Tips for brewing my first Tripel

coypoo · Apr 29, 2011

tlazaroff said:
Thank you all for the tips!
I brewed today, and it went off very well! I missed my OG, but I can just call it a Belgian Strong Ale I guess. Everything else was great.

Quick question regarding fermentation. I have had several recommendations from several forums (this included) saying to pitch at about 64 degrees and let the beer warm up how the yeast wants it to (to about mid 70's). I have a 2 liter started on a stir-plate right now and the beer wasn't getting down to 64 in my basement. I built a swamp cooler (bucket w/ water that I put the fermenter in and a towel with a fan on it) to help get the beer to 64. When the beer reaches 64 and I pitch, should I get rid of the swamp cooler? keep it in there? turn off the fan only? I plan on pitching tomorrow, so any help would once again, be much appreciated.

You want to keep it under about 68-69 for the first ~2 days, then let it go. I just did a Tripel w/ 13% sugar that I kept at 67 for 3 days, then increased to 72 for the rest of fermentation. I got 83.3% attenuation (1090-1014) and I'll be bottling tomorrow.

There's another "how to use belgian yeast" thread that you should look at as well as I think the fermentation of Belgian's is the most important factor

caiafa · Apr 30, 2011

For complexity I would actually add some flaked wheat, oats or rye and dump the specialty grains. For my next batch, also a tripel, I'm thinking of using Wyeast Forbidden Fruit. The esters produced by the strain are awesome.

alanwelam · May 6, 2011

I did this for my last Belgian beer... Take two pounds of table sugar. Split in half. Caramelize the first pound by adding some water to a saucepan with then sugar. When it starts to turn golden, take off the heat and immediately add to the mash. Add the second # towards after the boil is finished. (boil another 10 mins to pasteurize). This is a substitute for all the Belgian candi sugar options.

takahiro · May 10, 2011

age it well.
All of Belgians I brewed needed >3 months for flavors to calm down.
my last tripel (8.5%, wyeast 3787) took ~ 3months for it to be presentable.

knobz · Feb 12, 2015

Just FYI, Belgian Candi sugar can be made out of regular table sugar by adding 1/4 tsp citric acid per pound of sugar to a pot with the sugar, and just enough water to make a paste. Then heat it quickly WHILE STIRRING to hard crack temperature (300°F) and voila! You have invert sugar which is structurally identical to Belgian candi sugar made from beets. If you want amber or dark candi sugar, just hold the temperature between 260-270 till it reaches the disired color and then heat to 300. Just make sure its cooled down below 180° or so before you add it the boil, or you'll get a nice violent explosion of hot wort and sugar.