1st Shot

[sremed60]

This will be my first attempt at all grain and my first attempt at putting a recipe together from scratch. I used the recipe builder at Brewersfriend to calculate the amounts. I'm going to do a 2.25 gal test batch in case it doesn't work out. I've been obsessed with Belgian Tripels for the past few months so that's what I decided I wanted to try. I'm going to bottle in 750ml Belgians with cork and cage so I can get the carbonation up.

Anyway, here's what I came up with. Any suggestions or critique from experienced brewers is greatly appreciated. Since this is my first AG and my first 2.25 g batch I'm figuring on 65% efficiency.

Ingredients:
3.5 lbs - Belgian Pilsner
1.5 lbs – Belgian Wheat
1.5 lbs - Candi Sugar Clear (at 15 min)
1 oz - Hallertauer Hersbrucker - 4.4 AA% pellets
.5 oz – Strisselspalt – 3.5 AA% pellets
2 - White Labs WLP500

60 Minute Mash:
Single Infusion at 152 °F.

60 Minute Boil:
.5 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker @ 60 min
.5 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker @ 30 min
1.5 lbs Candi Sugar Clear @ 15 min
.5 oz Strisselsspalt @ 5 min

Fermentation:
Hold in primary for 10 days at 69 °F
Transfer to secondary for 60 days.

Bottling:
Add corn sugar and carbonate for 14 days.

 

[kombat]

I would strongly suggest you brew an existing recipe for your first brew, until you learn how to properly design a recipe. As an example of the type of mistakes you can make when you go it blindly as you're proposing, your recipe includes 3.5 lbs of Belgian Pilsner malt, but only a 60 minute boil. Pilsner malts are more prone to DMS-producing precursors, and thus it's standard practice to employ a 90 minute boil instead of 60, when using Pilsner malts. If you'd gone with an existing recipe, you wouldn't have had to know that - it would already be part of the recipe and you'd have produced a better beer just following the instructions.

I would not bother with secondary. I also don't think it needs to sit for 2 months. Bottle it when it's ready. And give it at least 3 weeks to carbonate, not just 2. Store the bottles somewhere warm (70+ ° F).

What's your expected OG? How do you know if you're pitching too much/not enough yeast? Do you plan on making a starter?

Walk before you run!

 

[NewkyBrown]

I would agree with what kombat said. I have made around 30 all grain batches now but still see myself as a novice. When I first started I was trying to create my own recipes but if I had any strange flavors in the finished beer I wasn't sure if they were from my process or the balance of the recipe. If you start with a known, good recipe then you can concentrate on the process. I still brew recipes from this site or decent books (Brewing Classic Styles) and nearly all turn out fantastic.

 

[m00ps]

Well for a first shot, that looks pretty good for a tripel. I would ferment warmer though if you want those authentic belgian fruity esters. insulate the fermentor with a heavy blanket or winter coat

Also, I would pick a different yeast strain. wlp500 is better suited for dubbels IMO. Its much more plum/fig/raisiny than the apple/pear/clove you usualyl get in tripels. Ive also found it less attenuating which you really need to worry about in tripels so they arent cloying. Id try using wlp530 or adding a bit of a high attenuating yeast like French saison WY3711. My personal fave for tripels is WY3864. Best one I made so far was a combo of wy3864 and wlp566

 

[sremed60]

Thank’s for the feedback guys. I appreciate the 90 minute boil tip for Pilsner malts kombat.

A quick clarification: This is not “my first brew.” It’s my first A/G brew. I didn’t just wake up this morning having absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about brewing and decide to throw a bunch of arbitrary ingredients together, cross my fingers, and hope it eventually resembles something akin to beer – but I respect your opinions.

I’m curious about why you think I should go straight from primary to bottling?

My goal and my interest in brewing, (for the time being) is to brew my interpretation of a Belgian style Tripel. I will no doubt have to brew several small batches making adjustments here and there until I eventually come up with a beer I’m happy with. But that’s the fun of it (for me).

There is no substitute for experience. The more you brew – the more you learn. I’m not sure I agree with your idea that one can only learn by brewing someone else’s recipes? The guy at the LHBS I go to is fond of saying that if he gave the same extract brew and the same ingredients to 10 amateur home brewers, (which is what I am), he’d get back 10 different beers.

And although I said I was “starting from scratch,” I didn’t mean I was starting with a completely clean slate, no knowledge, no experience, having never brewed anything or read a single word on the subject. The recipe I came up with isn’t completely arbitrary. I’ve read a lot of recipes for Tripels, clones of tripels, techniques for brewing tripels, the history of tripels, blah, blah, blah. That’s not to imply that I know everything there is to know about tripels – I don’t. But there is some basis behind the recipe I came up with.

“What's your expected OG? How do you know if you're pitching too much/not enough yeast? Do you plan on making a starter?”

OG: 1.079
FG: 1.017
ABV: 8.19%
IBUs: 36.8
SRM: 3.65

I used the yeast calculator on the brewersfriend website. It showed that 2 vials of yeast is good for this recipe with “no starter needed.” So that was my starting point.

And again, everything here is simply a starting point. I plan to keep brewing small batches of just this recipe and to keep making adjustments. Some batches might be okay, some I might have to pour down the drain. We all have our own reasons for getting into home brewing. For me, I’d rather pour a gallon of my own recipe down the drain than drink another 5 gallons of someone else’s creation – maybe that’s just the artist in me.

 

[m00ps]

I only do secondaries for beers with a very large amount of foreign matter being added to the fermentor (like several pounds of fruit) or extended aging for sours (3 months or more).

The idea that you need to get the beer off the yeast cake after a few weeks is entirely outdated and no longer applies with todays yeast viability. For msot beers, all a secondary will get you is risk of oxidation and/or infection

my last few tripels did 3 weeks in the primary and striaght to bottling. Was very drinkable at 1 week past that but got amazing after another month or two

 

[NewkyBrown]

Sorry I wasn't suggesting that you shouldn't use your own recipe and to be fair I didn't offer any critique on your recipe, which is what you asked for.
I was just following on from the first reply. I still like to create my own recipes but I find when I use a popular known recipe it takes out that uncertainty especially when you are unfamiliar with certain processes.
I guess arguably the most important part to get right when brewing is the fermentation stage so if you know that then going to all grain isn't that tricky.
I'm sure your Belgium will turn out great!

 

[sremed60]

:d