"triple fermentation"

[Drustanos]

My girlfriend bought me a sampler pack from the quebec based "Unibrove". One of these beers (Extra strong ale 9% alc/vol) claims triple fermentation. The stuff tastes pretty good and is sure to kick my ass in a few minutes.

I am wondering, what exactly does triple fermentation involve? Would sugar be added 3 different times? I couldnt find anything with search.

Thanks

 

[s3n8]

Original wort, sugar addition to help attenuation, then prime/bottle.

The sugar addition is fairly common in higher gravity brews. Once the yeast have munched through the maltose, you give them a little simple sugar (sucrose or dextrose) which is easily fermented. This helps get the final gravity down and dry the brew out. Most Belgian (even the Canadian ones) have a nice dry finish as a result of the 10 - 30% simple sugar addition. Some add sugar to the boil, but I prefer to add it after the heavy lifting has been done. Works well for me.

 

[maltMonkey]

I've seen that on their bottles too. I always assumed it meant primary fermentation + sugar addition + bottle conditioning, but I don't know for sure.

( edit - damn, I type too slow on my phone )

 

[FireBrewer]

The excellence of triple fermentation through a blend of special yeasts gives this malt beverage an exquisitely robust flavor of exceptional refinement

Sounds like marketing-speak to me. It also says something about being "refermented in the bottle", which we call bottle conditioning. Seems to be some confusion on some sites regarding it between "triple" and "Tripel".

 

[Drustanos]

I realized I spelled the name wrong, it is Unibroue, not Unibrove as I said before.

The process sounds interesting. So for a regular ~6 gallon all grain batch, how much sugar should be added and when? I would assume after a week or two.

 

[dstar26t]

For my IPA's, I always get 75% attenuation with WLP001. If I want more, I add sugar once fermentation has slowed/stopped. Boiled with water at a ratio of 1lb corn sugar per 1 cup water. I've found that if you take the percentage of the grain bill that the corn sugar will be and multiply it by .8, add that number to your attenuation (usually 75% for me) and you get your new expected attenuation. I like to target 1.012 depending on the grain bill and expected ABV. Don't want to add too high a % of corn sugar depending on the grain bill. Simple grain bills get a lower % of corn sugar.

So, if 5% of the grain bill will be corn sugar then 5% * .8 = 4% an I expect the final attenuation to be 75% (typical) + 4% = 79%. Works every time.

 

[Brewer_Steve]

Sounds like you're drinking Maudite - a very smooth beer for 8 or 9%. One of my favourites.
When I was in Grade 5 or 6, we read the legend about the flying canoe which you see on the box. Great beer. Great story.

 

[SumnerH]

Sounds like you're drinking Maudite - a very smooth beer for 8 or 9%. One of my favourites.

I just finished trying a whole bunch of Belgian dark strongs and quads over the last week. From most favorite to least, I'd say:

St Bernardus Abt 12 (750 ml)
Unibroue Trois Pistoles (12 oz)

Delerium Nocturnum (750 ml)
Chimay Grand Reserve (750 ml)
Ommegang 3 Philosophers (750 ml)
Gouden Carolus Classic (12 oz)

Rochefort 8 (12 oz)
Unibroue Maudite (12 oz)

The first group (Trois Pistoles and St Bernardus Abt 12) both had a strong peppery/spicy aftertaste to clean up a sweet finish. Very satisfying indeed. The middle group had a sweeter or fruitier finish--I can see that being more appealing than the zing of the first 2 to a lot of people, including me if I'm in the right mood.

The last 2, the Rochefort 8 and the Maudite, both had really thin flavor and mouthfeel all the way through. They almost seemed like they were literally watered down significantly. I'm anxious to try both from another source to compare, but at the moment they're the only 2 beers from the Belgian strong dark/quad/strong gold/tripel spectrum that I just don't like.

Which is a little worrisome to me in particular since I've got a Rochefort 8 clone bottle conditioning at the moment.

Incidentally I also tried the Allagash Curieux (a bourbon-barrel aged tripel). It's pretty interesting, not my favorite but if you like oak it's well worth a try.

 

[user 22118]

bourbon barrel aged beers are a ten outta ten here for me