Belgian Tripel Belgian Trippel (2006 World Beer Cup Gold Medal: Dragonmead Final Absolution clone)

[loubie]

I'm going to open another one today to see if it has built up any carbonation. I used tasty brew too and got 3.2 oz. for 4.5 gallon which is right for a Belgian Tripel. I think this is about the same ratio you have. I know I did everything right and the brew fermentation was vigorous. The banana smell was excellent! 4 weeks fermentation and now 4 weeks in the bottle. I'll let you know today if things have improved.

 

[loubie]

First, sorry I didn't post yesterday. Okay, good news! I got a little "schtttt". When I opened this one and a quarter inch head. 4 weeks in the bottle. Just like others have said, we just need to be patient as it is slow to build carbonation! I'll wait another few weeks and I think it will be better.

 

[SoCalMark]

First, sorry I didn't post yesterday. Okay, good news! I got a little "schtttt". When I opened this one and a quarter inch head. 4 weeks in the bottle. Just like others have said, we just need to be patient as it is slow to build carbonation! I'll wait another few weeks and I think it will be better.

OK that makes me feel better. Decided to wait until early next week to give it a few more days in secondary and will then prime based on the Tasty Brew numbers. Thanks for the input!:rockin:

 

[davekippen]

This =>

 

[sockmerchant]

Conjured up a brew today (midway through boil right now) that looks very similar to that of the OP Slightly lower ABV though. Should turns out well

30 Pieces of Silver (Belgian Golden Strong Ale)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.072 (°P): 17.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol (ABV): 7.94 %
Colour (SRM): 11.4 (EBC): 22.5
Bitterness (IBU): 30.9 (Average)

71.43% Pilsner
14.29% Munich I
7.14% Candi Sugar, Amber
7.14% Cane Sugar

1 g/L Styrian Golding (4.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1 g/L Tettnanger (4.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.2 g/L Saaz (3.6% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil)
1.2 g/L Saaz (3.6% Alpha) @ 0 Minutes (Boil)

0.1 g/L Koppafloc @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
Yeast Nutrient

Single step Infusion at 65°C for 90 Minutes. Boil for 90 Minutes

Fermented at 20°C with WLP545 - Belgian Strong Ale


Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[cheesemoney]

Recipe is wrong. The real recipe uses the saaz hops in all 3 phases, also the amber dme needs to be removed. I got this from Bill Wrobel, he is one of the owners:

"Ditch the amber. Make all three hop additions Saaz. That’ll get you as close as you can. We use all pilsen grain and all saaz hops. That yeast is good or use Belgian Strong. Let me know how it tastes. Watch fermentation temps. Don’t go over 68 degrees."

I'm surprised that I haven't seen anyone respond to this. Has anyone made this with all Saaz hops? I believe that they have the lowest AA rating--would need to add another .5 oz or so?

I'm not sure how many IBU's we are targeting here.

Unrelated, I'm gonna try to make up some inverted syrup to use in place of the Belgian candi syrup (cause $15 on sugar per 6 gallons gets pricey). I'm curious how table sugar, corn syrup, honey, and other sweeteners have turned out for those that have substituted for the more expensive belgian stuff.

I want to boost the alcohol content to around 10% or so, I'm wondering about the following scenarios:
1) Boost Pilsen LME from 10 to 12 lbs and keep 1.5 lbs syrup
2) Use 1 lb table sugar and 1 lb candi syrup (save 7$).
3) Use all table sugar/corn syrup (cheap, should be stronger than candi syrup?)

Thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[daniel_conklin]

I put in 2.5# of table sugar and got my ABV to 9.6%. Havent tried it yet as it is still carbing but the sample tasted great!

 

[JBounce]

I want to boost the alcohol content to around 10% or so, I'm wondering about the following scenarios:
1) Boost Pilsen LME from 10 to 12 lbs and keep 1.5 lbs syrup
2) Use 1 lb table sugar and 1 lb candi syrup (save 7$).
3) Use all table sugar/corn syrup (cheap, should be stronger than candi syrup?)

Thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

I'm with you on upping the abv. I made mine with the all grain and added close to two pounds of candi sugar. Its almost ready to be kegged. Why not just turn your table sugar into candi? It costs the price of a half a lemon, some water, and 30 min of your time.

As far as the hop discrepancy, I can't say much except that I used the hops that were originally described.

 

[cheesemoney]

^ I presume you are talking about the candi syrup? If so, I'm gonna take a stab at it, seems like people get mixed results and though it doesn't sound that hard, it's new to me. There are so many ways that people make the invert syrup--lime, pickling stuff, yeast nutrient, lemon extract, lemon, etc, and so many people seem to get different results.

I understand that darker inverts are used for coloration as well as flavoring. I'm curious if the lighter syrups offer significant flavor benefits.

 

[JBounce]

I have only been brewing for about a year and have never had to use candi sugar until this recipe. When I went to the LBHS and saw the price of it I just about crapped my pants. This is the site I used to learn how to make it:

http://sciencebrewer.com/2010/04/10/homemade-belgian-candi-sugar/

It was extremely easy and straight forward for me. This made the solid kind not the syrup (although a quick google search will give you recipes for the syrup), but I just boiled it in a little water to sanitize and dissolve it and added once the airlock was bubbling away.

As far as how close it is to the real deal I can't say. If anything, it makes me feel better about myself because I didn't add just table sugar.

As far as darkness and all of that, I probably know just about as much as you do. I went with a nice amber caramel color and called it good. I assume the light colors don't add much flavor and the darker you go the more caramel/burnt flavors you get (someone else should confirm that though).

 

[techcwby]

Just a general note for the group - I've been lurking on HBT for the better part of two years and use it as my main source for recipes and advice. I made recipe this as my 12th or 13th batch of homebrew and was blown away. Anyone on the fence on whether or not to brew this, f'n go for it. It's delicious. In fact, I swung by my LHBS this afternoon to brew another 6 gal of it. Thanks HuRRiC4Ne!

 

[cheesemoney]

Really looking forward to this and will brew this Sunday if I can get my chest freezer temperature control finished.

A question for those brewing a 6 gallon batch in a small pot: Say I can only boil 3.5 gallons of water in my beer kettle (5 gallon max and my gas burner doesn't exactly get a strong boil going). I'm worrying about the gravity of the wort while boiling interfering with hop utilization. Should I add half the extract at the beginning with some (~30%) of the finishing hops (in hot-but-not boiling water) in order to keep this from getting too sweet? Add the rest of the extract near the end of the boil? FWIW I was planning on going with 12lbs of LME instead of the 10 called for in the recipe.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[HeuristicsInc]

I read some about that technique in the Brewing Classic Styles book and tried it out on two brews. It turned out well, but I never did an A/B comparison of beers done both ways. I'm not sure how to plug that into BrewSmith to see how it theoretically changes the beer. Maybe somebody else does...

In other news, I tried a bottle of this after it was bottled for two weeks - not very carbonated yet. Tasted good, though.
-bill

 

[mistercameron]

I just got results back from this recipe at the QUAFF home brew comp in San Diego... 31.5.

The biggest dings to flavor and overall points was warm alcohol, which I knew would've a problem going into it. There was brief mention of a slight astringency that I haven't quite noticed on my own. Otherwise the judges seemed to enjoy the spice and citrus but differed on their opinions of style.

I have a temp controlled fermenter, so I know my temps were fine. Perhaps I didn't pitch *enough* of a starter. I also later found out my tap water is pretty alkaline (over 8 pH), which can cause a host of problems on lighter beers (namely astringency and head retention... Two of the problems in this batch).

So, not too bad for my first comp on not my best beer. I thought maybe I would score a little higher, but ill take it as a good learning experience.

 

[cheesemoney]

How big of a starter did you pitch? I'm trying to make this with an OG of 1.090 (adding a little sugar and 2 lbs extra lme) and even with a stir plate, a 2L starter with 70% yeast viability doesn't get me to the 350 billion cell count that I'm supposed to be hitting, according to Mr. Malty (though it's just fine according to the yeastcalc.com K Troester aeration/stir setting). Making a 6 gallon batch for what it's worth.

Do I need to add an extra vial of yeast to me 2L starter?

 

[joe21]

How big of a starter did you pitch? I'm trying to make this with an OG of 1.090 (adding a little sugar and 2 lbs extra lme) and even with a stir plate, a 2L starter with 70% yeast viability doesn't get me to the 350 billion cell count that I'm supposed to be hitting, according to Mr. Malty (though it's just fine according to the yeastcalc.com K Troester aeration/stir setting). Making a 6 gallon batch for what it's worth.

Do I need to add an extra vial of yeast to me 2L starter?

I used 1 smack pack of wyeast Belgian abbey in a 2L starter using the "shake method.". I had an OG of 1.090 ( I was aiming for 1.085 but messed up on my measurements of LME). I did a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 ale pale and within 24 hours it had blown the fermentation lock and the top of the bucket open! I had to rig up a blowoff tube. After 9 days I'm at 1.014.

So, in my opinion a 2L works pretty well. I had planned on stepping up my 2L to a 4L starter but the yeast wasn't flocculant. After 48 hours in the fridge I still couldn't decant it because it was still so cloudy and just decided to go with the 2L.

 

[chavatj]

do I add my beet sugar at the first minute of boiling? (60 minutes)

 

[harmenbor]

Belgian is my favorite style. I will start brewing soon, getting my equipment together now. Then, as Arnold says, "I'll be back.

What wrong wid da beer we got?

"

 

[davekippen]

I forgot I have a sh*t load of these in the basement! I need to throw a 6 pack in the fridge. Its been a few months since Ive had one. They are probably about 8 months old now. Should be finding their groove?

 

[pabloj13]

I just got results back from this recipe at the QUAFF home brew comp in San Diego... 31.5.

The biggest dings to flavor and overall points was warm alcohol, which I knew would've a problem going into it. There was brief mention of a slight astringency that I haven't quite noticed on my own. Otherwise the judges seemed to enjoy the spice and citrus but differed on their opinions of style.

I have a temp controlled fermenter, so I know my temps were fine. Perhaps I didn't pitch *enough* of a starter. I also later found out my tap water is pretty alkaline (over 8 pH), which can cause a host of problems on lighter beers (namely astringency and head retention... Two of the problems in this batch).

So, not too bad for my first comp on not my best beer. I thought maybe I would score a little higher, but ill take it as a good learning experience.

Did you do all grain?

 

[mistercameron]

Did you do all grain?

Yes.

 

[pabloj13]

Yes.

I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?

 

[mistercameron]

I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?

I do, but ill have to dig it out later. I punched the numbers into the EZ water calc spreadsheet and the estimated mash pH was still pretty high - we have very alkaline water, AFAIK.

 

[mistercameron]

I was asking because the pH of your water is pretty meaningless. It has almost no effect on mash pH. It's the residual alkalinity that you need to figure out. Do you have the rest of your water report?

Found it .... faster than I thought:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/san-diego-ca-water-profile-165946/#post4215748

This is the most recent they've given us. I don't expect 2012 numbers to be out just yet.

 

[nakeesdad]

Let me start of by saying, this recipe is simple to make. I converted over to extracts to save on prep time. I wanted something simple that most can make. The Belgian is going to be a clone of a 2006 Gold Medal winner in the World Beer cup in 2006 (Dragonmead Final Absolution). I was lucky enough to get the recipe. I converted the recipe over to LME and DME. I made a few changes to it also. I changed the 60mins hops from Hallertauer Mittelfruh to German Hallertau and used DME amber instead of munich malt. I didn't use a starter either, I opted for using two vials of WLP500 instead (so i wouldn't have to wait). I regret not making a starter though, because It took 24 hours before it took off. I had to stir it up a little bit then it started fermenting instantly.

Let me know what you guys think? I'm dabating on adding another 3.3lbs of Pilsner light LME to get around 10%. But I'm not sure how the the final gravity will end up at. I heard some people with attenuation of around 85%. I figure if i get 77% then this will be 8.2%. The recipe is supposed to be 8.5%. I think I just may leave this alone and see how it comes out then go from there. I will keep everyone updated on how it comes out.

Day 5: It has a very nice smell of a light banana, fruit hints with some spice! WOW, can't wait until this is done!
Day 6: Took hydro reading of 1.020 (thats 8% after 6 days) Smells very good! Has the look and consistancy of a Belgian but it's cloudy (but that's expected), has a very nice yellow color. I'm waiting until day 10 to 14 to rack into secondary.
Day 10: 1.016 gravity, going to give it a few more days before i rack it into the secondary.
Day 16: Reracked into secondary, 1.016 gravity still.
Day 32: Kegged it!!!! same gravity and all I can say is WOWWWWW
Here is a video review of the beer i'm cloning:

Extract:
3 x 3.3lbs Pilsner Light malt extract LME
1 x 1lbs Amber DME
1 x 1.5lbs Belgian Candy
12.4 total pounds of fermentables

Hops: (IBU came out at 23 but you can range from 20 to 25)
2 oz. German Hallertau 3.8%AA 60min
1 oz. Styrian Goldings 3.4% AA 30min
1 oz. Saaz 2.8% AA 3min

Yeast:
2 x WLP500 Trappist Ale Yeast

This beer is one of my favorites and I can't wait until it is finished. I have a couple of questions:

-I know that I must have read this somewhere on this thread but I used a starter as was suggested (2 cups DME to 4 cups water). Should I have used 1 vial of yeast or 2 (I used one).

-Also, I am equipped to brew 5 gal. batches so that is what I did here. My OG was 1.14 which I know is way too high. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this at this point or is this just destined to be a really strong beer? I just brewed today.

 

[pabloj13]

I do, but ill have to dig it out later. I punched the numbers into the EZ water calc spreadsheet and the estimated mash pH was still pretty high - we have very alkaline water, AFAIK.

Gotcha. Yeah, punching that into Bru'N water gives you a mash pH of 5.6. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just going off of strike water pH. So what would you do next time, add some acid malt or some acids to the water?

 

[mistercameron]

Gotcha. Yeah, punching that into Bru'N water gives you a mash pH of 5.6. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just going off of strike water pH. So what would you do next time, add some acid malt or some acids to the water?

I was going to start with the easiest route - 5.2 stabilizer from 5-star. It was several weeks ago that I looked at the spreadsheet, but I seem to remember the mash pH was well over 6. Given the mineral content of our water, I'm hesitant to try other additions because we're already "up there" on the key ones. I think my best bet would be straight acid (muratic?), but the spreadsheet doesn't have that in its calculations.

 

[pabloj13]

I was going to start with the easiest route - 5.2 stabilizer from 5-star. It was several weeks ago that I looked at the spreadsheet, but I seem to remember the mash pH was well over 6. Given the mineral content of our water, I'm hesitant to try other additions because we're already "up there" on the key ones. I think my best bet would be straight acid (muratic?), but the spreadsheet doesn't have that in its calculations.

I would avoid that. It is a crappy buffer and it adds a ton of sodium. Bru'N water has a section for acid additions. Alternatively you could cut your water with some RO water. That pH5.2 stuff is junk.

 

[mike_in_ak]

I would avoid that. It is a crappy buffer and it adds a ton of sodium. Bru'N water has a section for acid additions. Alternatively you could cut your water with some RO water. That pH5.2 stuff is junk.

I bought 5.2 stabilizer after seeing people post on it a couple of times. Seemed like magic powder!

Brought it home, used the internets to figure out how to use it, and surprise: everyone hates it. Evidently there is no such thing as magic powder.

Never ended up using it. Not going to risk a batch or precious beer.

 

[cheesemoney]

I was going to add an extra 2 lbs of LME to this--I have 12 lbs on hand but I'm worried about a high final gravity. I wanted to up the ABV% to around 9.5-10% or so. 2lbs LME ups the ABV about 1% and the FG to from about (1.016 original recipe) to about 1.018 per my calcs. Anyone think it's a better idea to just add more sugar/candi and save the 2 extra lbs of LME for my next brew?