Trappist Ale

[DrinkinSurfer]

Aschecte, sorry for the late reply. How is it coming so far? Is the carbonation better? Regardless, this brew opens up to a whole new level after a few months of aging. Be patient my friend.

e384, not all yeasts are created equal...

 

[Aschecte]

Hey !!!! it's coming along pretty well.... at first the carbonation wasn't coming along to well but seems "ok" now after 1 month but I guess I should have expected that with a high abv beer. Also flavor is getting much better the taste of the wlp500 was intense at first ( I've used it before so I was familiar with the profile ) but it's becoming quite mellow now and all the flavors are melding very nicely. I can see this is a beer you don't want to drink young not that it's bad youngbut it's better aged.

 

[Aschecte]

Ok here's the almost 6 month review. this aged woderfully !!! def as I said before as you have also not a "young beer" I'm down to my last 6 bottles and I wish i had more their is a prominent raisiny plum charecter from the special b that is there and the esters from the wlp500 are blended perfectly I would say this is a beer that will be best enjoyed by the patient brewer ( usually not me ). thanks for the great recipe.

 

[Aschecte]

Just a fyi I brewed this well over a year ago it was my last extract batch and I have been ageing this as it had a pretty good ABV. I recently entered this ( slightly modified ) into a large competition here called the 2012 Hudson Valley Brew fest and this beer took 2nd place in category for a combined score of 40 out of 50 points. It was also the only extract batch to place in the entire competition. I just thought you would like to hear this recipe did so well oh and BTW it only missed first place by less than 1 point combined actually more like .3 points from 1st place and while we are at it only 4 points from the best of show score.

 

[DrinkinSurfer]

Aschecte, that is awesome you place so well with your version of the recipe. Congrats!

 

[blakiexcharles]

just tasted the extract versions gravity reading after two weeks (1.010), It tasted amazing! Fermented exactly 14 days at 72* I don't know if this will survive the aging process...

 

[DrinkinSurfer]

blakie, I would set a case of it aside for aging! Trust me, if you give it a few months you will be happy you did. It gets better with some time. Enjoy!

 

[blakiexcharles]

alright alright you're right it's even more fantastic now then it was 2 months ago.. :cross:

 

[Aschecte]

True story...... I had a few bottles of this beer I aged well over 18-24 months I brewed it sometime in 2011. I entered this beer 2 years or so old and beat AG brewers and extract for that matter and placed 2nd place in category and missed first place by less than 1/2 a point and was only 4 points from best of show !!!! this beer really ages well. speaking of which I need to brew this again thanks for the reminder.

 

[BeerScientist]

Hey guys, I brewed the original posted version of this beer 10 days ago. Only differences were 1.058 OG and 1.010 FG. Fermented a little hot, had to put it in cool water to keep it in the 70's. I am about to rack to secondary and took my FG reading. It smelled pretty fruity but the taste was okay but overall a little lackluster to me, not a lot of flavor. Is it just me? Should I withhold judgement until it gets some carbonation in there? Will using a special priming sugar add some more flavors? And finally, what do you think I could change to give it more flavor (not necessarily Belgian ester-y flavor but in general) I saw surfer said he wanted to add some aromatic malt, maybe chocolate malt and someone else suggested victory I think, has anyone tired any of that? Thanks!

 

[Aschecte]

Hey guys, I brewed the original posted version of this beer 10 days ago. Only differences were 1.058 OG and 1.010 FG. Fermented a little hot, had to put it in cool water to keep it in the 70's. I am about to rack to secondary and took my FG reading. It smelled pretty fruity but the taste was okay but overall a little lackluster to me, not a lot of flavor. Is it just me? Should I withhold judgement until it gets some carbonation in there? Will using a special priming sugar add some more flavors? And finally, what do you think I could change to give it more flavor (not necessarily Belgian ester-y flavor but in general) I saw surfer said he wanted to add some aromatic malt, maybe chocolate malt and someone else suggested victory I think, has anyone tired any of that? Thanks!

You are making a few assumptions and IMHO mistakes,,,,,, I mean this in this nicest way it can be said. #1 it is only 10 days old !!!! I would not have even transferred from primary at all before taking a reading. I have found with this beer secondary is completely not needed but to each their own. the beer is green that is the lack luster flavor you are describing.... the hotter temps will add a banana flavor and aroma maybe some bubblegum too. My recommendation at this point if you are sure it hit TG is to bottle as normal do not add anything period let it sit for about 2- 3 months this beer takes some time to hit it's peak flavor. Never judge a beer after 10 days. This beer could use some aromatic mixed in but is not really needed. best of luck trust me give it 2-3 months you will have more flavor than you know what to do with !!!

 

[JRapp]

I currently have a rochefort yeast Dragonmead Final Absolution clone in my secondary but Im going to possibly try this one next, but I have to agree you really need to let this beast age out. These yeasts give the majority of the flavor and you really need to give them time to situate themselves before making judging them.

Anyway, looks good, I have a Pale ale and possibly an Irish Ale on my list, but this looks like a definite possibility.

I cant get enough of these big Belgians!