Excited about my Tripel

[mthelm85]

So I just bottled my first Tripel that I've been lagering for 3+ weeks at 46 degrees and I'm pretty damn excited about what I tasted. It has a citrusy, fruity, almost white wine-like characteristic to it and a soft hint of spicy phenolics in the background. I can't wait until this thing carbs up and ages a bit to see what it's going to taste like. It doesn't taste like a Westmalle yet, which is what I was hoping for but, nevertheless, it's incredibly complex and delicious. Like most of my beers though, I'll probably end up drinking half of it before it's in its prime lol. Here's the (very simple) recipe:

Malt:

10 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen (36 ppg, 1.7 SRM) - 77%
1 lb. Weyermann Carafoam (32 ppg, 1.8 SRM) - 8%

Candi Syrup (add w/ 10 mins. left in boil):

2 lbs. Simplicity Candi Syrup (32 ppg, 1 SRM) - 15%

Hops:

2 oz. Tettnang (3.7% AA) 60 mins.
1 oz. Styrian Goldings (3.8% AA) 27 mins.
1 oz. Czech Saaz (3% AA) 5 mins.

Fermented w/ Wyeast 3787 for 2 weeks. Had the biggest, longest-lasting krausen I've ever experienced (and I've used this yeast before). There was still a thin layer of krausen after two weeks when I transferred to secondary to begin lagering. The 33% recommended head space wasn't enough. I would have needed 50% to avoid a blow-off tube.

Started at 68 degrees then let it rise to 72 degrees. OG was 1.071 and FG was 1.010 or 86% attenuation (8.4% ABV) Mashed at 151 degrees for 1 hour.

I added enough priming sugar to get 3.4 volumes of CO2, let's hope my bottles hold! I've carbed to 3 volumes in the past w/ no issues so we'll see. I'm freakin' pumped! If I get a final product that is even comparable to a Westmalle I'll be thrilled. It's just my personal preference but I consider Westmalle Tripel and Westmalle Dubbel to be two of the finest beers on the face of the earth and have just recently decided that my goal in life is to make a tripel and a dubbel that are as good as those from Westmalle lol

 

[beergolf]

That looks good....I am getting ready to brew something very similar as soon. as my fermenter frees up.

3787 will age out nicely. I am amazed what some age does to this yeast. It has become my favorite Belgian strain.

Definitely hide a few bottles to age.

 

[mthelm85]

That looks good....I am getting ready to brew something very similar as soon. as my fermenter frees up.

3787 will age out nicely. I am amazed what some age does to this yeast. It has become my favorite Belgian strain.

Definitely hide a few bottles to age.

According to Brew Like a Monk, 3787 is a descendant of the yeast used at Westmalle and I absolutely love it. I attempted to brew a Dubbel with it but it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to due to a sharp, unexpected drop in efficiency that day (I've since switched to Best Malz Pilsen for any pilsner-based recipes) as well as a flawed recipe formulation (my fault). I didn't have any DME on hand to correct the OG so I decided just to call it a Belgian Brown Ale. It was a very good beer that displayed the complexity of the 3787 very well and I will brew it again some day; it just didn't meet the description of a dubbel and it wasn't what I was aiming to brew. I'll probably brew something that will finish quickly next weekend that I can drink while I'm aging my tripel and then I'll have another shot at the dubbel.

 

[mthelm85]

That looks good....I am getting ready to brew something very similar as soon. as my fermenter frees up.

3787 will age out nicely. I am amazed what some age does to this yeast. It has become my favorite Belgian strain.

Definitely hide a few bottles to age.

If you don't mind, post your Tripel recipe here so I can check it out and I'll post updates of how mine turned out in a couple of weeks when it's carbed up and again (hopefully) in a few months once it has had some time to mature.

 

[beergolf]

If you don't mind, post your Tripel recipe here so I can check it out and I'll post updates of how mine turned out in a couple of weeks when it's carbed up and again (hopefully) in a few months once it has had some time to mature.

Mine is almost identical except I use Munich (15%) instead of the carafoam you used. I shoot for an OG of 1.080. I mash at 149.

Hops are basically the same but I just use Styrian Goldings and Saaz. 30 IBU total. 20 IBU's at 60 and 9 IBU's at 30, and 1 at 5.

Simplicity (15%) is added after fermentation slows, usually abou4-5 days.

I like to pitch in the low 60's and then slowly let the temp get up to the mid 70's.

 

[mthelm85]

Mine is almost identical except I use Munich (15%) instead of the carafoam you used. I shoot for an OG of 1.080. I mash at 149.

Hops are basically the same but I just use Styrian Goldings and Saaz. 30 IBU total. 20 IBU's at 60 and 9 IBU's at 30, and 1 at 5.

Simplicity (15%) is added after fermentation slows, usually abou4-5 days.

I like to pitch in the low 60's and then slowly let the temp get up to the mid 70's.

Cool, have you made that recipe before or will it be the first time?

 

[beergolf]

Cool, have you made that recipe before or will it be the first time?

It is a work in progress. I made almost the same recipe a couple of times, but just used regular sugar or turbinado. Both turned out great. The grain bill is solid.

I have used Simplicity in two other brews and it adds a subtle flavor that is hard to describe. A little sweet a little lemon. My thought is that the Candi syrup will finally make a good brew even better. I have used Simplicity in a Saison and it really made the brew.

 

[QueenCityALER]

Seems like you have yourself a gem. You will really love yourself if you let at least a few of those bottles age out as our buddy mentioned. I am a bit of a Trappist/Abbey Belgian beer lover myself. A LOT can be learned by attempting these beers, as to get them right it takes attention to detail in every aspect of your brewing, and is a rich reward to quaff one of your own that tastes authentic. So props to your seemingly soon to be tasted success. I'll post or PM you my recipe for my "Iron Cross Dubbel". It was a favorite among my friends and myself included.
I find it wicked cool that Westmalle helps out other struggling monasteries, and provides brewing support to both Westvleteren and Achel.
Anyways, from one Belgian lover to the other... WAY TO GO!!!!!

 

[mthelm85]

Seems like you have yourself a gem. You will really love yourself if you let at least a few of those bottles age out as our buddy mentioned. I am a bit of a Trappist/Abbey Belgian beer lover myself. A LOT can be learned by attempting these beers, as to get them right it takes attention to detail in every aspect of your brewing, and is a rich reward to quaff one of your own that tastes authentic. So props to your seemingly soon to be tasted success. I'll post or PM you my recipe for my "Iron Cross Dubbel". It was a favorite among my friends and myself included.
I find it wicked cool that Westmalle helps out other struggling monasteries, and provides brewing support to both Westvleteren and Achel.
Anyways, from one Belgian lover to the other... WAY TO GO!!!!!

Definitely post your dubbel recipe. Here's what I plan to do:

Malt:

8 lbs. Best Malz Pilsen (36 ppg, 1.6 SRM) - 76%
.75 lbs. Special B (30 ppg, 150 SRM) - 7%
.75 lbs. Belgian Aromatic (35 ppg, 19 SRM) - 7%

Candi Syrup:

1 lb. D-180 (32 ppg, 180 SRM) - 10%

Hops:

1.4 oz. Tettnang (3.7% AA) 60 mins.
.75 oz. Styrian Goldings (3.8% AA) 15 mins.
.25 oz. Czech Saaz (3% AA) 5 mins.

I'm aiming for an OG of 1.063, 23 IBU's, BU/GU: 0.36, 25 SRM, hoping for at least 80% attenuation or FG of 1.011 - 1.013 (roughly 7% ABV). Mash at 152, pitch 3787 at 64 degrees, let rise to 70 or so, then lager for 3 weeks at around 46 degrees once stable FG is reached. Add fresh yeast at bottling time, store it in my mini warm room until it's carbed and hopefully I'll have a Westmalle-esque Dubbel.

The first time I tried to brew this my recipe was a little different and I didn't get my normal efficiency so I've tweaked the recipe. I've had enough bottles of Westmalle Dubbel to know that it's definitely more than 17 SRM (the max SRM for a dubbel according to BJCP style guidelines) so this time I'm saying the hell with the style guidelines, I want to make something as close to Westmalle Dubbel as possible. It will probably be another month before I brew this but I'll definitely be posting about it once it's ready.

 

[beergolf]

) so this time I'm saying the hell with the style guidelines, I want to make something as close to Westmalle Dubbel as possible. It will probably be another month before I brew this but I'll definitely be posting about it once it's ready.

A lot a of Belgian brews actually fall out of BJCP guidelines.

We must think alike, because I just finished bottling a brew about an hour ago that has an OG of a Dubbel but is very dark because I used 2 lbs. D-180. Tastes great already, can't wait to see how it ages out. I am drinking a glass of uncarbed beer right now.

 

[mthelm85]

UPDATE: So it's been a month now and the beer tastes great but I need to figure out how to squeeze more esters/phenolics out of my yeast. They dominate the flavor of the beer but I want them to be even more pronounced. I don't know if I need to get an O2 tank and then pitch a little less or what but I'll have to figure it out!