brewing a tripel...any advice?

[bperlmu]

So Im brewing a (extract) tripel this sunday and was wondering if anyone out there had any advice or suggestiosn to keep in mind with this style. I just made a big starter for WL530 yeast, and have some yeast nutrients on hand to add to the wort.... anything else? Im excited about this batch, although i know it will take at least a couple months to age to drinkability.... thanks!!!

 

[Professor Frink]

I suggest making your own Belgian Candi sugar, it's quite simple and saves a lot of money.

 

[jdoiv]

Keep an eye on your fermentation temps. Start low (62-64*F) for the first several days and slowly let the temp rise to 72*F for the last part of fermentation. If you raise the temp to soon, the yeast will cause you to overshoot your desired temp and give you a hot alcohol taste.

 

[Madtown Brew]

I suggest making your own Belgian Candi sugar, it's quite simple and saves a lot of money.

If you're gonna buy it though, don't get the rock candi stuff. Try to get either the soft candi sugar, or the sugar syrup.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/sugars.html

Otherwise, you can try to get some unrefined sugars locally, usually they're pretty cheap. I've used turbinado (light unrefined cane sugar), but demerera would probably be nice too. Another interesting one mentioned in "Radical Brewing" by Randy Mosher is jaggery, which is a palm sugar, described as light golden color with buttery, nutty, and fruity aspects. To find these sugars try looking in your local health food stores, or ethnic markets. I've seen some of them at the mexican market nearby, and Trader Joe's has turbinado.

 

[Melana]

My cousin made a tripel that, due to circumstances beyond his control, he had to let age for 2 years... the resulting tripel is incredible!