All things Trappist

[Gregory T]

I am looking for info on how others brew Trappists and their results @RPIScotty

 

[Gregory T]

I started pitching around 500 billion cells in my Tripels 5.5 gallons, 1.078. Which seems close to your 1.25-1.40 unless I’m not reading something right again. I don’t use oxygen. I use a Venturi and an air pump for about 10 minutes. I should probably get a DO meter soon.

I like the taste of the first one, but it turned out darker than I thought. It was darker than the St Bernardus Tripel and lighther than Taxman’s. I substituted the 1 lb of Munich for 1 lb of Vienna. I just moved it to cold crash

Does that sound about right for what you are saying?

 

[Gregory T]

I step mash at 113°F, 135°F, 145°F, and 158°F for my Tripel. I pitch slightly above the 1.0 m/ml/°P. The first rest is for beta glucanase, the second for proteinase are to help with clarity

And because the monks step mash. Plus I think it’s fun

The beta rest at 145°f at 40 minutes and the alpha rest at 158°F. The Tripel I just brewed hit an FG of 1.008. I’m not sure if that is good or bad. We will see in a few weeks

I am doing BIAB because I got intrigued with no Sparge Brewing after this video from a local Belgian brew pub




Interestingly, I love their Dubbel. I do not like their Trippel. I felt it had too much coriander. A pet peeve of mine. Plus I don’t like it in large amounts

 

[Gregory T]

Also I am looking for any feedback on Omega Belgian A yeast. I’m looking to try this out. The high Floculación in a Belgian yeast has me intrigued

 

[couchsending]

It’s Achouffe yeast. Wyeast 3522, WLp550. Great yeast.

Here’s a link to their strain catalog, shows what everything is.

https://omegayeast.com/uploads/downloads/Omega-Yeast-2019-Strain-Poster-For-Web.pdf

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

subscribed

 

[Big Monk]

I started pitching around 500 billion cells in my Tripels 5.5 gallons, 1.078. Which seems close to your 1.25-1.40 unless I’m not reading something right again.

Yup.

Pitching Rate (M/ml/P) = ( 500 (B cells) / 20.82 (l) ) / 18.9 P = 1.27 M/ml/P

Cell Count in Billions divided by Volume in Liters divided by Original Gravity in Degrees Plato will give you Pitching Rate in M/ml/P.

I don’t use oxygen. I use a Venturi and an air pump for about 10 minutes. I should probably get a DO meter soon.

I also use a sterile air pump for 5-10 minutes. It's a good way to not overload with O2. My whole goal is to limit massive yeast growth too quickly. Lowering aeration levels is a good way to do that.

I like the taste of the first one, but it turned out darker than I thought. It was darker than the St Bernardus Tripel and lighther than Taxman’s. I substituted the 1 lb of Munich for 1 lb of Vienna. I just moved it to cold crash

I have a suite of 5 beers: Tafelbier, Patersbier, Dubbel, Tripel and Dark Strong Ale.

I only use 5 malts (all Weyermann with the exception of the Special B): Pale Pilsner, Vienna, Munich I, Special B and Sauermalz.

I mix the Pilsner, Vienna and Munich I freely. Lighter beers don't get Munich I. The Tafelbier does because it's such a lower alcohol beer that I add it for complexity. The Dark Strong and Dubbel get a mix of all 3 base malts.

I step mash at 113°F, 135°F, 145°F, and 158°F for my Tripel. I pitch slightly above the 1.0 m/ml/°P. The first rest is for beta glucanase, the second for proteinase are to help with clarity

I would skip the first 2 rests. You want to help clarity? Mash in a bag, no-sparge, and recirculate the mash for the duration. What is your heat source?

Personally I'd ditch any rest lower than beta and just perform 2 beta rests, a higher alpha, and a mashout:

Beta 1 - 145-147 F for 20 minutes
Beta 2 - 148-149 F for 10 minutes
Alpha - 162 F for 30 minutes
Mashout - 171-172 F for 10-15 minutes

As a reference:

I make 5 beers - Tafelbier, Patersbier, Dubbel, Tripel and Dark Strong Ale
I use 5 malts - Extra Pale Pilsner, Vienna, Munich I, Sauermalz (All Weyermann) and Special B (Dingeman's)
I use 3 sugars - Florida Crystal's Turbinado, D90 and D180
I use 2 hops - German Magnum (pellets) and Cascade (whole leaf)
I use 1 yeast - Wyeast 3787
I use 1 water profile - Ca = 25, Na = 40, SO4 = 67, Cl = 62, Zn = 0.30 (all in ppm)

 

[Gregory T]

So far I have used boiling additions. However, I just drilled a bunch of holes in my old 10 gallon extract kettle and made a HERMS. I haven’t tried it out yet. My understanding is the Temperature outside of the HERMS outlet is the one to monitor

And I have a clip on whirlpool port to recirculate with

 

[Gregory T]

I started using Weyermann as well. I do mix a Belgian pils with a German Pils 50/50 in my Tripel. I haven’t found That Weyermann makes a Belgian Pils

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If I just calculated it correctly, I would need to pitch 8 packs of Lallemand Abbaye dry yeast for a 26 Liter batch of Dubbel.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

I don't brew Trappist style beers very often mostly because I don't brew a lot as is. The two things I've found that make the biggest impact (at least anecdotally which could be completely worthless in the grand scheme of things) are grain selection and fermentation. The latter isn't much of a surprise though.

For the most part I tend to use Weyermanm or BestMalz depending on what my LHBS has. Pretty much all of them are varying ratios of pils/Vienna/Munich.

Yeast wise, I stick mostly to Omega because I'm in Chicagoland and I can get super fresh packs. Belgian Ale W is my goto for tripels, though the first time I made a Westmalle clone I did a big starter and got very little in the way of yeast expression, so now I just do a vitality starter with a single pack and call it a day. Fermentation temps have yielded much more than stressing about pitching rates.

Carbonation levels are often overlooked as well. Many of these beers at carbed up much higher, which changes our perception of the beer.

 

[Gregory T]

I love that Taxman video. It really hit home to me. I’m not brewing beer for a profit. It is a hobby. I don’t care about efficiencies, I can buy and extra pound or two of grain. I can pitch at 1.25. I can leave a beer in the primary. I want to make the best beer I can make.

In some respects, I think that gives homebrewers an advantage over commercial breweries.

 

[Gregory T]

If I just calculated it correctly, I would need to pitch 8 packs of Lallemand Abbaye dry yeast for a 26 Liter batch of Dubbel.

At 1.065 I’m showing 414 billion cells which would be about 4 packs. Or you can make a starter which is what my other thread is about

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...rter-concept-again.666920/page-3#post-8613347

 

[Big Monk]

If I just calculated it correctly, I would need to pitch 8 packs of Lallemand Abbaye dry yeast for a 26 Liter batch of Dubbel.

Depends on how you frame it. Obviously the important parameters for approximate required cells is Pitch rate, volume in liters and gravity in degrees plato.

For dry yeast you need the additional information on cells/g.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Westmalle strain, simple grainbills, appropriate sugar syrups, ferment warm (ramping 68° to 76° F), mashing low (147-149°), and pitching significant yeast starters. I over-build 2.5L starters, crash, pour the decanted liquid into the fermentor, and split the remaining 1L or so into a 1q mason jar for later and the rest of the slurry goes into the fermentor. I started out cloning Westvleteren XII using Candi Syrup's clone recipe with D180, read Brew Like a Monk by Stan Hieronymus, and fell down a rabbithole. Drank the real thing in Bruge and my second thought was "mine is pretty close"; came about a slight bit richer and darker, but that I attribute to using a full 3# of D180 instead of 2.5#.

I just kegged a VI clone, and did a tripel about a year ago that came out very nice. All are similar - Chateau Beligan pilsner as a base, plus a candi syrup. For the tripel and the single/enkel/VI, I invert table sugar because it's easier and cheaper. I was actually part of the Brulopshy exbeeriment on table sugar v. corn sugar, and that stuck with me as the table sugar version had a noticeable, well, "harshness" isn't the word but it's close, to it, to the point where I (incorrectly) guessed the variable was the yeast strain.

 

[Big Monk]

3787 is the most user friendly Trappist strain available.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

I'm pretty sure Lallemand Abbaye it listed at 5 billion cells per gram, so at 11 grams in a pack that is 55 billion cells.

55B_cells/26L/17.3P = 0.1223

0.1223⁻¹ = 8.17

So a bit more than 8 packs to achieve 1.00 M/mL/P

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

If you made a 1 gallon starter at 17.3 Plato from a single pack of Lallemand Abbaye I think it would come in at the 1.00 M/mL/P level.

 

[Big Monk]

I'm pretty sure Lallemand Abbaye it listed at 5 billion cells per gram, so at 11 grams in a pack that is 55 billion cells.

55B_cells/26L/17.3P = 0.1223

0.1223⁻¹ = 8.17

So a bit more than 8 packs to achieve 1.00 M/mL/P

5.00 B/g is the MINIMUM cell count at the best by date.

My correspondence with Lallemand indicated that for a new pack, Abbaye is around 9-10 B/g.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

5.00 B/g is the MINIMUM cell count at the best by date.

My correspondence with Lallemand indicated that for a new pack, Abbaye is around 9-10 B/g.

So its either 4 packs direct pitched, or a 17.3P starter of 2L volume developed from 1 pack. Does this sound correct?

 

[Gregory T]

I'm pretty sure Lallemand Abbaye it listed at 5 billion cells per gram, so at 11 grams in a pack that is 55 billion cells.

55B_cells/26L/17.3P = 0.1223

0.1223⁻¹ = 8.17

So a bit more than 8 packs to achieve 1.00 M/mL/P

Aah I counted it at 10 billion/gram

I'm pretty sure Lallemand Abbaye it listed at 5 billion cells per gram, so at 11 grams in a pack that is 55 billion cells.

55B_cells/26L/17.3P = 0.1223

0.1223⁻¹ = 8.17

So a bit more than 8 packs to achieve 1.00 M/mL/P

You are correct I was counting it at 10 per. At $5 a pack. Dry yeast is getting expensive

 

[Big Monk]

So its either 4 packs direct pitched

Approximately, yes.

or a 17.3P starter of 2L volume developed from 1 pack.

I wouldn't use that high a gravity for a starter. Depending on the starter type, a 1.037 starter at 2 l, assuming 9 B/g and one package of Abbaye would yield approximately 386 total cells, or around 0.86 M/ml/P.

 

[Gregory T]

3787 is the most user friendly Trappist strain available.

What temperature do you pitch it at and how long do you leave it before packaging/cold crashing? Also do you apply any heat after It starts cooling down

 

[Big Monk]

What temperature do you pitch it at and how long do you leave it before packaging/cold crashing? Also do you apply any heat after It starts cooling down

Pitch at 64F with no temperature control except the ambient temperature in my basement and submerge in room temp water bath. Typically rises into the low to mid 70s by 4-5 days in.

I package right after it hits final gravity and leave the bottles at room temperature for a few weeks before drinking.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Due to mashing in a cooler, and due to raising temperature via the addition of boiling water, I find it practical to attempt only two temperature hold steps during the mash. Given this, I'm thinking along the lines of 136 degrees F. for 15 minutes, followed by 150 degrees F. for 45 minutes. Will this bring any benefit, or should I just do a single infusion mash? And if there is benefit to be gained, are 136 and 150 degrees the two best temperatures to shoot for?

 

[Gregory T]

Due to mashing in a cooler, and due to raising temperature via the addition of boiling water, I find it practical to attempt only two temperature hold steps during the mash. Given this, I'm thinking along the lines of 136 degrees F. for 15 minutes, followed by 150 degrees F. for 45 minutes. Will this bring any benefit, or should I just do a single infusion mash? And if there is benefit to be gained, are 136 and 150 degrees the two best temperatures to shoot for?

If I was doing 2 steps I would do 2 sachrification rest. One around 144°F for 40 and one around 158°F for 30 this will give you both beta and alpha enzymes to break down the grain into fermentable sugars

 

[Big Monk]

Due to mashing in a cooler, and due to raising temperature via the addition of boiling water, I find it practical to attempt only two temperature hold steps during the mash. Given this, I'm thinking along the lines of 136 degrees F. for 15 minutes, followed by 150 degrees F. for 45 minutes. Will this bring any benefit, or should I just do a single infusion mash? And if there is benefit to be gained, are 136 and 150 degrees the two best temperatures to shoot for?

If limited to 2 steps + a mashout, I would do the following:

1.) Beta rest (145-149F depending on the malt used) for 20-30 minutes;

2.) Alpha rest (162F) for 30 minutes;

3.) Mashout (172F) for 10-15 minutes.

 

[Big Monk]

...One around 144°F for 40...

Keep in mind 2 things:

1.) 144F may be too low depending on the Gelatinization temperature of the malts used;

2.) You don't need to stay at Beta temperatures for that long.

 

[cswant88]

This is a well timed thread. I’ve got my first tripel lined up to brew soon. Beersmith set to 0.75m/ml/*P was figuring 334.3 billion cells for 1.087 OG. Sounds like I need to step it up to 1.0m/ml/*P, or should I go 1.25? Either way, I’m gonna need to do a 2 step starter, or get a bigger flask.

 

[Big Monk]

This is a well timed thread. I’ve got my first tripel lined up to brew soon. Beersmith set to 0.75m/ml/*P was figuring 334.3 billion cells for 1.087 OG. Sounds like I need to step it up to 1.0m/ml/*P, or should I go 1.25? Either way, I’m gonna need to do a 2 step starter, or get a bigger flask.

Well, let's keep a few things in mind:

1.) There is a rhyme and reason to manipulating fermentation parameters and you (not you specifically, the Royal You, meaning US) should understand the mechanics before diving in;

2.) If you want to ferment without temperature control, you should pitch cool, around 64 F;

3.) I pitch in the 1.25-1.50 M/ml/P range because I am going to undercut O2 and limit Zn to 0.3 to try and stunt yeast growth;

4.) I limit O2 to < 8 ppm

All of this is designed to let me ferment without temperature control so the yeast naturally rises into the 70s. I want to be able to do this because I think clamping down and restricting temperature is not what the yeast want. Especially 3787. I want to limit yeast growth so my beer doesn't generate a ton of undesirable higher alcohols early on while still producing a desirable ester profile.

 

[cswant88]

Well, let's keep a few things in mind:

1.) There is a rhyme and reason to manipulating fermentation parameters and you (not you specifically, the Royal You, meaning US) should understand the mechanics before diving in;

2.) If you want to ferment without temperature control, you should pitch cool, around 64 F;

3.) I pitch in the 1.25-1.50 M/ml/P range because I am going to undercut O2 and limit Zn to 0.3 to try and stunt yeast growth;

4.) I limit O2 to < 8 ppm

All of this is designed to let me ferment without temperature control so the yeast naturally rises into the 70s. I want to be able to do this because I think clamping down and restricting temperature is not what the yeast want. Especially 3787. I want to limit yeast growth so my beer doesn't generate a ton of undesirable higher alcohols early on while still producing a desirable ester profile.

A damned thorough answer. Appreciate the info.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

I'd like to add that I've played around with different base malts including floor-malted grains.

In terms of mashing, I'm fairly certain most of the trappist breweries are doing step mashes, but at the homebrew level I'm not sure that it's worth the trouble. I've certainly achieved better efficiency when I step mash with floor-malted grains but with how yeast-driven most of these styles are I find that many of the subtleties get lost. That's not to say that I'm going to discourage others from trying to replicate the process, not at all. Heck, one of these days I plan on doing a full triple deccoction for a Czech pils just for the sake of doing it.

For the most part I mash low, around 145-148F and as RPIScotty said I pitch in the mid 60s. I don't really use any temp control so depending on the time of year my ferment can reach up to 80F at its peak, not that I'm complaining about the results. I tend to not do this during the winter though as the first time I brewed a tripel in the winter my ferm never rose above 64 and I got all the phenolic character with almost none of the esters. I didn't realize my basement was in the low 50s.

The takeaway is that trappist beers in general, and Belgian beers as a whole really benefit from at least a basic understanding of fermentation mechanics. Temp control, ester production, all that good stuff.

I can't believe I forgot about hops. Since most of my hop additions are FWH I just use a high alpha variety such as Magnum or Polaris.

 

[Big Monk]

I'd like to add that I've played around with different base malts including floor-malted grains.

In terms of mashing, I'm fairly certain most of the trappist breweries are doing step mashes, but at the homebrew level I'm not sure that it's worth the trouble. I've certainly achieved better efficiency when I step mash with floor-malted grains but with how yeast-driven most of these styles are I find that many of the subtleties get lost. That's not to say that I'm going to discourage others from trying to replicate the process, not at all. Heck, one of these days I plan on doing a full triple deccoction for a Czech pils just for the sake of doing it.

For the most part I mash low, around 145-148F and as RPIScotty said I pitch in the mid 60s. I don't really use any temp control so depending on the time of year my ferment can reach up to 80F at its peak, not that I'm complaining about the results. I tend to not do this during the winter though as the first time I brewed a tripel in the winter my ferm never rose above 64 and I got all the phenolic character with almost none of the esters. I didn't realize my basement was in the low 50s.

The takeaway is that trappist beers in general, and Belgian beers as a whole really benefit from at least a basic understanding of fermentation mechanics. Temp control, ester production, all that good stuff.

I can't believe I forgot about hops. Since most of my hop additions are FWH I just use a high alpha variety such as Magnum or Polaris.

I find step mashing is important for 3 reasons that don’t necessarily have a direct result on flavor: Attenuation, Body and Foam.

β rest(s) ensure complete conversion and supreme fermentability.

α rest ensures full body even in light of high Attenuation.

Sustained mash out guarantees foam positive glycoproteins for that mousse like head.

For me, a Trappist inspired Ale is 97% fermentation, 2% Mashing and 1% all the other stuff.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

I find step mashing is important for 3 reasons that don’t necessarily have a direct result on flavor: Attenuation, Body and Foam.

β rest(s) ensure complete conversion and supreme fermentability.

α rest ensures full body even in light of high Attenuation.

Sustained mash out guarantees foam positive glycoproteins for that mousse like head.

For me, a Trappist inspired Ale is 97% fermentation, 2% Mashing and 1% all the other stuff.

Hey, if it works for you I say don't mess with success. Attenuation and foam have never been issues for me as something about my process provides super stable foam.

One thing I'm curious about is glycerol production by different yeasts, and how that might affect our perception on other characteristics of beer. From what I've read high levels of sucrose can increase glycerol levels which might explain some of the undesirable effects large amounts of table sugar can have.

 

[Gregory T]

I find step mashing is important for 3 reasons that don’t necessarily have a direct result on flavor: Attenuation, Body and Foam.

β rest(s) ensure complete conversion and supreme fermentability.

α rest ensures full body even in light of high Attenuation.

Sustained mash out guarantees foam positive glycoproteins for that mousse like head.

For me, a Trappist inspired Ale is 97% fermentation, 2% Mashing and 1% all the other stuff.

I made a Tripel earlier this year with a single rest at 148 F 60 minutes. it attenuated at 80.8 FG 1.015

I have one cold crashing step mashed 122 F 10 minutes 142 F 40 minutes 158 F 20 minutes mash out 168 F 10 minutes which attenuated at 87.3 FG 1.009

only other difference was 1 used 1 lb Vienna and 1 used 1 lb Munich

 

[Big Monk]

Brauwelt released a 2 part series on mashing a few years ago. Here are some of the relevant graphs (including the correlation between Hartong Index (VZ45) and Gelatinization (more on this later)):

I. Beta Activity - Temperature vs. Time

(Note the relevant times above: 62 C (143.6 F), 64 C (147.2 F) and 67 C (152.6 F))

II. Beta Activity - % of Activity vs. Time

III. Correlation Between Hartong Index and Gelatinization Temperature

So in light of the above let's analyze your batches. I'm assuming that other than the changes in fermentables that all else was equal? Yeast? Aeration? Ferm temps? Let's assume that to make a point.

Tripel - Beta rest at 148 F (60 min) - 80.8% AA

Your first batch had a single rest at 148 F (64.4 C) for 60 min. Take a look at the first graph. What are we looking for? Well, we see that at temperatures at or above 64 C, we are missing out on a considerable amount of Beta Amylase activity.

Is it an On/Off switch? No but we are bypassing it altogether at temperatures > 64 C. One of the main reasons, whether intentional or not, that brewers are recommended to mash longer at temperatures around 148-149 F is because of this. You need to overcome the loss in major Beta activity.

Now look at the second graph. What is that telling us? It's showing us that the half life for Beta Amylase activity is rather short at your chosen temperature.

So lower Beta Amylase activity at the chosen temperature is a function of the temperature you choose and the 1/2 life of the activity at that temperature.

Now 80.8% is by no means a terrible amount of attenuation for most styles but I like to keep Original Extract low in these beers and get high AA (85% or greater).

At 148 F, I doubt Gelatinization temperature was an issue so we'll skip that for now.

Tripel - Beta rest at 142 F (40 min) - Alpha rest at 158 F (20 min) - Mash out at 168 F (10 min) - 87.3% AA

First things first: How fast did you ramp the temperature here? Have you ever heard of the oft quoted 1 C/min ramping criteria for stepping between rests? Many people try to rationalize what it may be used for but we'll talk about it in a minute.

Let's analyze Beta Amylase temperature you chose here. Looking at the first graph we see that for temperatures at or around 62 C (your temp was 61.1), you'll get around 46% of the total Beta Amylase activity. Looking at the second graph, you see that for this same temp, the Beta Amylase half life is much longer at almost 20 minutes. So holding this low rest for 40 minutes gives a large amount of Beta activity for longer.

Which base malts were you using? The reason I ask has to do with the third graph and the table below:

Do you measure your gravity throughout the mash? One of the reasons the Gelatinization temperature for a specific malt is important is for the purposes of extract. If the starch cannot be broken down readily and absorb water, you'll see a hit in extract, especially with only a single Beta rest.

Your Beta temperature was so low that it would be in the "danger zone" for Gelatinization temperatures IMO, but if you didn't see any ill effects from a gravity standpoint I guess it was a non issue.

The reason I bring up ramp rate is that it is one of the often overlooked advantages of step mashing. Say you end your 142 F rest and begin ramping to Alpha. If you are doing it at 1 C/min, you'll actually step through all the temperatures in between.

I would suggest you go higher and longer for the Alpha rest: 162 F for 30 minutes.

87.3% is a great value for attenuation if you designed the recipe around that, i.e. I always keep Original Extract lower and let attenuation drive the ABV.

Only other difference was 1 used 1 lb Vienna and 1 used 1 lb Munich

Same amount of sugar?

 

[Gregory T]

Brauwelt released a 2 part series on mashing a few years ago. Here are some of the relevant graphs (including the correlation between Hartong Index (VZ45) and Gelatinization (more on this later)):

I. Beta Activity - Temperature vs. Time
View attachment 630655
(Note the relevant times above: 62 C (143.6 F), 64 C (147.2 F) and 67 C (152.6 F))

II. Beta Activity - % of Activity vs. Time
View attachment 630656
III. Correlation Between Hartong Index and Gelatinization Temperature

View attachment 630662

So in light of the above let's analyze your batches. I'm assuming that other than the changes in fermentables that all else was equal? Yeast? Aeration? Ferm temps? Let's assume that to make a point.



Your first batch had a single rest at 148 F (64.4 C) for 60 min. Take a look at the first graph. What are we looking for? Well, we see that at temperatures at or above 64 C, we are missing out on a considerable amount of Beta Amylase activity.

Is it an On/Off switch? No but we are bypassing it altogether at temperatures > 64 C. One of the main reasons, whether intentional or not, that brewers are recommended to mash longer at temperatures around 148-149 F is because of this. You need to overcome the loss in major Beta activity.

Now look at the second graph. What is that telling us? It's showing us that the half life for Beta Amylase activity is rather short at your chosen temperature.

So lower Beta Amylase activity at the chosen temperature is a function of the temperature you choose and the 1/2 life of the activity at that temperature.

Now 80.8% is by no means a terrible amount of attenuation for most styles but I like to keep Original Extract low in these beers and get high AA (85% or greater).

At 148 F, I doubt Gelatinization temperature was an issue so we'll skip that for now.



First things first: How fast did you ramp the temperature here? Have you ever heard of the oft quoted 1 C/min ramping criteria for stepping between rests? Many people try to rationalize what it may be used for but we'll talk about it in a minute.

Let's analyze Beta Amylase temperature you chose here. Looking at the first graph we see that for temperatures at or around 62 C (your temp was 61.1), you'll get around 46% of the total Beta Amylase activity. Looking at the second graph, you see that for this same temp, the Beta Amylase half life is much longer at almost 20 minutes. So holding this low rest for 40 minutes gives a large amount of Beta activity for longer.

Which base malts were you using? The reason I ask has to do with the third graph and the table below:

View attachment 630661

Do you measure your gravity throughout the mash? One of the reasons the Gelatinization temperature for a specific malt is important is for the purposes of extract. If the starch cannot be broken down readily and absorb water, you'll see a hit in extract, especially with only a single Beta rest.

Your Beta temperature was so low that it would be in the "danger zone" for Gelatinization temperatures IMO, but if you didn't see any ill effects from a gravity standpoint I guess it was a non issue.

The reason I bring up ramp rate is that it is one of the often overlooked advantages of step mashing. Say you end your 142 F rest and begin ramping to Alpha. If you are doing it at 1 C/min, you'll actually step through all the temperatures in between.

I would suggest you go higher and longer for the Alpha rest: 162 F for 30 minutes.

87.3% is a great value for attenuation if you designed the recipe around that, i.e. I always keep Original Extract lower and let attenuation drive the ABV.



Same amount of sugar?

7 lbs German pils
7 lbs Belgian pils
1 lb Candi syrup clear
1 lb Vienna Malt (Munich in 1st batch)
0.5 lb flaked barley

They were both pitched at a little over 500 billion cells of WLP500

This was stepped using boiling additions so the temperature change was basically immediate

This was my first time using a pump for recirculation

It was a BIAB and hit 93.9% mash efficiency

I’ll have to start measuring gravity throughout

I have since added a HERMS coil and another pump to whirlpool the HLT/HERMS coil. I haven’t used it yet

From my research, there is a little debate. however the one that makes since to me is the HERMS outlet temperature will be my main concern. That makes sense to me in order to not overheat the enzymes in the wort Please addd any thoughts on this


I love those graphs. The 1°C/min makes sense. I will try to do that this weekend.

I plan to make 3 Blondes over the next few weeks. While they aren’t my Tripel, I think it will allow me to get up to speed on the new equipment

I will try 162°F next time. I’m debating keeping the 113°F and the 135°F rests just because I enjoy it. Any harm that might do?

 

[Big Monk]

7 lbs German pils
7 lbs Belgian pils
1 lb Candi syrup clear
1 lb Vienna Malt (Munich in 1st batch)
0.5 lb flaked barley

They were both pitched at a little over 500 billion cells of WLP500

This was stepped using boiling additions so the temperature change was basically immediate

This was my first time using a pump for recirculation

It was a BIAB and hit 93.9% mash efficiency

I’ll have to start measuring gravity throughout

I have since added a HERMS coil and another pump to whirlpool the HLT/HERMS coil. I haven’t used it yet

From my research, there is a little debate. however the one that makes since to me is the HERMS outlet temperature will be my main concern. That makes sense to me in order to not overheat the enzymes in the wort Please addd any thoughts on this


I love those graphs. The 1°C/min makes sense. I will try to do that this weekend.

I plan to make 3 Blondes over the next few weeks. While they aren’t my Tripel, I think it will allow me to get up to speed on the new equipment

I will try 162°F next time. I’m debating keeping the 113°F and the 135°F rests just because I enjoy it. Any harm that might do?

Definitely do what you like but anything under 145, IMO, is a waste of your time.

 

[Gregory T]

I have 2 Tripel recipes I brew

one is more of a purist Tripel



7 lb German Pils
7 lb Belgian Pils
1 lb Vienna
0.5 lb Flake Barley
1 lb candi sugar


1 oz Challenger 60 min
0.5 Styrian Goldings 60 min
0.5 Styrian Golding 15 min
0.5 Styrian Goldings 0 min

.25 oz sweet orange peel

wlp 500 1.25 m/ml/plato

OG 1.078 IBU 28.73



the other adds some extra grains



6 lb German Pils
6 lb Belgian pils
0.5 lb carapilis
0.25 lb crystal 15L
0.5 lb flaked barley
2 lb candi syrup

.75oz chalenger 60 min
.75 Styrian 20 min
.5 oz styrian 0 min

0.5 oz orange peel

Wyeast 3787

0G 1.082 IBU 27.02

These are still a work in progress. Please feel free to comment on my choices

I like to do step mashes. I think they're fun. They give me better control over the fermentability and the taste/mouhfeel of the final product. I also pitch at about 1.25 and limit aeration. I try to read all things Belgian so if anyone has any books/articles to recommend, that would be appreciated as well

 

[Dog House Brew]

I find step mashing is important for 3 reasons that don’t necessarily have a direct result on flavor: Attenuation, Body and Foam.

β rest(s) ensure complete conversion and supreme fermentability.

α rest ensures full body even in light of high Attenuation.

Sustained mash out guarantees foam positive glycoproteins for that mousse like head.

For me, a Trappist inspired Ale is 97% fermentation, 2% Mashing and 1% all the other stuff.

Best post in the thread. [emoji1433]