How long do you age Your Belgian Beers?

Currently I have 2 Belgian type beers in secondaries. One has been aging for 5 weeks, and the other for 3. With the high alcohol content, I was thinking right around 3 months og aging in the secondary for these beauts. What's your opinion for aging Belgian Beers?

it won't hurt em at all. if'n you plan on bottle conditioning, maybe repitch with some fresh dried yeast at bottling time. my last big belgian was in the secondary about six months, there are still 12 bombers going on a year old now, if the browns manage to win a game this season, we'll drink them.

uglygoat said:

it won't hurt em at all. if'n you plan on bottle conditioning, maybe repitch with some fresh dried yeast at bottling time. my last big belgian was in the secondary about six months, there are still 12 bombers going on a year old now, if the browns manage to win a game this season, we'll drink them.

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LMAO about the Browns comment. As far as Football is concerned, we will see how my Pat's do woth there new QB.

These Beers will be kegged when they are done aging.

I've got mine in primary for 1 month, thinking 2-3 months in secondary, then as long as I can stand in bottles. I overshot the gravity on mine. I was going for 8.3%, but it will end up at about 9%. Whoops.

After 3 weeks in primary, it smells like it won't be ready for a loooong time.

I have a Belgian strong dark ale that's been bottle aging for about 6-7 months. It's gotten steadily better over time.

a month in primary and 3 months in secondary sounds good. i bulk aged a dark strong ale for over 6 months before bottling. it's been sitting under the steps in bottles for the last year. we open around halloween.

that reminds me, i have another dark strong to bottle. it's been in secondary a few months....sometime next week i should take care of that

if you're going to keg them, it'll be nice to have all the yeast settle out with the extra aging. i would let them sit in the kegs for at least another month or two.

Right now I think I am going to go with 2 1/2 Months in the Secondary, then 2 Months in the Keg.

I brewed a dubbel today, not sure how long to secondary it. Its gonna hard to be patient.

BeerPressure said:

I brewed a dubbel today, not sure how long to secondary it. Its gonna hard to be patient.

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Same with my tripel. Is this gonna be a new year beer?

BeerPressure said:

I brewed a dubbel today, not sure how long to secondary it. Its gonna hard to be patient.

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TheFlatline said:

Same with my tripel. Is this gonna be a new year beer?

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I brewed a trippel last fall (November), and bottled it some time in January this year. It tastes the best now, after 8 months in bottles. Be patient, particularly with big beers. I'm disappointed that I drank as many of them as I did, since the flavor has gotten so much better. Same happened with a stout I made.

I brewed a trippel (sort of) primary took 3 weeks. Secondaried for i dont remember, probably a week or so. I kegged and started drinking that day. It was the best beer ive made thus far.

It depends. I have one that is hitting 2 years now, I think though that it has reached its prime. I usually go minimum 4 or 5 months as I have found very good and surprising things from long term aging of high gravity beers. To me, I like to let it go long and sample one every-now-and-again and take notes. That way, I know when the beer should peak the next time I make it.

jmulligan said:

I brewed a trippel last fall (November)

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Ok, I have to spank you for this. I can't bite my tongue any longer. It's not you, but the collective. Say it with me:

Tripel
T-R-I-P-E-L

tdavisii said:

I brewed a trippel (sort of) primary took 3 weeks. Secondaried for i dont remember, probably a week or so. I kegged and started drinking that day. It was the best beer ive made thus far.

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seems like the beer would be way too green

tdavisii said:

I brewed a trippel (sort of) primary took 3 weeks.

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Beer name police! Tripel.

I have a Dark Strong that will get about 18 months. I have some sour beers that will do the same, if not longer.

zoebisch01 said:

Ok, I have to spank you for this. I can't bite my tongue any longer. It's not you, but the collective. Say it with me:

Tripel
T-R-I-P-E-L

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Green Flash and New Belgium (among others) call it trippel, and Wikipedia also lists that spelling. So nyah!

I'll keep the spanking all the same, though.

jmulligan said:

Green Flash and New Belgium (among others) call it trippel, and Wikipedia also lists that spelling. So nyah!

I'll keep the spanking all the same, though.

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It's not my fault that Green Flash can't spell . /me goes off to correct Wikipedia.

spank spank spank

So New Belgium and the others can't spell either?

Tomato, tomahto, who tf cares?

But who says tomahto?

Yeah Imma brew up an American Stowt.

I guess after asking around some more the proper "Belgian" spelling is Tripel. However because even Belgians (due to multiple languages) can't agree it becomes obscured, hence the alternate form Trippel. So I revoke my previous statements and offer my apologies to offended parties, who may chose to still apply or revoke the "spank" .

Sorry for getting uber critical all, I suppose it stems from the fact that people start blurring lines so much it gets confusing. I recall a post a long time ago the guy was asking about a Belgian Dopple or something to that nature.

hammacks said:

But who says tomahto?

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Brits. 03753074

blacklab said:

So New Belgium and the others can't spell either?

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well, they can't make belgian beers...why would they spell them right?

Sorry to ressurect an old thread, but I had a question.

My Belgian Tripel (there!) has been... oh... a touch more than 5 weeks since pitching. I'm not paranoid about autolysis, since I've kind of figured out by now it's the bogeyman for most of us, but I am not going to leave it there much longer. I figure another month or three in a secondary will be perfect.

However, by that point I'll probably need to repitch some yeast when I bottle (not kegging until I move. My roomates will drink 5 gallons out of a keg in one night without telling me). I was wondering how to go about this. Do I just throw a packet of Notty into the bottling bucket and rack on top of that? Or do I add say 1/16th of a teaspoon (yes, I have something that small) to each bottle? Just kind of curious.

I made a strong dark Belgian last year, and I just threw a packet of Nottingham on it when I racked to secondary. A month in there finished it off nicely, and it carbed just fine in bottles. It's been about seventeen months since I bottled, and it just keeps getting better.

I had my tripel in primary for 2 weeks and then in seconday for about 3 months. Then in the bottle for another 2 months. Now it's a struggle to keep my hands off of it. I'm hoping to keep some around for the hoilidays. At least until Samhain, hopefully Yule.

I promise you, it's worth the wait. My Belgian was only so-so for months, and it's just the last few bottles that have been truly stellar. Hang in there!

My dubbel had an OG of 1.072. It's been in primary for 3 weeks and i checked the gravity today and its still at 1.026. Do you think this is normal? i was planning on racking to secondary after 5 weeks in primary.

The big Belgian I made went from 1.090 to about 1.032 or so after almost a month. I put it in secondary with the Nottingham for another month and it dropped to 1.025. I'd say it should be able to get to under 1.020. I had a smaller Belgian that went from 1.076 to 1.019 after two weeks in primary.

Mine went from 1.088 to 1.021 in 3 weeks with biere de garde yeast fermented hot (~83 degrees). I haven't checked it since then.

I'm gonna resurrect this old thread again to ask some questions about this process. I'm looking to do a Belgian dubbed and it Seems 1 month primary, 3 months secondary is about right then letting it age in the keg/bottle.

What temps are recommended on the secondary? I'm gonna use wlp500 because it's what I have.

So if I go 1 month primary, 3 month secondary, then bottle age for 6 months or so what temps should I use on the secondary and bottle conditioning stages?

If I keg instead of bottle, what temp should I age it at if in the keg?

thats a lot longer than ive let any of my dubbels tripels or bsda brews condition. I primary for 4 weeks usually, then bottle and condition it in that. After 2 weeks theyve always been tasty, no detectable alcohol despite the high %. But 6 months down the road they are so much better. Agining will happen faster at rooms temps vs fridge or cellar

That's really long. 1-2 weeks primary. 2-3 weeks secondary. Maybe 2 months to bottle age. Save some for longer if you like but enjoy them!

I'm drinking a 2 year old Tripel right now. I have a 2 year old ~14% "Quad" (perhaps more accurately a Quint) that's coming into its own and will probably peak in another year or two. I have a 5 year old Brett Tripel with a few bottles left that's just fantastic.

But generally they don't need the age. Typically a week or two primary, a week or two cold conditioning, and if you did your job right they should be good. I like fresh big Belgians. But I also like em aged.

For what it's worth, my process for Belgians is to primary for 3 weeks then keg condition for 3 months. No secondary.

Kegs condition at ambient in a closet. The closet stays cool because of other fermentation equipment in there.

Don't over think it. Your beer will taste great right after primary/secondary, but it will improve with age (in my experiences).

SoggyWood said:

For what it's worth, my process for Belgians is to primary for 3 weeks then keg condition for 3 months. No secondary.

Kegs condition at ambient in a closet. The closet stays cool because of other fermentation equipment in there.

Don't over think it. Your beer will taste great right after primary/secondary, but it will improve with age (in my experiences).

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Thanks for the input everyone! I think this feels like the right way to go. 3 was primary and 3 months keg conditioning at ambient.

I don't secondary at all anymore. 3 week primary, bottle. I do 3 weeks in the bottle in a warm room to carbonate, then cellar for 6 months before I drink them.

FWIW- many think that Tripels are best around 1-3 months, and don't need extended aging.

Great info guys I appreciate it!