Tripel: to dry-hop or not?

[jgerken]

Long time reader, first time poster.

I have a Belgian Tripel (Brewer's best extract kit, upgraded with white labs wlp500 yeast) currently in the primary. Reading online about dry hopping has me intrigued. I realize (after reading somewhere) that dry-hopping a tripel will no longer technically make it a tripel, but as this is only my 2nd batch and it's an extract, I'm more concerned with flavor and quality than authenticity.

So my question is... Have any of you had any positive experiences with dry-hopping a tripel? I realize it won't impart bitterness, but I'd enjoy some stronger hoppy aromas on my tripel than what the extract kit will likely yield. Just curious if anyone would strongly advise one way or another regarding dry-hopping a tripel. Also, any suggestions as to which hops would work best? I was thinking of adding 1oz of Amarillo for 5-7 days at the end of secondary after I have a stable FG. Any advice on when/how to add would be much appreciated as well.

 

[malkore]

I wouldn't alter it by dry hopping. Its not 'to the style' and a trippel is kind of important to stay on target since its not your ordinary 'run of the mill' beer to start with.

In addition, Extract vs . all grain doesn't make any difference when it comes to the hops. Hops is hops! the brewers best kits are actually pretty good and true to style, so I don't think it'll be 'weak' in the hop aroma department (in terms of sticking to style).

Hold the dry hopping for a style where it'll really shine.

 

[maskednegator]

I've had mixed results with dry hopped Belgian styles. If you have another fermentor, you could rack half to secondary and dry hop, and rack the other half to the bottling bucket, and you could compare them to each other.

 

[Calder]

That yeast is going to give you lots of flavors, no need to dry hop.

That being said, I just dry hopped a Saison (Wyeast 3711) with an ozs of Goldings.

 

[jgerken]

Thanks for the quick replies fellas, I appreciate it

 

[syd138]

I would not dry-hop a Tripel if you want to be true to the style.. with beers like Tripels, Dubels, and Weissbier.. the flavor comes from the yeast. You want to only use hops for bittering.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Do whatever the hell you want...you made it, you get to drink it, styles be damned :rockin:

That said, I would go with Styrian Goldings, Saaz, or some "noble" hop not an American high alpha hop.

Also not a bad suggestion to split the batch so you can really see the difference that the hops imparts. Belgian yeasts are really flavorful and it is good to know where the flavors and aromas you like (and dislike) are coming from.

Welcome to your new obsession

 

[terrapinj]

Houblon Chouffe is a belgian tripel that is dry hopped with Amarillo

may be worth trying one if you haven't to see if you like it

it uses columbus and saaz for bittering and flavor/aroma

 

[joety]

Personally, I would not. I haven't cared for any of the Belgian/IPA hybrids I've tried. I like Belgians. I like IPA's. That doesn't mean they go great together.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Personally, I would not. I haven't cared for any of the Belgian/IPA hybrids I've tried. I like Belgians. I like IPA's. That doesn't mean they go great together.

And I LOVE Belgian style IPAs!!! Flying Dog's Raging ***** is one of my go to commercial brews. Combines the best of both worlds. That is what makes this hobby great, we all have different tastes

 

[joety]

Absolutely, as we used to say in French class, Chacun ses gouts, or something like that.

I don't even agree with myself half the time. Some days I'm a hop-head; other days not so much.

 

[emjay]

Personally, I would not. I haven't cared for any of the Belgian/IPA hybrids I've tried. I like Belgians. I like IPA's. That doesn't mean they go great together.

I agree with this. Using distinctly American hops to do so sounds particularly disgusting, and I say that as a card-carrying hophead with about 7lbs of American hops in my freezer. But there's a very damn good reason why not only is anything beyond a bittering charge not to style in most "abbey"-style ales, but neither is there any sort of style that would even remotely resemble the idea. And I promise you it's NOT because it's never been attempted before.

Somebody mentioned that they dryhopped a saison, but they can't even really be compared to any of the abbey styles. Not only do saisons (and the strains of yeast they use) work well with flavor/aroma hops, they are actually vital to the style. And while there may not be any modern examples of dryhopped saisons currently produced in Belgium, they certainly have existed, and style descriptions even specifically allow for dryhopping.

You CAN try it out for yourself if you really want, though it is very likely to just result in a waste of good beer and a waste of good money, and I'd strongly suggest that if you MUST do this, you try it out on only half the batch, and that you use a type of hops with nobel characteristics (French Strisselspalt would be my #1 choice.)

If you're really just interested in dryhopping in general, and are just using the Tripel because it's what you currently have to experiment with (which is what it sounds like), I'd strongly recommend just having a bit of patience and grabbing an APA, American IPA, or IIPA kit, or some other American, highly hopped style of beer. Of course, these are not the only beers which may be dryhopped, but are a good starting point (not to mention that they are more difficult to ruin by overhopping.)

 

[beerandloathinginaustin]

The best beer I've made in my 40+ batches was a Tripel dry hopped with Amarillo for a week and then Amarillo & Citra for another week. Absolutely amazing aroma. Dust your shoulders off and go way out of style guidelines boys.