First Brew Fermenting Away (Belgian Tripel)

[Bacchus00]

Just had my first brew day on Sunday which was a success. I did a full boil of Brewers Best Belgian Tripel. I overestimated the boil off so I have a little more the 6 gallons in my 6.5g fermeter, but I was still able to hit the expected OG. Pretty excited about everything! Within 12 hours it was violently fermenting which was awesome too see. Ambient temp where i have it is around 62 but the bucket sticker got to 68-70 from the fermentation. It now seems to be back in the 62-64 range, and the bubbling is very slow/not existent at times. Right now the plan is to leave in the primary fermenter until next sat/or sun so I can free up the primary for an amber ale. I am going to rack (carefully) to my secondary glass carboy where it will probably be for another 3 months at the very least. I am contemplating using a swap cooler with an aquarium heater to try and keep the ambient temp around 66-68 when i rack to the secondary.

Very enthusiastic about homebrewing and I am definitely hooked. I am hoping to order a irish red ale so i can make something that drink something sooner.

Other steps coming hopefully progressively over the next couple months are:
1. coppertubingsales clamp 1/2 50ft wort chiller build
2. Dual Temp controller for a chest freezer i have and will use as a fermenting chamber
3. Ball Valve and thermometer on my 15g brew pot, and build a hop spider.

Here are 3 pictures of steps of my brew day. Steeping, Cooling, Fermentation

 

[Pappers_]

Congrats on your first brew! A Tripel is an ambitious brew for your first - I've got a similar beer (a Belgian Golden Strong) in the fermenter as we speak. Its nearing the end, I've been steadily raising the fermentation temps, from 64F to about 78F now, to keep the yeast going and to get this beer dry.

I don't know that you need to bulk age the tripel that long (three months), although it wouldn't hurt it.

 

[Bacchus00]

Yeah the guy at my LHBS said anything with the label "easy" from BB would be a good first beer so the Tripel sounded amazing, then i did some reading after I bought it and realized how it requires longer fermentation. There doesn't seem to be a consensus on how long I should ferment the belgian tripel. Brewers best of course just tells you to proceed as you would with any other beer after a week or two, and I have read posts that said the Tripel really doesn't get awesome until six plus months from brew day. I also am considering bottling earlier and drinking a beer every 2 weeks or so to see if I can understand changes as it conditions in the bottle.

 

[Bacchus00]

Opened up the primary fermenter to take a peak at it after 4 days of fermentation, smelled pretty strongly of alcohol but also some good aromas in there as well.

 

[bl00]

Good luck to you! I just bottled my first brew (also a belgian) on Sunday. Very excited to start sampling as it ages.

 

[tjwor]

Beer is looking great, and good choice with the Belgian! My ingredients should be here tomorrow, brewing it for my next batch on Saturday!

One word of advice you'll probably hear, I know it is tempting to take a look at it as it changes but I would keep that thing closed down unless you need to do something with the beer... Wouldn't want to expose it to more things than I have to!

I would also not rush it to the secondary, I know you need the bucket open for your next beer, but I would make sure your F.G. is constant before moving... What was the O.G. on this beer?

 

[Hlmartin22]

The man has had some intelligent support! Blow off tube for higher than expected wort volume with the pitch, NICE!!!! With it being a Belgian tripel I would not be too concerned about slightly higher ferment temps in primary (looking at a lot of esters anywho).

The longer you wait the more fantastic it should become; but, with bottling you should be able to justify popping a couple earlier ones for the impatience we all have experienced in our first brew
Just keep those fermenters full and the waiting wont be a problem ever again! Also, keezers are where it's at. Expansion has been the name of the game for me lately.

Good luck, brew it up!!

 

[Bacchus00]

Bl00 -- Thanks always good to see others from the Charm City roaming these boards. Go ravens!

TjYeah, I am definitely going to keep it close from now. The brewers best kit called for 1.083-1.086, and at first I thought I was at 1.081 but then realized my hydrometer is calibrated at 60 and i measure at 70 so a +.002 brings it to 1.083. Definitely going to wait for FG to be stable before I move to carboy.

Hlmartin-- Haha! I owe it all the homebrewtalk. Been reading for a little before my first brew so I was able to improvise from reading up in advance of my brew day. I was going to go ranco two stage but might just do the DIY one here on the forums. I don't have any tools (or soldering experience) really so that will cost me, but I figure they will be good to have around.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Awesome congrats on the first brew, hopefully the bug gets you and you brew many more. Also Kudos on making your first brew a belgian triple, don't know if I'd want a beer that would bottle that long for my first, I'd want to drink it too bad haha