One Year Fermenting, Now What?

[eljefe]

So when you bottle this triple are you going to add yeast and sugar? I think this amazing triple deserves a stay in bottles. I like the idea about champagne bottles. Post a respond when its finished and let us know how it turned out and what you ended up doing.

Four months later, my dilemma remains the same. My pipeline is/has run dry. I am slowly but surely trying to buy and build what I need to move to all grain. As a result, I have not brewed for months.

I am down to one keg (kick my Amarillo IPA from Midwest tonight - I must say it has been my favorite so far). As I look for options in my fridge, I can hear the Belgian calling me to bottle her. The temptation is getting to be too much. I have stock piled champagne bottles and could bottle or keg at a moment’s notice.

To me, this is an incredibly sick marathon where I elected to hold out for two years for no reason and now I am suffering the consequences.

More to come...

 

[Andri]

Wow, I haven't had anything in primarys or secondarys for longer than 1 and a half month.. you're crazy and ... so smart and patient.. I admire it doubt i'll be able to do anything like this

 

[ewtotel]

OK... I must know... how did this turn out? You MUST have drank it by now, no?

I'm getting ready to brew this same recipe this coming weekend, and my plan is to let it secondary for one year, also.

Was it worth it?

 

[tcklord]

Four months later, my dilemma remains the same. My pipeline is/has run dry. I am slowly but surely trying to buy and build what I need to move to all grain. As a result, I have not brewed for months.

I am down to one keg (kick my Amarillo IPA from Midwest tonight - I must say it has been my favorite so far). As I look for options in my fridge, I can hear the Belgian calling me to bottle her. The temptation is getting to be too much. I have stock piled champagne bottles and could bottle or keg at a moment’s notice.

To me, this is an incredibly sick marathon where I elected to hold out for two years for no reason and now I am suffering the consequences.

More to come...

Glad to here the Amarillo IPA is tasty, I've got a batch in primary right now. Have to wait a few more weeks and then keg it up but I'm stoked.

 

[DRoyLenz]

Just found this thread now, and I'm intrigued. This has inspired me to begin thinking about doing the same, put my heart in to a Belgian Tripel and just let it age for a year or so, amass a bunch of Champagne bottles, then have a beautiful treat to keep me through the cold Chicago winter of 2010.

Glad to here the Amarillo IPA is tasty, I've got a batch in primary right now. Have to wait a few more weeks and then keg it up but I'm stoked.

I'm bottling my Amarillo IPA tonight, and I'm really stoked too. I just tasted it last night, and there is no doubt in my mind that this will be the best I've brewed to date.

 

[ewtotel]

Just found this thread now, and I'm intrigued. This has inspired me to begin thinking about doing the same, put my heart in to a Belgian Tripel and just let it age for a year or so, amass a bunch of Champagne bottles, then have a beautiful treat to keep me through the cold Chicago winter of 2010.



I'm bottling my Amarillo IPA tonight, and I'm really stoked too. I just tasted it last night, and there is no doubt in my mind that this will be the best I've brewed to date.

Yeah, it's s pretty exciting prospect, isn't it? I'll be brewing mine this weekend on my birthday, then plan to secondary for eleven months until next august & bottle. If all goes well, I'll have a good ~8% tripel to drink and share next September on my fortieth birthday!

 

[eljefe]

After two years of "fermenting" I have finally kegged my Midwest Belgian Tripel. I force carbonated the beer and just tapped the keg.

Not sure what the extra year bought, but the results are decent.

It definitely tastes like a Belgian beer. It does not have the alcohol overtones of what I find in other Tripels, perhaps because of the age. I am definitely getting a nice buzz so there is something worthwhile in there.

I have read enough posts to realize I may be the only one who tastes this, but I find a subtle and distinctive taste with extract beers (which this was). It could be poor technique that improved over time. However, I taste it in this beer. It is not bad but I can tell it is home brewed.

I am amazed that in the time this beer has sat fermenting:
- I have moved on to kegging and all grain.
- The Steelers won the Superbowl.
- The Penquins won the Stanley Cup.
- I became a member of this site.
- I have watched more curling than I thought possible.
- I successfully filled my basements with unused emtpy beer bottles, fermenting buckets, kegs, carboys, #1 Water cooler jugs, a scarey looking home made wort chiller, 10 gallon igloo coolers, large steel pots, sanitizers galore, and a ton of hoses everywhere.

I think the next two year beer will be an imperial stout. In that time I hope to open a brewery, lose all my money because I opened a brewery, have my house be overtaken with the hops I planted last year, and make many great batches of beer.

 

[Djlunchbox]

nice job!! cheers! i would love to try a beer aged that long. i would be too excited to wait.

 

[FreeM80s]

you sir are my new idol...

 

[BillTheSlink]

I've got one in secondary I have had there for 9 months; I plan to bottle soon, so you have me beat. I might just do a tripple and add it to the up and coming list.

 

[Chuck_Swillery]

Well done! All worth the effort I'm sure.

 

[patrck17]

Wow. Haha. I am way to impatient to try to let a brew go for 2 years. Insane. What about the one you brewed last year? Are you going to tap that too and do a side by side? Those results would be a good contribution to our wealth of knowledge. A comparison of the same beer @ 1 year conditioning vs 2 years. In other news, how is your Karankawa. I am about halfway through the keg and its starting to get where its not green any longer. I like it.

Edit: Oops, I just noticed your sig indicates that the Karankawa is in the primary, not the keg. So disregard previous inquiry.

 

[Rougarou]

You, sir, are amazing. I find myself in awe of your patience.

 

[meddin]

I could never have waited this long. Ever.

 

[PolishLogic]

*insert slow clap here*


Bravo! I really admire your patience. I honestly doubt that I'd be able to go that long.

 

[Corkster]

You sir are either a masochist or a saint. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between the two.

Either way, you have my respect!

 

[coachburke14]

Awesome!!!

 

[eljefe]

I need someone to partner with. I will do another 2 year fermentation, but it would be great to have someone brew the same beer one year after so after 2 years there would be a 1 & 2 year version of the same beer. We would have the logistical problem of sharing 2.5 gallons of beer but that is a minor issue.

 

[Padstack31]

I wouldn't go the forced carb route...that'll give you bigger bubbles in the head

Naturally carb that mother, you'll get a denser head that's made up of smaller bubbles