Tripel

[Birrus]

Hello everyone. For my second batch I decided I wanted to do a Tripel using extracts. I thought it was overly ambitious at first, but considering these are my favorite beers, and I have all the necessary equipment, as well as patience, I didn't find a good enough reason not to. This is the recipe I managed to put together:

Fermentables:
Pilsen Malt Extract – 6 lbs. (late addition)
Pilsen Dried Malt Extract – 2 lbs.
Adjuncts:
Light Belgian Candi Sugar – 2 lbs.
Specialty grains:
Briess Carapils® Malt – 8 oz.
Hops:
Styrian Golding Pellet Hops – 60 min.
UK East Kent Goldings Pellet Hops – 15 min.
Yeast:
Belgian Abbey Ale Yeast Activator - Wyeast 1214

Here are my questions: How true to a Tripel is this recipe? Will the hop additions make it too bitter for the style? Will the Carapils specialty grain make it too dark? And, do I necessarily have to make a yeast starter prior to pitching?

Thank you all, this forum truly rocks and it is priceless for new homebrewers like me.

 

[z-bob]

I recommend using plain ol' table sugar instead of light candi sugar. (Use candi syrup if you need dark, like for making a dubbel) It'll save you at least $12 and make no other difference.

I'm going to make a tripel soon, and I'm planning to hold back a pound of the sugar and add it a week after fermentation starts -- so my original gravity will be about 1.07 instead of 1.08 and I can get by with one activated Wyeast pack w/o making a starter or using 2 packs. (don't know if this is a good idea or not)

 

[jrgtr42]

You didn't mention the amount of hops, so there's no way to know if it's too much or not.
Personally, I'd add a bit more of the DME at the beginning of the boil - in my extract days, about 50 - 50 split seemed to work best, but otherwise the recipe looks good. A big part of getting the flavors aqnd aromas of a tripel is in the fermentation temps, so make sure you can get those spot on within a couple degrees and you should be set.
Whether or not it's a Westmalle beater, you should end up with a tasty beer.
As your second batch, it does bear repeating: the keys to good beer are sanitation, yeast happiness, sanitation, temperature control, sanitation, patience and sanitation.

 

[IslandLizard]

Omit the Carapils, it's already in your Light Pilsen extract (1%). With 100% extract you'll already have enough unfermentables. On a side note, Carapils won't add much color, it's very light @1.8 °Lovibond.

Agree with @z-bob on replacing the light "candi sugar" with regular sugar. Both the yeast and you won't know the difference.

Also a good choice to add that sugar later, when fermentation is about half to 2/3 done, which could be already after 3-4 days, so don't wait too long. Once you see the bubbling slow down, it's about the right time. You could take a hydro sample to be sure.
Adding sugar adjuncts late prevents the yeast from binging on the simple sugars early, then "forgetting" how to ferment the maltose and maltotriose. Tripels are supposed to be dry.

It's pretty high gravity.
You need to aerate or oxygenate that wort really well right before pitching yeast.

You do need a high cell count of healthy yeast to take this puppy to completion, especially when using all extract. Just pitching one or 2 smack packs is not going to do it.

A few days to a week before brewing make a 2 liter yeast starter of that smack pack. Then cold crash it for a 1-2 days. On brew day decant most of the clear starter beer of the top, let come to room temperature for a couple hours, aerate (or oxygenate) your Tripel wort well, and pitch the yeast slurry.

You need some form of temp control during fermentation to prevent making rocket fuel and heavy blow off.

 

[z-bob]

@IslandLizard: How much temperature control? I was planning to ferment mine in a glass carboy sitting on a cold concrete basement floor -- which is not nearly as cold as it was a month ago and will warm up a little more before I brew. Probably low 60's. Is that good enough, or should I sit the carboy in a tub of cold water for the first 3 or 4 days?

I've never brewed a tripel before; I made a dubbel a couple of years ago and underpitched it and fermented too cold (amazingly it turned out decent anyway after aging about 6 months)

I hope this isn't a thread hijack. Birrus is going to need the same info.

 

[Birrus]

You didn't mention the amount of hops, so there's no way to know if it's too much or not.
Personally, I'd add a bit more of the DME at the beginning of the boil - in my extract days, about 50 - 50 split seemed to work best, but otherwise the recipe looks good. A big part of getting the flavors aqnd aromas of a tripel is in the fermentation temps, so make sure you can get those spot on within a couple degrees and you should be set.
Whether or not it's a Westmalle beater, you should end up with a tasty beer.
As your second batch, it does bear repeating: the keys to good beer are sanitation, yeast happiness, sanitation, temperature control, sanitation, patience and sanitation.

Thank you. The hops schedule is on the recipe @jrgtr42. Once again, thank you.

 

[Birrus]

Thanks a bunch y'all. So I will definitely be making a starter, I will use table sugar instead of candi ( I actually didn't buy the candi waiting to hear I didn't need it ), and will add that after initial fermentation slows down a bit. I will also drop the carapils (my heart sinks cause these I did buy). I am currently waiting on an STC-1000 I purchased and will be installing it on a small fridge perfectly sized to fit my vessels, so I am covered temperature wise ( I live in Florida, so that is a BIG concern).
I'll split the malt 50/50 when adding it to the wort.

I'll keep you all posted, once again thank you.

 

[IslandLizard]

@IslandLizard: How much temperature control? I was planning to ferment mine in a glass carboy sitting on a cold concrete basement floor -- which is not nearly as cold as it was a month ago and will warm up a little more before I brew. Probably low 60's. Is that good enough, or should I sit the carboy in a tub of cold water for the first 3 or 4 days?

I've never brewed a tripel before; I made a dubbel a couple of years ago and underpitched it and fermented too cold (amazingly it turned out decent anyway after aging about 6 months)

I hope this isn't a thread hijack. Birrus is going to need the same info.

Temperature range depends on the yeast strain and how much character you want expressed. 70-72F is a good start for many Belgians. But the trick is to keep it at that temp, not letting it go higher. That means active cooling of some sort to drain off heat generated by the fermentation, which can be significant with Belgian yeasts. You should also prevent the temps from dropping (like overnight, or a cold spell) which can cause the yeast to go dormant and stall the fermentation.

Use a swamp cooler or put your fermentor inside a 19 gallon plastic tote and put a water jacket around it. You can dope that jacket with one or more frozen water bottles to keep your beer inside the fermentor at that temperature. Replace those bottles as needed, usually 1 to 2 times a day. After the first few days, you can slowly ramp the temps up, or let her free ride for more yeast expressions and making sure it ferments out dry and won't stall. Many of use use a spare fridge or freezer with a thermostatic controller, such as an STC-1000 or an Inkbird controller.

It's not wise to put a glass carboy on a hard surface like a cement floor. Unevenness, localized pressure (by weight), or thermal shock could cause stress and crack it. Always put something soft underneath like a doubled up towel, or a piece of foam, especially when tilting, so you're able to grab and move it.

 

[jrgtr42]

Thank you. The hops schedule is on the recipe @jrgtr42. Once again, thank you.

I'm seeing the types of hops and the timing, not how much in each addition. Anyways, this isn't a hop forward beer, so keeping them fairly minimal would be fine.

 

[z-bob]

I'm seeing the types of hops and the timing, not how much in each addition. Anyways, this isn't a hop forward beer, so keeping them fairly minimal would be fine.

Tripels are fairly bitter, to balance the high alcohol. Maybe 35 IBU's? They are pretty light on the flavor and aroma hops. Dubbels are not hopped much.

 

[Birrus]

I'm seeing the types of hops and the timing, not how much in each addition. Anyways, this isn't a hop forward beer, so keeping them fairly minimal would be fine.

You are absolutely right; I thought I'd written the amount of hops in the recipe, I do apologize . I was planning on using 1 oz. for each one of the varieties. Thank you.

 

[Calder]

Table sugar in place of the Candi sugar.
Drop the CaraPis.
Use a starter.
Aerate well.
Find some place around 65 - 70 F and place fermenter in a water bath (no cooling bottles required if you have sufficient water in the bath, the water will keep it close to room temp).
After a few days, remove fermenter from water bath and place in 'warm location', and let the temp rise. If you can control the temperature, it would be preferable to slowly increase the temperature over a week to about 80 F to finish it off.

I use a large plastic tub (from Walmart) as a water bath. Probably put about 10 gallons of water in it, and use a fish tank heater to control the temperature for my Belgians. Does a pretty good job. Most of the fish water heaters start controlling from about 80 F, but I found one that does a great job controlling temps from 70 up to 90 F. It makes it easy to increase temp by 2 degrees a day.

 

[NTexBrewer]

Make sure you have enough headspace in your fermenter.

Especially adding sugar later in the fermentation. I have had some blowouts.

Start with a blowoff tube and you won't have to worry.