BYOs westmalle pointers please

[rockdemon]

A while back i attempted the BYO recipe for westmalle tripel. Now, 6 weeks after bottling im trying one out. The taste is there but:
- the color is brown instead of blonde
- not alot of carbonation and no head retention whatsoever.
- i want some more yeast esters. (Next time ill have the fermentation at room temp right away)
I want to give the recipe another go but want to figure out what i did wrong first. The wort was light colored until after the boil. This happens to me all the time. And im using a stove so its just barely boiling. And i use all grain biab.

 

[Kee]

https://byo.com/belgian-strong-ale/item/1744-westmalle-abbey-tripel-clone

Is this is the recipe you are referring to? Change to Pilsener malt for a lighter color.
Higher gravity beer can take longer to carbonate. How much priming sugar did you use?
Sometimes the ester profile improves with aging. Don't give up on it yet. What yeast did you use? Maybe I missed it but I did not see a specific yeast referred to on the webpage.

 

[rockdemon]

https://byo.com/belgian-strong-ale/item/1744-westmalle-abbey-tripel-clone

Is this is the recipe you are referring to? Change to Pilsener malt for a lighter color.
Higher gravity beer can take longer to carbonate. How much priming sugar did you use?
Sometimes the ester profile improves with aging. Don't give up on it yet. What yeast did you use? Maybe I missed it but I did not see a specific yeast referred to on the webpage.

I used the wyeast high gravity yeast. The wetmalle strain. Its that recipe that you linked. I used 2.5 co2 (brewersfriend.com). This is the color of my clone:


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[rockdemon]

The clarity is hard to achieve. I cant filter my beer nor can i lager it. But the light color and head would be nice


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[Kee]

Use close to 100% Pilsener as the grain base and one Whirlfloc tablet in the last 15 minutes of the boil and you will get that clarity.

I am still trying to get more spice from various Belgian yeast. As Stan Hieronymus says in Brew Like a Monk (referring to tripels in general) "most brewers will be better off with mostly Pilsener malts-supplemented with a very small amount of Munich or a bit of lighter colored caramel-and experimenting with spices, hopping, or fermentation regimen."

Hopefully time will help with the carbonation and esters. I usually shoot for 3.5 volumes, but Belgian bottles and careful measurements are needed.

There are a lot of threads (and puns) about head retention but my glass is usually empty before I can judge that.

 

[rockdemon]

Use close to 100% Pilsener as the grain base and one Whirlfloc tablet in the last 15 minutes of the boil and you will get that clarity.

I am still trying to get more spice from various Belgian yeast. As Stan Hieronymus says in Brew Like a Monk (referring to tripels in general) "most brewers will be better off with mostly Pilsener malts-supplemented with a very small amount of Munich or a bit of lighter colored caramel-and experimenting with spices, hopping, or fermentation regimen."

Hopefully time will help with the carbonation and esters. I usually shoot for 3.5 volumes, but Belgian bottles and careful measurements are needed.

There are a lot of threads (and puns) about head retention but my glass is usually empty before I can judge that.

I didnt really notice it myself until a friend told me last weekend that my beers have alot of burned/ caramelized sugar taste. Could the reason for why my beers are dark be that i somehow burn it during the boil? I use my stove for boiling so i dont understand how it gets burned? After mashing its not dark. But after the boil it is brownish

 

[GuldTuborg]

How confident are you in your mash pH? Do you have a meter? One explanation is your mash pH is too high, and the wort is "browning" because of that.

Even if you don't have a meter, use a good spreadsheet and get an estimation. You might need a bit of acid malt or acid additions to the mash/kettle.

 

[rockdemon]

How confident are you in your mash pH? Do you have a meter? One explanation is your mash pH is too high, and the wort is "browning" because of that.

Even if you don't have a meter, use a good spreadsheet and get an estimation. You might need a bit of acid malt or acid additions to the mash/kettle.

I have no idea about the ph. Havent gotten to the water side of brewing. What stuff do i need for that? I guess i need to measure and also have something to change the ph with?



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[NTexBrewer]

Which recipe did you follow?

Partial Mash, All Grain or Extract.

I would add the sugar at flameout. If you follow the recipe you are boiling the sugar for 90 minutes which will affect the color. Long boils also affect the color if you are using LME.

I also don't agree with the recipe telling you to prime with DME and condition at 45 to 50 degrees. I think this is too cold. I would prime with dextrose or beet sugar and keep the temperature around 70 for 2 to 3 weeks until you know they are carbonated. Then age them at a cooler temperature.

 

[rockdemon]

Which recipe did you follow?



Partial Mash, All Grain or Extract.



I would add the sugar at flameout. If you follow the recipe you are boiling the sugar for 90 minutes which will affect the color. Long boils also affect the color if you are using LME.



I also don't agree with the recipe telling you to prime with DME and condition at 45 to 50 degrees. I think this is too cold. I would prime with dextrose or beet sugar and keep the temperature around 70 for 2 to 3 weeks until you know they are carbonated. Then age them at a cooler temperature.

I followed the partial mash recipe. I primed with table simugar and bottle conditioned it at room temp. Ive only tried two bottles of it and im thinking of pouring it all out except maybe 2-3 bottles to see what happens in a couple of months.
Im fermenting a saison right now and with that one i added the sugar right down the fermenter during hi krausen. I boiled it in a cup of water, cooled it and poured it in.

All the breweries I visited in belgium said that they added the aroma hop at flame out, in alot of recipes it says to add it with 5-15 min left. Whats the difference?

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[NTexBrewer]

I would not dump anything yet. Sometimes it can take a long time for things to carbonate.

 

[rmyurick]

Why pour it out? Some of the stronger Belgians have to age a year before they are really good. The color might be from the malt extract, but I agree with the idea of using Pilsner malt & adding sugar at the end of the boil. Westmalle yeast is wyeast 3787.

 

[rockdemon]

Why pour it out? Some of the stronger Belgians have to age a year before they are really good. The color might be from the malt extract, but I agree with the idea of using Pilsner malt & adding sugar at the end of the boil. Westmalle yeast is wyeast 3787.

Ive ordered safale yeast for bottle conditioning nad equipment for bottling in champagnebottles so im going to try to pour all the beers into a bucket, add a tiny bit o yeast and bottle it again and see what happens. Either it works or Ill lose my hands due to bigassbottlegrenades