belgian Pilsner
.25 lbs Aromatic
(Plus various sugars)

When I was at my LHBS I told them 1.25 of Aromatic by mistake. The two malts were mixed together so I can't drop a pound of aromatic.

I've heard that aromatic is pretty powerful stuff (I've never used it). Think I should just give it a go, or should I get some new grains?
 
it will have a huge malty flavor and will probably be overpowering...but it might be very tasty. it may need some aging to mellow out. up to you...i would go for it.
 
According to "Brew Like a Monk" for the tripel style, aromatic malts are seen in 31% of homebrews with it taking up an average of 2% of the grain bill, and as high as 4%. Belgian Golden Strongs have a high of 5% and an average of 1%. Your grain bill as is gives you just over 8% aromatic (less if you start adding in sugars). I would say go for it. It is really not that far out of the range, but your beer will end up a little sweeter and darker than expected. The nice thing about Belgian style Ales is there is a ton of room for experimentation.

PS: Go buy "Brew Like a Monk" if you plan on making more Belgian beers it has an absurd amount of information
 
According to "Brew Like a Monk" for the tripel style, aromatic malts are seen in 31% of homebrews with it taking up an average of 2% of the grain bill, and as high as 4%. Belgian Golden Strongs have a high of 5% and an average of 1%. Your grain bill as is gives you just over 8% aromatic (less if you start adding in sugars). I would say go for it. It is really not that far out of the range, but your beer will end up a little sweeter and darker than expected. The nice thing about Belgian style Ales is there is a ton of room for experimentation.

PS: Go buy "Brew Like a Monk" if you plan on making more Belgian beers it has an absurd amount of information

I'm also adding in 2.5 lbs of sugars as well so that will drop the % down even more.

I read through "Brew like a Monk" - great book!

Thanks for the advice everyone.
 
I think aromatic/victory/biscuit is powerfull stuff so I don't use more than .5 lbs in a pale ale but for a belgian it will probably work great...I've got to get that Brew Like a monk book all the articles written by the author I've read seem top notch.
 
Mash at 148*F for 90 minutes.. I think you'll be fine, it will take a long time to age anyway.

+1 more to lower mash temp. The Aromatic will contribute a very bready, malty sensation, so just mash at a lower temp, promoting fermentability over body. Good call on this one.

And +1 to just rolling with it. :D
 
With respect to the tripples and the "long" aging time. What are we talking? How long in the secondary? How long in the bottle? Months years?
 
I'm brewing a triple this weekend and the grain bill is

14 lbs of Belgian Pilsner
.25 lbs Aromatic
(Plus various sugars)

When I was at my LHBS I told them 1.25 of Aromatic by mistake. The two malts were mixed together so I can't drop a pound of aromatic.

I've heard that aromatic is pretty powerful stuff (I've never used it). Think I should just give it a go, or should I get some new grains?

What would you do with the grain if you stated over???? Just make beer with what you have.
 
you could always split the beer into two batches and add more pilsner to each, cutting down the percentage of aromatic.

That's such a great idea. Then have one huge dinner party with two kegs of triple. Sweet Jesus.
 
you could always split the beer into two batches and add more pilsner to each, cutting down the percentage of aromatic.

A double tripel...nice. It may be hard to get the specialty grain split in half since it's all mixed up but I like the idea
 
Yum. Check out my Tripel in my drop down recipe. It was great! About to do a double batch!!!:rockin:

Not to derail this thread :D but I have a question for you about grains of paradise and coriander. Do you crack/crush them before adding to the boil? I have grown quite fond of westmalle, delerium tremens, and la fin du monde lately. I don't want to over do the spice though.
 
Not to derail this thread :D but I have a question for you about grains of paradise and coriander. Do you crack/crush them before adding to the boil? I have grown quite fond of westmalle, delerium tremens, and la fin du monde lately. I don't want to over do the spice though.

I'm not a belgian beer expert but I don't think any of the beers you listed have spices
 
Most of the clone recipes I have seen list some or all of them (GoP, Corriander, orange peel). I understand that most of the flavor comes from yeast in Belgian beers. I guess I might have to experiment to get it right.

Any consensus on whether to crush GoP or Cirriander though?
 
Not to derail this thread :D but I have a question for you about grains of paradise and coriander. Do you crack/crush them before adding to the boil? I have grown quite fond of westmalle, delerium tremens, and la fin du monde lately. I don't want to over do the spice though.
I put the spices in a baggie and coarse crush with a hammer. Just enough to break them open. I use very little spices in my Tripel (based on volume). It's true that most of the flavor comes from the yeast. The added spices are barley detectable, but you know they're there and give it a little extra taste!
 
I have also heard of brewers using a small food chopper or coffee grinder to crack the spice. You only want it cracked, not ground.
 
That's such a great idea. Then have one huge dinner party with two kegs of triple. Sweet Jesus.

That's funny...that's sort of what I have in the works for my birthday at the end of January. I brewed a Tripel mid-November, and I'm doing a Chimay Red clone tomorrow. Feast!
 
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