Aging a tripel

So about 4 weeks ago I brewed a belgain tripel, and it has been siting in the primary since then. All bubbles ceased about a week and a half ago.

Im planning on cracking the primary open this weekend and taking a hydro sample, and rack it off the yeast.

My plans are to age it until chrismas or new years. My thoughts are that in the long run I will probably bottle this in some 22oz bottles.

What is the best way to age this? I have a keg I can spare and age it in that. I have some clean buckets or carboys, I can age in those. Or I can bottle and age that way. What way do you think is best.

Also what temp to age at? The basement is 60-65 all year round. Or I can age in the basement fridge.

The Belgians don't age tripels more than a few weeks, so neither do I. IMO, the best way to age any beer is to keg it and keep it cold.

Bottle it and put it in the basement while there's still active yeast to condition. If you do extended bulk aging, you need to add more yeast at bottling. Aging is aging, whether bulk or bottle if you ask me, it's just easier in the bottle.

Denny said:

The Belgians don't age tripels more than a few weeks, so neither do I. IMO, the best way to age any beer is to keg it and keep it cold.

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I guess if I bottle it then I could try a few now and see how they are, but from my experience big beers like this(~9%) are a lot better with a little age on them.

But this is my first belgain, so Im flying blind here.

With belgians I age in bottles in the basement. In my experience they're a little hot at first and need 6 months to calm down. But you can taste as you go that way.

I like mine aged 2-3 months to get the burn out of them. The Belgian yeast really starts bringing flavor to the party after about 2 months of aging also. They are probably fantastic aged for a year....sadly I've never had them last that long.

I usually do 4-6 weeks in the primary. Bottle and age for as long as you can wait. A very minumum of 2 months. They really start getting good at 4-6. I have a couple that are slightly over a year and they continue to change.

I've got to say that in most cases if it takes months for your Belgian beers to be drinkable that you may want to re-examine your process.

Don't taste it when you transfer it. Odds are that you will enjoy it and the keg will be empty before any of it ever ages

Teromous said:

Don't taste it when you transfer it. Odds are that you will enjoy it and the keg will be empty before any of it ever ages

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That's my problem!

Well, it goes two ways. Bulk aging will provide the most consistent beer through your whole batch. But if you're aging for several months you may need to add more yeast. Aging in bottles will work, but you might find slight differences between bottles. I've typically done a month in primary on my Belgians, then maybe two months in secondary, plus another 3-4 months in the bottle before drinking.

As for what the Belgians breweries do, keep in mind that something brewed for sale takes on the factor of "what will make us the most money for the least cost". And faster turnaround from shorter aging means more efficient production. With homebrew that's not as much of an issue if it's even an issue at all. Just cause the pros do it doesn't mean its always the best way to do it.

Belgians are my favorite beers, i like how the flavor profile change over time, i still have part of two batches of double from October/November 2011 and i think this beer is done aging now. I try to 2ndary but it depends on my pipeline and what vessels i have available but i always wait for OG to stabilize (3-5 weeks) and then i give them extra 1-2 weeks in primary then bottle if i do 2ndary then i keep it for a month or so before botteling. After botteling i wait a month then i have one beer a week so i can monitor it , at some point i call it ready, put 5-10 bottles on the side and try to forget about those, rest i drink, give to friends and family and i call it the best beer i ever made
Its hard to do all this with 5 gal so im brewing 10 each time now

This is by far the biggest beer I have done, the few beers Ive done that were even close were around 7%. They were drinkable early on, but didnt get great for about 6 months. My pipline is fairly decent right now, so I dont really need these beers, so thats why I planned on aging them.

Polboy said:

Belgians are my favorite beers, i like how the flavor profile change over time, i still have part of two batches of double from October/November 2011 and i think this beer is done aging now. I try to 2ndary but it depends on my pipeline and what vessels i have available but i always wait for OG to stabilize (3-5 weeks) and then i give them extra 1-2 weeks in primary then bottle if i do 2ndary then i keep it for a month or so before botteling. After botteling i wait a month then i have one beer a week so i can monitor it , at some point i call it ready, put 5-10 bottles on the side and try to forget about those, rest i drink, give to friends and family and i call it the best beer i ever made
Its hard to do all this with 5 gal so im brewing 10 each time now

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You sound a lot like me. Belgians are my favorites. I think what makes them so interesting is the fact that do change overr time. I usually put half of the batchnin 12 oz bottles, and half in 22 oz bottles. The 12 oz bottles I begin drinking after about a month and slowly work my way through them. The bombers I set aside and let them age. Every time I pull one out I am always amazed how they change... yum