Bottling a Belgian Tripel

[michaelm78]

OK I have a bottling question about my first beer that I have aged. I have a Belgian Tripel that sat in the primary for 4 weeks and moved to secondary and has been sitting at 60 F for 4 months. I took a little taste test and it seems to have mellowed out nicely and I'm getting ready to bottle. My questions are
1. DME or Corn Sugar? ( I have the corn sugar on hand)
2. Do I need to add yeast when bottling since it has been aging for 4 months.
I keg everything I've made before, but with this beer coming in at a little over 8% I wanted to bottle, and this way I give some out to friends and family.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I would add yeast, 4 months and 8% alcohol whatever is still floating will not be a very happy camper. I had a cider made with T58 only in secondary for 2 months and the yeast is having a hard time carbonating right now in bottles and the ABV was only around 6.5%. As for DME vs. Corn Sugar, I would just go with corn sugar (I used invert sugar syrup cause I'm cheap). I don't know of any advantages DME would specifically have for carbonating over just using plain sugar/corn sugar.

 

[m00ps]

Corn sugar is the easiest sugar for the yeast to digest, so it may be best in your case if the yeast are tuckered out from the high OG and long fermentation. DME would eb hardest for them to carb from. I dont think you need to add yeast, Ive done beers longer than that in primary that carbed up fine. Just intentionally stir up some trub from the bottom with your siphon

 

[beergolf]

I agree with m00ps on this one. Just use the sugar and you really don't need extra yeast. I never add any, even for brews that have been aging for months.

 

[Derek1985]

Corn sugar is the easiest sugar for the yeast to digest, so it may be best in your case if the yeast are tuckered out from the high OG and long fermentation. DME would eb hardest for them to carb from. I dont think you need to add yeast, Ive done beers longer than that in primary that carbed up fine. Just intentionally stir up some trub from the bottom with your siphon

Agreed. If you were going to condition in the bottle i'd say re-yeast and use plain sugar.

If you just want to carb it up do what m00ps said.

 

[bionut]

Does this type of beer need such a prolonged time in secondary? I made a similar beer, around 9abv, and i bottled after 4 weeks in primary. The bottles are still cloudy after 1 week.

 

[m00ps]

Ive never secondaried a tripel. 4 weeks is normal for me to bottle. Beers taste great after a week or so in the bottle but really start to shine after 6 months or so

 

[michaelm78]

I never bottle any of my beers, but wanted to try to on this one. I thought maybe bulk aging would allow the beer to clear up and mellow out a little before bottling, that's why I wasn't sure if it would need a little more yeast or not.
I'll be moving it to bottles come Thursday, so hopefully everything turns out

 

[michaelm78]

Well got them bottled up, went with sugar and not adding yeast. I remember now why I started kegging, cleaning and sanitising 40 bottles sucks. I'll start checking them soon.
Thanks for everyone's input