Belgian Tripel stuck?

First I have to say that this forum has been an excellent resource. This is my first post, but I’ve read and valued many, and I’ve been looking forward to becoming more active with this community. Anywho, I have a Beligian Tripel that appears to have stopped fermenting at 1.024. This was a partial mash (12lbs grain and 6lbs LME). To provide a little background, I used a big 3 quart starter with 2packs of Wyeast 3787. I aerated with an oxy stone just before pitching. I had planned to aerate again after about 12 hours so instead of placing my blow-off on the fermenter, I used a regular airlock thinking I would put the blow-off in after my second oxygenation. This was late at night, and I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I checked it first thing in the morning and it had blown the airlock clear off the top and a large portion of the yeast went with it. I cleaned it up and put the blow off in- it still had a vigorous fermentation, so I tried not to worry too much. I added 1lb of sugar solution as it began to slow down (after 2 days) and another 1lb the next night. Fermentation then continued for about another week and a half. After about 2.5 weeks total it cleared off and I wasn’t noticing activity, so I racked it to secondary and took the hydrometer reading….1.024. I’d like to get this down at least another 10 points if not more. So I’m debating about adding another batch of Wyeast 3787 with a small starter. Or, as an alternative, I’m brewing a 10 gallon Pale Ale this weekend that I plan to split into two 5’s. My thought was to try racking the tripel back onto one of the yeast cakes after it ferments – but I’m guessing I would want a similar yeast strain. I originally planned to use a Burton Ale yeast with one and California V with another.
I’d welcome any thoughts – it seems there’s a lot of good advice floating around this forum.

What was your OG? Once you get up over a 10% ABV or so, you often have to repitch to finish it off. Most people will recommend doing the repitch with a different, but similar, yeast strain.

OG was 1.084. My initial thought was to try re-pitching with a new strain. I may pitch a WLP500 and see how that goes.
Thanks for the input!

I have a Tripel that i brewed last year this time and the FG was 1.020 from an OG of 1.090 and i'm sure it's eaten its way down a little bit more but trust me... even at 1.024 it'll be delicious in 6-10 months. I remember mine took a long time to work its way down to 1.020 b/c i think the yeast went dormant at the high alcohol content.

FYI: Don't even think of opening one until at least 6 months... it'll taste and smell like paint thinner. (voice of experience and lack of patience)

what was your mash temp, grains, and OG? if this was a 5gal batch, that FG sounds about right.

cox8611 said:

FYI: Don't even think of opening one until at least 6 months... it'll taste and smell like paint thinner. (voice of experience and lack of patience)

Click to expand...

no offense, but that sounds more like a technique problem than lack of patience. keep your fermentation temps down at the start.

cox8611 said:

I have a Tripel that i brewed last year this time and the FG was 1.020 from an OG of 1.090 and i'm sure it's eaten its way down a little bit more but trust me... even at 1.024 it'll be delicious in 6-10 months. I remember mine took a long time to work its way down to 1.020 b/c i think the yeast went dormant at the high alcohol content.

FYI: Don't even think of opening one until at least 6 months... it'll taste and smell like paint thinner. (voice of experience and lack of patience)

Click to expand...

A tripel at 1.020 isn't really delicious. Tripels should be dry. As someone already said, if it tastes like paint thinner, then that's a technique problem you need to figure out how to fix. By pitching enough healthy yeast and controlling your fermentation temperatures, no beer should smell like paint thinner. Ever.

My mash temp was 150 degrees. I mashed for 90 minutes. 9lbs of Beligian Pils and 0.25 aromatic. added 6 lbs Pilsen LME last 15 minutes of boil (75 minute boil). This was a pretty big beer, OG was 1.084 before I added the 2lbs of sugar to the fermenter. Ended with a 5.25gallon batch. I'm guessing a large part of the problem was I blew out a big portion of the yeast the first night. It's done fermenting now, so if I add more yeast I'm guessing it may just drop out of solution and not do much. May just chalk this up to a lesson learned and let it go.

First post said 12 lbs of grain. Last one says 9.25. Either way you got poor mash efficiency.

6 lbs of LME in 5 gallon = 1.043. That leaves 41 points per gallon (or 205 points for the grains. Using 9.25 lbs = 22 points/lb or ~ 60%. Using 12 lbs = 17 points/lb or ~ 47%. Are you sure you got your OG right?

2 lbs of sugar would take the 1.084 to 1.102. Down to 1.024 would be 77% attenuation.

dcp27 said:

what was your mash temp, grains, and OG? if this was a 5gal batch, that FG sounds about right.



no offense, but that sounds more like a technique problem than lack of patience. keep your fermentation temps down at the start.

Click to expand...

pseudochef A tripel at 1.020 isn't really delicious. Tripels should be dry. As someone already said said:

Non taken. The temps got high and as a result got a hot solventy taste, and the FG was 1.020 (higher than desired - but the beer did well after a long aging period) moral of the story... don't dump it just put it in the fridge, forget about it, and open a long time from now. it'll be a little sweeter, but the solventy taste diminishes over time and by keeping it at fridge temps.

Click to expand...