Brewers Best - Belgian Tripel...too sugary?

[BrownLine]

Hey All,

Just started getting into home brewing and decided to go with the Belgian Tripel kit from Brewers Best just to get grounded with the process. I followed the directions to a 'T', let it ferment in primary for 1 week, secondary for 2 weeks, and in the bottle for 2.5 weeks.

Below is the recipe:
http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1044_Belgian_Tripel.pdf

I tried it for the first time at the 2.5 week mark in the bottles and it tasted rather cidery, very sugary, flat, and more syrup like than I hoped. I'm sure some of this will tweak itself out by waiting longer in the bottle as from what I'm reading belgian tripel's don't reach their peak for some time - I'm just curious if there's any suggestions you all would have in terms of what might have gone wrong, if it might still go right, etc. Not that I have any experience but it felt like a lot of candied sugar being put in the wort - maybe that contributed to it? Just trying to figure out what to change next time...

Thanks!

 

[pwndabear]

Q#1: if you have a hydrometer, did you take any gravity readings?
Contingent Q#1: If so, what were they?

The rule of 123 (primary one week, secondary 2 weeks, bottle 3 weeks) is totally bogus. You may have followed the directions to a T, but we HBT snobs know better than a kit recipe. It sounds to me like it hadnt femented out all the way.

 

[cfonnes]

Have you had other Belgian Tripels to compare? They are usually unbalance towards the malty side, the flavor coming from malt and yeast rather than malt and hops.

 

[BrownLine]

Thats good to know - original was a little high at 1.088, 'finished' at 1.018

Whats the rule of thumb on moving from primary to secondary to bottle then in your opinion?

 

[McGarnigle]

Tripels do tend to take a while to peak.

I'm not sure what to make of 'tastes sugary.' Sugar should ferment out and not taste like sugar. Maybe pwndabear is right about it not fermenting out all the way so it is sweet.

How was your yeast procedure? This kit uses dry Belgian yeast, I assume. Did you aerate your wort a lot? If not, that could cause under-fermentation.

 

[BrownLine]

Yeah - when we added the yeast we definately had stirred it a bit, I feel like it was exposed to oxygen for around 3-5 minutes. It took about 24 hours for it to start bubbling and bubbled rather intensly for 4-5 days and then stopped. Moved it over to the secondary 2-3 days later

 

[Shaneoco1981]

I actually just finished brewing that kit. I intend to let mine sit in Primary for atleast 10 days to 2 weeks and longer in secondary. Hopefully it will turn out nicely. I was very surprised at how dark it is.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Belgians need more time than most beers. Put the bottles away for a few months and then test one here and these. I made the mistake of starting to brew making nothing but Belgians and thought that I was doing something wrong. It was later on that I learned I just wasn’t giving them enough time to ferment and condition. The same beers that I didn’t like 2 years ago and tossed aside are now my most prized possessions in my cellar ageing nicely!

 

[edmanster]

http://www.brewersbestkits.com/pdf/1044_Belgian_Tripel.pdf

Just trying to figure out what to change next time...

I wouldn't add the candi sugar to the boil of the wort.. This will allow the yeast to work on the more complex sugars rather than choking on the simple sugar and pooping out early sometimes. This could be why its a little sweet but I doubt it. I would add it towards the end of fermentation in primary (5 days is what I do).. I usually just throw the candi sugar in and let it desolve in the beer but most boil with a cup of water and cool..