Thinking of attempting a Trappist Kit from AHS

[ohill1981]

Has anyone out there tried these Belgium Trappist kits on AHS. I know the yeast in these regions make the beer and i was not sure if AHS used the same yeast... Would these kits represent a similar authentic trappist beer? or should i choose another route?

 

[VTBrewer]

If they sell WLP540 or WYEAST 3787 they will make a fine trapist. I prefer the 3787. And don't even THINK about not using a blow off tube with that yeast...

 

[ohill1981]

yes they do have the 3787.. I have not had to use a blow off tube yet i guess i need to make one ... Also i see it uses the candi syrup... I thought i read somewhere only to use the real candi cane. But i may be nit picking

 

[VTBrewer]

Some people dont pay the silly amounts for the candi sugar and use sucrose. I've not substituted before. If you use the 3787, you may want to consider boiling the candi sugar around day 4 or 5 and adding it to the fermenting beer then. I'm planning on doing that with my next tripel.

 

[ChshreCat]

Also i see it uses the candi syrup... I thought i read somewhere only to use the real candi cane.

I wouldn't put candy canes in a trappist ale. Way too minty.

 

[ohill1981]

and i also assumed that they took a long tim to mature and be ready to drink would i need more than 6 weeks before i popped one open?

 

[VTBrewer]

My current one wont see a bottle until week 8, and wont see a glass until two months after that, and probably will hold off on most of them for another two months after that.

 

[ohill1981]

how do you know how long to let them mature ? higher the gravity the longer the wait?

 

[VTBrewer]

Yep. Plus I asked on here.

 

[ohill1981]

im dying to try one i hear they are some of the best beers in the world i just want ot follow a recipe that will come close to the real thing

 

[VTBrewer]

See if you can find a Victory Golden Monkey (brewed in PA) down there in AL.

 

[android]

im dying to try one i hear they are some of the best beers in the world i just want ot follow a recipe that will come close to the real thing

try to find a westmalle, rochefort, st. bernardus, etc... there is quite a bit of variation in 'trappist' beers.

i've been reading 'brew like a monk' for the last few days and you're right, the yeast makes these beers. i have a belgian strong ale i made about 4 weeks ago, i had a little left over when i racked to secondary, so i put a half gallon or so in one of my kegs... it doesn't taste nearly as young as i thought it might. of course, it will taste much better once i let the secondary sit for a few months, but if you brew it, i think it's a good idea to try one every few weeks to see how the beer matures... hell, you're gonna have 50 of them, sneaking a few won't hurt anybody.

i would recommend the practice of adding the candi sugar after 3-4 days of primary fermentation. i did this with the aforementioned belgian strong and it kept the fermentation going nicely... an interesting thing about the trappist breweries is they usually only do a primary fermentation of 4-5 days to get close to the target gravity and then some condition it further in another tank before refermenting in the bottle to really condition it... however, i don't think any of them, from what i have read so far, condition their beers for 6 months or anything like that ( i could very well be wrong about this ).

anyway, i say go for it, the belgians are a fun group.

 

[Helms]

My first beer was a Westmalle dubbel clone from Austin Homebrew. I used 3787 and would definitely use a blowoff tube and make a big starter. Even my starter made a huge oozing mess. I had airlock activity within an hour and after a day, was in for some stressful times waiting for my tube to clog and bucket to explode.

From what I've read, temperature control is extremely important. I used a water bath with an aquarium heater to control fermentation. I let it sit at 66 for about 4 days, and then slowly ramped up the temperature to about 75 degrees to help ensure proper attenuation.

Aging is a must...kind of. Primary lasted 4 weeks, and I started drinking one every weekend after 3 weeks in the bottle. It really wasn't very good at first. The alcohol was really harsh and the overall flavour of the beer wasn't great. I brewed this the first week of February, and I'm drinking one as I type and it's fantastic. It's simply been getting better week by week.

 

[simpleton]

I started a chimay red mini mash kit from AHS last week. Everyone is right about using a blowoff tube. Mine made a terrible mess before I got a tube setup. This is the 8h day in primary and the lock is still bubbleing away.

 

[rico567]

I made a batch of Midwest's Noble Trappist Ale last year (using the Wyeast 3787 Propagator made into a starter), and the finished product (after a couple of months in secondary & about six months in the bottle) was very close to Corsendonk. Needless to say, I was pleased.....

 

[Shooter]

Good to hear that the AHS trappist kits are decent. They're on my list of beers to brew in the next couple of sessions, but I hadn't really seen any reviews. Now that I have a bit of a pipeline going, I'm thinking it might be okay to dedicate a fermenter to a longer term project.

 

[CiscoKid]

I did their tripple and I've been happy with the results. Tastes like I suspected.
+100 on the blowoff hose. I used a 3/8" inch hose and it clogged and much fun ceiling mopping ensued.

 

[SmugMug]

I did their tripple and I've been happy with the results. Tastes like I suspected.
+100 on the blowoff hose. I used a 3/8" inch hose and it clogged and much fun ceiling mopping ensued.

What kind of mop was it? I find that the plain ole janitor mops don't do anything but smear the crap around and makes the ceiling wetter. I'm thinking about rigging a bungee-like meshing around my primary lid next time. I'd rather it all blow out than up and I won't have to fish around the room looking for the lid.

 

[CiscoKid]

What kind of mop was it? I find that the plain ole janitor mops don't do anything but smear the crap around and makes the ceiling wetter.

I started with a swiffer, which did just made a mess. After a few moments of swearing, I just stood on a chair with a blue "no scratch" sponge and did it the old fashioned way.