• Please visit and share your knowledge at our sister communities:
  • If you have not, please join our official Homebrewing Facebook Group!

    Homebrewing Facebook Group

JZ's Belgian Tripel question

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I made this recipe several months ago and had a little to high og as well ... I added 1 lb of sugar during the last 15 mins of the boil... Then during fermentation as soon as the bubbling started to slow I added another lb .... Then the last 1/2 lb when the bubbling slowed again.It got all the way to 1.008. The beer came out very drinkable but a little bit of an alcohol bite.I think it could have been better with a little less sugar.... I'd listen to Jamil on that because I think too much sugar is what gave mine a little alcohol bite since I had good temp control during fermentation.

next time do a pre-boil check on your SG, then adjust the gravity for your pre-boil volume before adding the full amount of sugar to the boil.

That recipe doesn't call for dosing of the sugar does it? Brew the recipe how it was intended before making judgements
 
I was also told not to add sucrose directly to fermenting beer. Sucrose needs to be boiled with maltose in order to break down/convert to maltose. Yeast will give off flavors if digested straight sucrose. things like acetaldehyde and fussels can come out. you will get hot flavors and nasty green apple aromas. That is why you do not use sugar to bottle cond your beer. Do not add straight sugar to your fermenting beer.
 
I took water and sugar and made s syrup and added it to the fermenter. This has worked just fine and does not taste green apple.

It is still fermenting, it is down to about 1.026 now (Tastes good, but too sweet of course), I am hoping I can get it down to at least 1.012. It does not taste hot alcohol yet, which is good. I added about 1 pound and 10oz of sugar. If it does not move much in the next few days, I will go ahead and add some more sugar.
 
next time do a pre-boil check on your SG, then adjust the gravity for your pre-boil volume before adding the full amount of sugar to the boil.

That recipe doesn't call for dosing of the sugar does it? Brew the recipe how it was intended before making judgements

I thought I was brewing it exactly per the recipe.... My bcs book calls for 2.5 lbs of sugar and does not specify wether it's for the boil or during fermentation.... So a judgment had to be made.... Also I have heard Jamil go through the benefits of adding the bulk of sugar during fermentation .... Something about letting the yeast eat the more complex sugars first so they don't tire out.Of course I have heard many accounts of success using either method.
 
I forgot to add it during the boil. So I just made a syrup and dumped it into the fermenter. I used 3 packs of yeast for one 6 gallon batch, and a yeast cake for the other 6 gallons. I made sure to use lots of O2 and temps that increased from 68 to 75. Both attenuated from 1.081 to 1.008 in a week. No problems.

No cidery tastes at all, or green apple (acetaldehyde). They both have a bit of tannin flavor (due to my silly effieciency in my current set-up 90%).
 
I forgot to add it during the boil. So I just made a syrup and dumped it into the fermenter. I used 3 packs of yeast for one 6 gallon batch, and a yeast cake for the other 6 gallons. I made sure to use lots of O2 and temps that increased from 68 to 75. Both attenuated from 1.081 to 1.008 in a week. No problems.

No cidery tastes at all, or green apple (acetaldehyde). They both have a bit of tannin flavor (due to my silly effieciency in my current set-up 90%).

I listened to the podcast on the tripel and he talks about either putting it into the boil, at end preferably, but then talks about those who have trouble with their attenuation making a simple syrup as I had described, then dumping all of it at once into the fermenter as the primary starts to slow some.

with using 3 packs of trappist high gravity ale yeast as he instructs you to use, I doubt if anyone would have a tough time reaching 08 terminal gravity adding it to the boil with a 149* saach rest.
 
I listened to the podcast on the tripel and he talks about either putting it into the boil, at end preferably, but then talks about those who have trouble with their attenuation making a simple syrup as I had described, then dumping all of it at once into the fermenter as the primary starts to slow some.

with using 3 packs of yeast as he instructs you to use, I doubt if anyone would have a tough time reaching 08 terminal gravity adding it to the boil with a 149* saach rest.

I would agree. I am not sure why I did what I did, but next time I will just add it to the boil.
 
I was also told not to add sucrose directly to fermenting beer. Sucrose needs to be boiled with maltose in order to break down/convert to maltose. Yeast will give off flavors if digested straight sucrose. things like acetaldehyde and fussels can come out. you will get hot flavors and nasty green apple aromas. That is why you do not use sugar to bottle cond your beer. Do not add straight sugar to your fermenting beer.


Everything you just said is wrong, get newer sources of info.
 
You can use table sugar to bottle condition your beer.

I always add my sugar in the last 15 minutes of the boil; dissolve it in some of the boiling wort on the side and then add it back to the boil. That way it doesn't sink to the bottom of the kettle and burn there.

Mashing at 145-149 F and pitching the the proper amount of yeast (as in a LOT) and you will have no problem getting <1.010 FG.

I like to hold the temp @ 67 F max during the high krauesen and then take it off of temperature control after the krauesen begins to fall. Let it warm up to whatever reasonable temp. to finish off the beer. They will get you drunk.
 
Now that I think back upon it, the source I received the information from is highly credible, however my relaying of the information was not. I was told to not add straight, granulated sugar to the fermentation. The sugar needs to be melted into a syrup. Without breaking the sugar down into a liquid, the yeast stresses trying to eat the straight sugar.

Its not the sucrose itself, its the means in which it is added to the fermentation.
 
Still fermenting...It's was down to 1.015 2 days ago. I will take a reading today and see where we're at.
 
Back
Top