Belgian Tripel

[Wilbergrowsalot]

I have this brew that started with a OG of 1.080, and went to primary on 3/5, I did a second pitch of the WLP500 with about 2 oz of honey. After a second strong blow off I transfered into the secondary. To date my SG is holding @ 1.020 and the clarity of the brew has improved greatly with only about 2 inches of cloud towards the bottom. I live in Florida and have had fermentation temp up in the mid 70's. Has my brew finished to quick? And if so, was it because of the heat? Is a third pitch necessary? I would like to finish around 10-12 ABV.

 

[ACbrewer]

I'm not sure your target ABV is obtainable with the OG you stated. A beer yeast working on wort typically leaves about 25% OG as FG, so a 1.020 is about right given you started at an 1.080. For a 1.080 to get to 10% you have to get the FG down to 1.000 which with a beer is pretty hard.

It can be done with wine, but wine is ... well fruit sugar and water - wort/beer has protein compounds that prevent that. At this point, you'd have to a sugar to do it - table, corn, beet, invert, honey, etc to bring your ABV% up. Off the top of my head, you look to be in the 8% range.

The amount of time seems about 'normal' although temps above 70 probably would have accelerated it some. OTH you are making a Belgian style which is more tollerant of higher temps - in terms of flavor profile.

Yeah, just looked up attenuation for teh WPL00500 and it is 75 to 80% so best you should expect is to finish in the 1.016, which just won't make your target ABV. you very well could be done as 1.020 is 75% attenuation.

 

[afr0byte]

I'm not sure your target ABV is obtainable with the OG you stated. A beer yeast working on wort typically leaves about 25% OG as FG, so a 1.020 is about right given you started at an 1.080. For a 1.080 to get to 10% you have to get the FG down to 1.000 which with a beer is pretty hard.

It can be done with wine, but wine is ... well fruit sugar and water - wort/beer has protein compounds that prevent that. At this point, you'd have to a sugar to do it - table, corn, beet, invert, honey, etc to bring your ABV% up. Off the top of my head, you look to be in the 8% range.

The amount of time seems about 'normal' although temps above 70 probably would have accelerated it some. OTH you are making a Belgian style which is more tollerant of higher temps - in terms of flavor profile.

Yeah, just looked up attenuation for teh WPL00500 and it is 75 to 80% so best you should expect is to finish in the 1.016, which just won't make your target ABV. you very well could be done as 1.020 is 75% attenuation.

The trappist breweries typically get around 90% attenuation, because they use simple sugars in their beers, so the 75-80% would only really apply (assuming proper pitching rates, and keeping a gradual temperature increase) for an all malt beer. A tripel, however, would normally have around 15% sugar (up to 20%).

 

[afr0byte]

Anyways, yeah, you probably won't get to 10%. You'd have to get to about 1.005.

 

[beergolf]

A simple 1.080 tripel should finish a lot lower. Something like 1.010-1.102, or even lower. Did you do a starter? A beer that big requires a good starter. You also mention that you already have racked it to a secondary. You did that way to fast. Belgian yeasts can take some time to work. Here is a good quote from Brew Like a Monk.... "Let the frementation finish, perhaps at a higher temperature. It can take as long to get the last few points of attenuation as it did for the first 80%".

You are only at about 3 weeks. Give the fermenter a swirl. make sure the temp is up to the higher end of the yeast recommended range. Let it sit for a couple more weeks and it should slowly get down a few more points.

 

[ploppythesausage]

I've picked up information on these forums regarding simple sugars to lower gravity. Adding sugar to wort increases gravity, but ferments out fully. So, in theory, you can throw some more sugar in there (up to 20%) and it will ferment out to where you are at the moment. But I've also picked up some info - and in my limited experience this seems to be true - that the yeast can ferment the sugar so easily, it takes out some of the leftover-malt sugars with it. So it actually ups your OG and lowers your FG.
I had this happen a few points the other day in my belgian brown - stayed at 1.018 for a few days, throw in a kilo of sugar and it took it down to 1.012.

 

[Calder]

I've picked up information on these forums regarding simple sugars to lower gravity. Adding sugar to wort increases gravity, but ferments out fully. So, in theory, you can throw some more sugar in there (up to 20%) and it will ferment out to where you are at the moment. But I've also picked up some info - and in my limited experience this seems to be true - that the yeast can ferment the sugar so easily, it takes out some of the leftover-malt sugars with it. So it actually ups your OG and lowers your FG.
I had this happen a few points the other day in my belgian brown - stayed at 1.018 for a few days, throw in a kilo of sugar and it took it down to 1.012.

10% sugar can lower your FG by about 2 points. The reason: Maltferments about 80%, while plain sugar can ferment 110%. If you had a pure sugar wort (it wouldn't be wort anymore), it could potentially ferment down to around 0.990, which would offset the higher gravity left by the more complex sugars.

 

[afr0byte]

10% sugar can lower your FG by about 2 points. The reason: Maltferments about 80%, while plain sugar can ferment 110%. If you had a pure sugar wort (it wouldn't be wort anymore), it could potentially ferment down to around 0.990, which would offset the higher gravity left by the more complex sugars.

That 110% is of course apparent attenuation. We don't violate the laws of thermodynamics/etc.

 

[Wilbergrowsalot]

I forgot to mention that just prior to my second pitch I added 2.5lbs of LME along with 1/3 gallon of water. After talking to my LHBS, they seem to think that this act would increase my OG and most likely my brew is finished. They guesstimated that doing this could have increased my OG from 1.080 up to 1.095 or even 1.100. My fermentable include 8lbs LME, 1lb DME, 1lbs Candi Sugar, and a total of 4oz of honey. I had very strong blow off's from the two pitches I have done and the honey is not detectable at all now. Thanks to everyone for the great info!

 

[ACbrewer]

Well without checking the math of the added sugars, assuiming you had 1.100 and are now at 1.020, that should be about 10% abv or a little more. Is it finished? See prior discussions about where the apparent attenuation of a malt/sugar mix above- I'm not sure if it is done or not.

 

[Calder]

2.5 lbs of LME in 5 gallons will increase the effective OG by 0.018.

Why did you pitch a second lot of yeast. Seems like a complete waste of good yeast.

 

[Wilbergrowsalot]

The first yeast I used was close to expiration and I was afraid of little germ since the blow off was week