Have question(s) about my Tripel recipe. Suggestions Welcomed!

[BigRob90]

Triton's Tripel

Grain bill:

10lbs Pilsner 2-row
2lbs Candi Sugar, clear
1lbs Wheat, Belgian
1lbs Caravienne

Hops:

1.0oz Magnum@60
0.5oz Saaz@20
0.5oz Saaz@5

Yeast:

Belgian Ale WLP550

Any suggestions or thoughts on this? Could really use the feed back. Also, how long should I let this age for? I've heard that 6 months is good but up to a year would be great for aging Tripel's. Do I leave it in the secondary for 6-12months or in bottles for that long?

 

[Nateo]

I wouldn't put any Cara-type malts in a Tripel, but that's me. I would just bottle it like you would a normal beer, though some amount of aging will help it.

 

[rhamilton]

My standard formula is 15%-20% sugar and 5% 'wildcard' malt. I'd go either Caravienne OR wheat, but not both. Just my 2 cents.

You can bulk age in secondary but I get nervous about infections so I like to age in bottles. And having a fermenter tied up for months sucks.

 

[Nateo]

I'd keep the wheat. I like a dense, rocky head in my Belgian styles.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

The candi sugar could easily be replaced with much cheaper table sugar or corn sugar.

 

[beergolf]

I would drop the Carvienne.

Without plugging the recipe into brew software I am guessing you are pretty good with the hops. Aim for a BU:GU ratio of .38

I usually keep them in the primary for about 6 weeks and then bottle age for a few months. They will continue to change with time.

 

[bnilguy]

Drop the Caravienne, use table sugar. I kept in the primary for a couple weeks, secondary about a month and then bottled. Next time I'll probably primary for 3 and then bottle and wait.

The latest issue of BYO has a nice write up on Triples. All the previous advice is in line with the article

 

[BigRob90]

Great, thanks for your help guys! Defiantly going to change the recipe up (losing the Caravienne and substituting the candi sugar with table sugar) and read that article about Triples that BYO has.

Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[beergolf]

The latest issue of BYO has a nice write up on Triples. All the previous advice is in line with the article

I forgot about that. I have that issue sitting on my coffee table. Some good info in that article.

Also if you are interested in Belgian beers, definitely pick up a copy of Brew Like a Monk. Lots of great info in there. I refer to it often.

 

[Nateo]

Interesting experiment with some different sugars. I'm not saying it's 100% definitive, but food for thought: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/03/pale-belgian-sugar-experiment-tasting.html

I usually use dextrose, since I got a good deal on a 50lb bag at my LHBS. I never noticed a difference between it and table sugar, but Mike (above) did.

I read an interview somewhere with a brewer from Avery who said they use Turbinado in all their big Belgians. This was a few years ago so I'm not sure if that's still the case. He said it costs way more than table sugar, but they felt it was worth it.

 

[BigRob90]

Interesting experiment with some different sugars. I'm not saying it's 100% definitive, but food for thought: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/03/pale-belgian-sugar-experiment-tasting.html

Looks like Table sugar has the most flavor. Very interesting read on how the different sugars effect the beer. Thanks for that!

Rob

 

[BigRob90]

Is this looking better? Pretty much completely changed the recipe:

10lbs Pilsner 2-row
1lbs Belgian Wheat
0.25lbs Aromatic Malt
1.5lbs Table Sugar

1.5 Styrain Goldings@ 60
Whirfloc tablet @15
0.5 Styrain Goldings@ 5
.25 Saaz dry hop 1 week