Best Belgan Trippel kit?

My cousin (who got started on his home brew this past Saturday), had me and other family/friends over for his son's b-day party. We started brewing his first beer after everyone left (Chinook IPA from NB). A friend of his who's been homebrewing for about a year now, brought over a Belgian Trippel we sampled. Wow was an understatement! I couldn't believe how smooth that beer was considering it's high abv. I just hope my first beer turns out to be this good.


I've thought about seeing if I can brew this same beer, but wonder how different this flavor is from other home brew companies. Has anyone tried various recipe kits? I would like to know if there any differences. He mentioned his was from Brewer's Best. I've thought about the same kit from Northern. He also mentioned using White Labs for the yeast, which brings me to another question.....Will different brands of yeast be vastly different or is it one of those "same strain, same taste" kinda thing?


I'm not hoping to get mine exactly as his, but am hoping to have that smooth taste as his. How late could I start to have it ready by Christmas? I figured that would be a great brew to have with my brother when he comes into town.

Thanks and sorry for the winded post.

 

There will be slight differences with different companies, I've always had success with NB kits. They have quick turnover which means fresh ingredients. The yeast is the biggest factor to consider ingredient wise. That's going to contribute the most to getting the desired flavor. If you're sanitary and you pitch plenty of healthy yeast at the right temp and hold that temp steady, having it ready and delicious for Christmas won't be a problem at all. I would allow for at least 3 months from pitching yeast until drinking it. I like the White Labs WLP540/Wyeast 1762 (Rochefort) for this style but WLP500/Wyeast1214 (Chimay) and WLP530\Wyeast3787 (Westmalle) are excellent options too. Use a pitching rate calc to see how many vials you will need based on the starting gravity of your recipe, or what size starter(s) you'll need to make to get the cell count built up from one vial...this is a big beer that requires a lot of yeast and patience but man, very rewarding!

 

Appreciate the reply. I guess I'll just go with NB's kit and the WLP540. I've never made a yeast starter, so I guess I've got time to see about doing one of those on a budget. If I remember correctly, my cousin's friend didn't use a starter for his. I figured, worst case scenario, if I don't feel too confident about the starter I'll just stick with a lower gravity beer for the next 2-3 batches.

 

Just YouTube yeast starter. Its essentially a mini beer with no hops. To make a big starter, just cold crash it, decant the liquid, leaving the yeast on the bottom and add more dme that's been boiled of course, you can do that a few times, so it takes a while. I just made 2 1 liter starters for my RIS. Worked fine. Some do 3-4 liter starters.

 

4 a typical 5 gallon batch of the Trippel, how much should I make? Also, I don't have any stirrers, flasks, decanters, etc. so any suggestion on what to use around the house? Thanks.


Off to YouTube to get educated...............

 

I have a tripel I want to make. I figure if I do a Belgian session beer then I could just put the tripel on that yeast cake. Might be worth your time since you get 2 batches from one vial.

 

My first and only Tripel was from Williams Brewing in CA....it was awesome. And, like most high ABV, it just got better and better with time. I like the Williams LME that is 'uncanned' and seems to be a bit fresher. YMMV. Good brewing......

 

This kit from NB is quite good. Very smooth for a high gravity beer, lives up to the velvet name.

Velvet Rooster

 

If you are interested in trying to assemble your own pieces (can be cheaper), this is a nice recipe with good instructions: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/04/homebrewing-belgian-tripel-recipe.html