Help with categorization of recipe

[juste86]

Hi,

I am a new all grain brewer, that needs help to categorize my recipe.
I made it up my self with the idea to combine a belgian tripel with a wheat profile. But how whould it be placed within the BJCP Style Guidelines?

volume: 2,6 gallons

Malt
70 oz pilsner malt
52 oz wheat malt
17 oz abbey malt
9 oz beerkit enhancer

boiltime: 60 min

Hops
0,5 oz TnT at 30 min
0,1 at 55 min

Yeast
WLP500 Monastery Ale Yeast

IBU: 31
EBC: 25
OG: 1.082
expected ABV: 8.1

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

First question I would ask is, what is Beerkit Enhancer? Is it just corn sugar to up ABV?

Even with the wheat the beer would still fall within Tripel guidelines as long as it looked and tasted like a tripel. The wheat malt wont contribute so much malt character that it would throw the beer off guidelines, it will improve head retention greatly though. Haze could be an issue, the guidelines suggest "good" clarity, but doesn't say it needs to be crystal clear. Most commercial versions are gonna be a bit hazy anyway since they are bottle conditioned.

 

[Aristotelian]

If I understand EBC, you are a little bit too dark for Tripel. You have a lot of wheat, which will probably give too much haze for the ale categories, but your gravity is too high for a Witbier. Best guess, it will taste identical to a Tripel or Belgian Golden Strong Ale (the guidelines overlap on about every metric) but the appearance will be slightly off. Unless you are entering a competition I would just call it "Belgian House Pale Ale" and don't worry about the BJCP category.

 

[Pinja]

ArkotRamathorn is right. You still get a Tripel.

 

[Pappers_]

If, when the beer is done and you are tasting it, if there is significant wheat character, you may want to look at entering it in Style 31A, Alternative Grain Beer. In the 2015 guidelines, there is a section for brewers and judges on entering specialty beers, its worth reading through.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

If, when the beer is done and you are tasting it, if there is significant wheat character, you may want to look at entering it in Style 31A, Alternative Grain Beer. In the 2015 guidelines, there is a section for brewers and judges on entering specialty beers, its worth reading through.

Definitely spend some time on Pappers suggestion. Theres actually a free app you can download that has all of the 2015 and 2008 BJCP competition guidelines. I read it religiously when working on recipes.

Let taste and sight be your guide. Grab some of the commercial versions listed in the guidelines and taste them to get an idea. I think that amount of wheat will be hidden by the other characteristics of a Belgian Tripel that should be more pronounced in the first place(but again, let your own senses be the guide).

 

[dmtaylor]

Looks like a tasty regular Tripel to me. Only enter in the mixed grain category if it tastes super wheaty. Otherwise it's just a Tripel. Good recipe though, I like it. I've never heard of the TNT hops, had to look that up -- looks interesting. Enjoy!

 

[juste86]

Thank you all for the feedback. I will call it a Belgian Tripel Wheat. When it is ready for tasting I will followup on the result

dmtaylor: TnT is a British hop with 12,9% AA. According to the description it should add explosiv aroma with an intense sweet fruit, red berries and citrus.

ArkotRamathorn: Beerkit enhancer consists of 50% glucose, 50% malt extrakt