Brewers Best Belgian Tripel aging questions

[usafsoc]

I have picked up a Brewers Best Belgian Triple kit the other day and have been reading up on aging it. I have a few questions....

The kit instructions say that you can drink it in five weeks or so. A lot of experienced brewers have said that they let it age for at least 9 months. Has anyone noticed a huge advantage/difference in this beer waiting that long? I am trying to achieve quality.

I will be kegging this beer and let it age in the keg. I was going to add half the priming sugar to the keg and exhaust the oxygen with a few shots of co2. Will this be fine for such a long period or should I hold off on the sugar until a few weeks prior to drinking?

Thanks!

 

[smagee]

As the beer ages, the bolder flavors will mellow out and allow the yeast flavors to shine. Depending on the yeast used and the fermentation temperatures, this can mean a reduction in overall fruity flavors (which can easily be overwhelming) and a mellowing of spices. I'd say you should draw samples and taste it as it progresses until you're happy with where it's at. My last tripel fermented *way* too hot and tasted like banana bread for a good 4 months or so. Now it's mostly tolerable, but will continue to benefit from more aging.

 

[944play]

Will this be fine for such a long period or should I hold off on the sugar until a few weeks prior to drinking?

My previous batch of Tripel was naturally carbonated in a keg. I conditioned it warm for about two weeks, then refrigerated. It was diamond bright by three months from brewday.

I would not age a Tripel for longer than necessary, but that's because I like them crisp, fresh, and relatively bitter. If you like softer, duller flavors then by all means age the crap out of it.

Why in the world would you add half the sugar? You can save a lot of bottled CO2 if you just put it all in.

 

[solbes]

You certainly can keg a tripel. I bottled mine, and some believe you get a better product with bottle conditioning a tripel. Also Tripels are usually carbonated pretty high, 3.25-3.5 volumes. You'd need a long length of serving line in your keg if you are going to carb that high.

Honestly I was not impressed with taste even at month #3. Mine is 5 months old now and has just really turned on from a flavor staindpoint. It's hard now not to keep drinking it. I would be impressed if any of these bottles see 12 months of age which was my original goal.

 

[usafsoc]

@ Smagee - How hot did it ferment? The first day I put into primary I was unable to cool it down enough and it stayed at 80 degrees. The second night/third morning it was down to 73/74 steady. Hopefully this will be ok. I can just know start to smell alcohol from the airlock and the brew smells awesome.

@ 944play - How warm did you condition it?? My house stays about 74 degrees steady. About the priming sugar....everything that I have been reading gives me the impression that adding half the priming sugar prevents from over carb?? Majority of posts indicate that due to a lack of headroom for everything to expand as the entire batch is in a keg makes it more difficult to get the carbonation correct. Someone also added that if it was all bottled each bottle has the perfect amount of room to expand. Of course its all done by trial and error....and I have read several post on using half the priming sugar so I expect that all of that experience out-weights my two weeks of attempting this.

@ Solbes - Sound that maybe the 9 month mark will be just perfect for me then. Its going to be so darn hard to wait that long. You speak of the carbonation volumes, which I know nothing about so looks like I'll be researching, and that they need to be high.....guessing maybe I should use the entire addition of priming sugar that they provided so it can get higher??

Thanks guys!!!

 

[smagee]

@ Smagee - How hot did it ferment? The first day I put into primary I was unable to cool it down enough and it stayed at 80 degrees. The second night/third morning it was down to 73/74 steady. Hopefully this will be ok. I can just know start to smell alcohol from the airlock and the brew smells awesome.

I brewed it during a heat wave and used a strain of yeast that had a reputation for getting overly fruity at high fermentation temperatures; the first couple of days, the thermometer slapped on the bucket read 82F or so, which would mean the internal temp was probably somewhere around 87-90F. After a few days it calmed down to around 75F, which is where all of my beers hover during this time of year. Depending on the yeast strain you used, you'll probably want to give yours a few months of conditioning (although as always, taste first just to be sure!).

 

[solbes]

Carbonation is all personal preference. Mine was carb'd at 3.5 (as high as I dare in a bottle). I wasn't seeing all that carbonation until maybe month #3. If I pour it out cold into a warm glass it really foams up. Maybe I'll try for 3.25, as a different version of a Tripel is on deck now (so I account for the 6-12 month wait).

I think your research into priming with half the sugar into a keg sounds about right, maybe adjust up just a tad from that. The sugar was provided assuming you were going to bottle condition right? Also with a keg you could always raise the carbonation by forcing it from the tank, but not as easy to release excess carbonation.

 

[944play]

How warm did you condition it??

Room temp. No different from bottle conditioning, except you can adjust carbonation level in a keg. Yes, it's easier to add carbonation than to vent it, but I think you'll find that following a priming calculator will get you really, really close to your target regardless of the container the beer is in.

 

[2brew1cup]

No one reyeasted? Ive heard its needed for tripels..?

underground and under the influence

 

[solbes]

Depends on how old that yeast is and how long you want to wait for it to bottle condition. A really long secondary 4-6 months would probably be best to add yeast at bottling. If it's been "brew to bottle" in 2 months, absolutley no need to add yeast. Somehwere in between, its kind of up to how long do you want to wait to carb? I personally just like the original yeast to do it's thing, but I haven't gone over the 3 month mark yet.