Facepalm! Tripel... = Yellow Dubbel

[superslomo]

Ok, so endeavoring to make a full boil of a tripel extract kit this weekend, not only did I not fully get the candi dissolved (scorched kettle bottom), I also put in too much water to start, underestimating the volume of the fermentables to be added.

Long story short: instead of 5 gallons of 1.073, it's 6 gallons of 1.062. I'm just wondering whether this is going to be wretchedly bad, and/or how to do the aging in comparison to the kit specs?

It instructs going to secondary, but I was thinking about just pushing it 6 weeks plus in the primary fermenter and then bottling...

Any thoughts? Is this just not worth the bother right now?

 

[cheezydemon3]

IT WILL BE FINE!!!!!

You may get a darker brew from the scorching, and a little more caramel, but it will be fine!!!!

 

[superslomo]

Darker from the scorching, lighter and more watery from the excess water... I have to admit quietly that I'm not generally too crazy about crazy powerful brews anyhow, so it might prove preferable...

Dropped a huge bunch of yeast in and it looked fit to blow the lid off of my 7.9 gallon bucket. I had pitched starter from two 1-quart mason jars, plus an added smack pack, and the starters had been started, crashed, and re-started, so the action has been vigorous so far.

 

[NCBeernut]

Sounds like it might be a nice blonde. What yeast are you using?

My Belgian Blonde recipe starts at 1.060, 10 day primary, 5 day secondary. I definitely don't see any need to go over a month in primary.

 

[superslomo]

Yeast is Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity.

I had a smack pack that seemed dead, so I replaced it, at which point the original starter finally showed activity. It took a few days extra, but since I had them both, I threw the added pack in with the two quart original starter... figuring more yeast=better. Doing the same for the dubbel that I'm doing this coming weekend.

Interesting you are not a fan of going longer... the kit instructions from NB for their Dubbel, which is a 1.062 starting gravity, they recommend 1-2 weeks primary, 1 month secondary before bottling.

The Tripel (in original form) specifies 1-2 weeks in primary, then 2 MONTHS in secondary. I'm trying out the "no secondary" thing, as I'm a lazy bastard, but still... 10 days seems shortish.

 

[beergolf]

If you want to up the gravity a little a dry it out some. Just add some sugar after the fermentation slows. I do that a lot with my Belgian brews. I brewed a Belgian on Sunday that I am going to add the sugar tomorrow.

Just boil some sugar in a little water just like making a simple syrup. Then cool it down and drop it in the fermenter. Works great for Belgians.

 

[superslomo]

I don't think I need to bump the alcohol content up, no... I'm happy enough if it's not 10%. Just wondering how I change the fermentation time, and conditioning time...

 

[NCBeernut]

Interesting you are not a fan of going longer... the kit instructions from NB for their Dubbel, which is a 1.062 starting gravity, they recommend 1-2 weeks primary, 1 month secondary before bottling.

The Tripel (in original form) specifies 1-2 weeks in primary, then 2 MONTHS in secondary. I'm trying out the "no secondary" thing, as I'm a lazy bastard, but still... 10 days seems shortish.

I have done a ton of Belgian beers recently. I have noticed I get the best flavors from the yeast when I do a 1-2 week primary, then go to secondary. The time in secondary depends on how the beer tastes when I rack it and how strong it is. I would go longer for a tripel or quad...at least a month in secondary. I would also increase the primary time for a big beer like that by about a week, partly because I step feed large belgian beers with candi syrup.

 

[superslomo]

Hm. With six gallons, even if I wanted to go to secondary, I don't have the carboy to handle that kind of volume. Can I just do a really long primary?

 

[superslomo]

Also, at 1.062, it's really NOT a tripel in terms of real strength given the added volume... so, trying to figure out how to process this frankenbrew.

 

[NCBeernut]

Hm. With six gallons, even if I wanted to go to secondary, I don't have the carboy to handle that kind of volume. Can I just do a really long primary?

Not the same. You don't want to keep your beer on the yeast cake for months. First, you would start to lose some of the fermentation by-products that give Belgian yeasts interesting flavors, then as time went on autolysis could become a problem. Bottom line, if you want to bulk age a beer, it should be done in secondary. If you don't want to buy a better bottle or carboy to do it, then I would just give it about 3-4 weeks in primary and bottle. For a beer with an OG of 1.062, you are well below tripel territory...I would maybe do a 2-3 week primary for that and bottle/keg.

 

[superslomo]

sounds like the plan... I'm happier and more set up to wait for it to mellow in the bottle, carb'ed. Not kegging, so on and so on.

Trying to brew based on conditions, so not crashing, or doing detailed temp control. When the space is in the 70's I'm brewing beers that like that. When it's down in the low 60's, I'll be making Scottish Ales all winter... so three or four weeks, and then bottle... good deal.