Belgian Woes

[djthoms]

Hi everyone, I brewed a Belgian Tripel and it smells like a Belgian but tastes like a Lager. I used this recipe and followed the steps as they are shown. My noob questions are as follows:

1. Why does it taste more like a Lager than a Belgian?
2. Should I have put this batch into secondary? It has a ton of sediment
3. The temperature fluctuated quite a bit during the last four days of the fermentation process. It was initially fermented around 70 degrees. During the last four days it was fermented between 75-85. Would this change the flavor?

Thanks in advance!

 

[riderkb]

High temps at the end will have relatively little effect. If you want it funky, jack up the early temps and hold on to your hat.

 

[beergolf]

L ooking at the recipe and your fermentation schedule it should taste like a tripel. That yeast should taste very Belgiany at those temps.

How long has it been fermenting? When you tasted it was it bottled and fully carbed up? Or did you just taste a sample?

I usually start my Belgian cooler (around 64 degrees)and then after a day or two start ramping them up. Be cautious of the advice that many give about starting them out hot. This is not a good practice and produces fusels that will not age out.

 

[djthoms]

beefgolf, thanks for the reply! I fermented for two weeks. When I tasted the brew it was fully carbed with a lot of sediment down at the bottom. Good advice on the fermenting temp, I will definitely keep that in mind!

I ended up sticking my growler in my deep freezer for 30 minutes and it tasted more like a dubbel than a tripel. From what I read and based on other experiences, it seems like I fermented it at too low of a temp for too long.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

 

[beergolf]

beefgolf, thanks for the reply! I fermented for two weeks. When I tasted the brew it was fully carbed with a lot of sediment down at the bottom. Good advice on the fermenting temp, I will definitely keep that in mind!

I ended up sticking my growler in my deep freezer for 30 minutes and it tasted more like a dubbel than a tripel. From what I read and based on other experiences, it seems like I fermented it at too low of a temp for too long.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

Brewing Belgians is different than brewing most brews. The yeast does take some care to get the proper flavors. Starting cool for a couple of days and then ramping up the temp works great. Also they seem to take much longer for the flavor to fully develop. Think months instead of weeks. I usually wait until at least a couple of months before even tasting them. Tripels do not need as much age, but dubbels and quads like a bit more time to really reach their peak. Those I often do not even taste them until 4 months.

Look at the fermentation schedules and anging recommendations here and it will give you a good insight into brewing Belgians. I have done a few of these recipes and they are very good.

http://www.candisyrup.com/recipes.html