how long can a Tripel age?

My first attempt at a Tripel has been in the bottle for 2 weeks. I couldn't wait any longer, so I cracked one open tonight. CLEARLY needs some age. I KNOW that it is not ready. I did NOT expect it to be after just two weeks in the bottle (I just had to reassure myself that it was carbing up OK - it is). I'll be cellaring these for a while for sure, but I'm curious, just how long can a Tripel age? I routinely lay down big, dark beers for years, but I've never brewed something this big and this light in color before. Are we talking a few months before this starts to turn south? 6 months? Can I lay them down for a year and still have something good?

If commercial examples are any example of this I would say you're probably ok for two or three years.

I like mine on the young side, I guess, when they still have a touch of bubblegum, fresh graininess, and robust bitterness. Those qualities go away by 4-6 months. If you keg it you can take little tastes along the way, and take note of how the hops drop out, the crispness evolves, and the phenols get woodier.

When I brew triples, Quads, and golden strongs I always let them sit in secondary for 6 months or more. Strong belgian beers love the age. They only get better with time!

Gregscsu said:

When I brew triples, Quads, and golden strongs I always let them sit in secondary for 6 months or more. Strong belgian beers love the age. They only get better with time!

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This!

I gave up on Belgians due to my impatience and need to use the carboys for other brews. The best I could make it was 5 months and it was the best of the batch. Chimays are aged for 18 months BEFORE they even leave the Abbey, so thats a great guideline for where you want yours to be.

Gregscsu said:

When I brew triples, Quads, and golden strongs I always let them sit in secondary for 6 months or more. Strong belgian beers love the age. They only get better with time!

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Yup. 6 months to a year bulk aging for mine as well.

Since yours is already in the bottle, just forget about it for 6 months or so.

Awesome. Thanks all. This is what I was hoping to hear. The beer actually spent 4 weeks lagering in secondary. I didn't think to leave it in bulk for longer. Next time I guess. For this batch, I'll stash these bottles away for a while.

i aged for 3 weeks in secondary, and now going on 2+ months in the bottle. i tried one after a month in the bottle and it was pretty good, but you could tell it could use a bunch more time aging

I have a BGSA and a tripel (is there really a difference?) I brewed two years ago that are still delicious.

I have the "Clone Brews" book by Tess and Mark Szamatulski and on some of the belgian tripel recipes in the book it explicitly recommends drinking them young, "before it dries out as it ages." Just providing one example, the Petrus Tripel recipe I recently brewed up suggests that it will peak at 2-5 months and will keep at cellar temperatures for 10 months. Granted this is only a 7.5% brew which I think is kind of on the lower end of the scale for a tripel.

From personal experience I agree with most of the folks here saying that aging these types of beers is fine, but just thought I'd throw this out there since I had just brewed up this clone and was a bit surprised to see this advice in the book. I'm definitely going to be paying closer attention to how this one ages over time.

Revvy said:

Yup. 6 months to a year bulk aging for mine as well.

Since yours is already in the bottle, just forget about it for 6 months or so.

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Would you repitch for bottling? I am planning on the same time course for a 1.082 OG tripel.

Yes

Revvy said:

Yes

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How much would you re-pitch? I've got a tripel that's aging in a corny (not under pressure) for a month so far. I was thinking about bottling after 4-6 months. I want to bottle condition it, just cause.

beertastic said:

How much would you re-pitch? I've got a tripel that's aging in a corny (not under pressure) for a month so far. I was thinking about bottling after 4-6 months. I want to bottle condition it, just cause.

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You only need a few grams of dry yeast for a 5 gallon batch.

Let's see..... I did 10 gal of a tripple back at the end of October 2011
5 gal I kegged about a 3 months ago and it's great!
The other 5gal is still in the primary
I'll have to get around to kegging it soon......


MMMMMMMM 9.9% abv on tap...MMMMMM....





snore........

So I actually have my first Tripel in the primary. Its been there for 4 weeks now. I was going to bottle it this weekend and let it sit in the bottles for a few weeks.

Do you guys recommend just leaving it in the primary for another few weeks, or do I need to get it off the yeast cake?

Also, I'm a bit confused about the conversation above. Are you saying you re-pitch the yeast for bottling instead of using priming sugar to create carbonation? That would be awesome, but i've never heard of that being done before.

WooHokie said:

Do you guys recommend just leaving it in the primary for another few weeks, or do I need to get it off the yeast cake?

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Let her age on the cake for a bit. I keep keeping my beers in primary longer and longer, and they turn out better and better. I have an imperial brown ale that is going to spend 8-10 weeks on the yeast before I bottle it.

WooHokie said:

So I actually have my first Tripel in the primary. Its been there for 4 weeks now. I was going to bottle it this weekend and let it sit in the bottles for a few weeks.

Do you guys recommend just leaving it in the primary for another few weeks, or do I need to get it off the yeast cake?

Also, I'm a bit confused about the conversation above. Are you saying you re-pitch the yeast for bottling instead of using priming sugar to create carbonation? That would be awesome, but i've never heard of that being done before.

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No they are saying when you bulk age a beer for 6 months enough yeast will drop out of suspension that it is probally a good idea to repitch to make sure there are enough yeast around. You still have to use priming sugar if you are bottle conditioning.

I am also in the process my first tripel. It was a brewers best kit.

• 2 weeks in primary
• 2 weeks in secondary Carboy (planning in bottling after 4).
• Then letting age in the bottles as necessary

My question is what benefits/differences are there to leaving it longer in the primary, secondary, or ageing in the bottle? Considering fermentation is complete, what's the difference in leaving in secondary Carboy for 6 months or allowing to condition in bottles for 6 months?

av8er79 said:

I am also in the process my first tripel. It was a brewers best kit.

• 2 weeks in primary
• 2 weeks in secondary Carboy (planning in bottling after 4).
• Then letting age in the bottles as necessary

My question is what benefits/differences are there to leaving it longer in the primary, secondary, or ageing in the bottle? Considering fermentation is complete, what's the difference in leaving in secondary Carboy for 6 months or allowing to condition in bottles for 6 months?

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Consistency of end product for one. If you let it bulk age the beer will all condition at the same rate and with the same results. When you bottle after bulk aging, you can be pretty much assured that each bottle will be the same. If you bottle early and then condition, each bottle is essentially its own independent micro-environment and will therefore condition at their own rate and with potentially different outcomes (if one bottle has more or less yeast or is slightly warmer or cooler...etc)

Just want to thank you veterans for another informative thread. I think I will leave this tripel on primary for at least 6 weeks, then bulk age on secondary until October. I want to keg this the for a wedding, so I am in absolutely no rush.

I really appreciate what I have learned from hvt members about the benefits (and lack of harm) of leaving batches on the yeast cake. It makes a lot of sense with regards to what I know about yeast biology.

Sorry if I'm too giddy, I just tapped my second successful batch, and am on to my first all-grain tomorrow.

Prost!

ScoRas said:

Just want to thank you veterans for another informative thread. I think I will leave this tripel on primary for at least 6 weeks, then bulk age on secondary until October. I want to keg this the for a wedding, so I am in absolutely no rush.

I really appreciate what I have learned from hvt members about the benefits (and lack of harm) of leaving batches on the yeast cake. It makes a lot of sense with regards to what I know about yeast biology.

Sorry if I'm too giddy, I just tapped my second successful batch, and am on to my first all-grain tomorrow.

Prost!

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Good luck and have fun with your first all grain!

if you're really from Worcester...I'm sorry :fro:

Not from, but living in. Lots of good beer here.

So what I got from this thread is if it's a 8% or so tripel drink it within a year and if it's a tripel closer to 10% leter age for about 6 months minimum??

I've got a 8.2% tripel in bottles that was 2 months old when it went to bottle. Drank one that was aged a month and it was dayuuuuum good.

I've got another tripel fermenting, thinking it will be around 9% and was going to throw it in the carboy for 6 months.

Age it if you want, but if you make it well, it should taste good much sooner. It may change over time, but that doesn't mean it will be better. Just different. Two months in the bottle is about perfect for me. Everything comes together nicely at that point. Chimay et al might be able to cellar a beer and have it be rockstar after a year, but nobody here is making Chimay. You might be able to weld, but you can't build a Saturn V.

brewing isn't rocket science

The aging can depend on your wort and beer handling practices and the introduction of oxygen.

I'm drinking a trippel after 2 wks and i did a blind taste test w/ Chimay white...couldn't even tell. no lie. i'm sure it is better w/ age, but my tasetbuds don't lie