Tripel Stuck

[xaphoo]

My Belgian tripel, first one I've made, is stuck at 1.014. Not bad, you say, but I wonder if it could go down a little more. Here are the ingredients:

6 lbs Pilsner LME
3 lbs Light DME
1.25 lbs clear candi sugar
some hops (20 IBU or so, with some aroma as well)
WLP550 Belgian Ale in a 2L starter plus an extra vial. Oxygenated by shaking.

Original measured OG 1.080

Ferm temp over 70 the whole time (yes the alcohol is "hot"). It's been almost three weeks.

So that's 82.5 % attenuation: somehow I was hoping for better. Is there anything I can do other than what I've been doing -- adding a half-teaspoon of Fermaid-K and swirling around to rouse the yeast?

I realize I made the mistake of adding in all my sugar at once instead of adding the candi sugar later... but what's done is done.

Any help?

 

[david_42]

Figuring 100% fermentation of the candi, you have 80% attenuation of the malt. That's very good.

 

[DeathBrewer]

that's great attenuation, especially with extract! feel free to leave it in the primary for a couple more weeks tho. it will help the yeast clean up a bit and you may get slightly more attenuation. it certainly can't hurt!

 

[Schlenkerla]

that's great attenuation, especially with extract! feel free to leave it in the primary for a couple more weeks tho. it will help the yeast clean up a bit and you may get slightly more attenuation. it certainly can't hurt!

+1 - Let it be... There's no need to rush it... Patience Grasshopper!!!

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

My Belgian tripel, first one I've made, is stuck at 1.014.
So that's 82.5 % attenuation: somehow I was hoping for better.
Any help?

While I believe everyone should push their limits to the max, but your pushing, pushing.

Any more and you will loose the body and flavor that is part of the style. Don't loose sight of the goal which is making the beer you want. Let it condition well and I'm sure you will love the outcome.

 

[Saccharomyces]

+1 that is good. I am aiming for 1.012-1.016, and that was all grain. With extract you have less control over the FG. It will be great! Remember 1.014 is still really dry considering the % alcohol.

 

[xaphoo]

Thanks for the reality check. I'm happy with 1.014, and I'm sure I won't find it sweet once it's cold and well-carbonated; beer always tastes somewhat sugary when it's flat and warm. I'm pleased with its taste already -- I think I'm going to make a lot of this style in the future. But next time I'll ferment cooler; it's rather harsh as is, and I don't think that's just because it's young. I mean, I pitched at 65 or so but I'm sure it quickly got to over 75, since 72 or so was the ambient temperature and this fermentation was very vigorous. This is going to be a Winter of Belgians.

 

[Saccharomyces]

That strain will do fine up to 80. It will be more spicy and phenolic than a cooler fermentation, but generally the Belgians don't seem to produce large amounts of diacetyl or fusels at warmer temps as long as you pitch them cool and let them warm up. I like to pitch in the low 60s, keep them in the mid 60s for a few days, and then let them get to whatever they will get up to. It really brings out the character of the yeast to let them finish in the mid to upper 70s.

 

[xaphoo]

A successful brew.

This is actually the best beer I have made, by a long shot. It came out just right. It stopped at 1.014 plus or minus a point, and I bottled-conditioned without adding any new yeast, to a pressure of (I'm guessing) 2.9-3.0 vols. After two weeks I started drinking it, and the alcohol flavor was quite strong, almost too strong -- but at three weeks it was smooth and perfect. Unfortunately I had finished off two thirds of the batch by that time

I highly recommend this incredibly simple extract Tripel recipe. In the future I might add half a pound less extract, to make it a bit dryer and less alcoholic, but it's good as is provided you are patient enough to let it condition for three weeks (I wasn't). Also, hops were 1 oz Vanguard at 60' and 1.25 oz Sterling at 1'.