Trippel and nightmares

[prince49]

Just finished the first stage of my very first Trappist Trippel. It's my fourth brew overall, but have a few questions and notes.

Mini-Mash with DME and Safbrew T-58 dry yeast

- Ran out of propane just after I added the DME. I was chatting with a buddy, so didn't notice this for 10-15 minutes, and then it took me some more time to replace the tank. The wort had cooled down a little by then, so it took me more time than expected to bring it to the hot break. I assume this won't affect the flavor in any way, right?

- I had a slight boil over about 10 minutes after I added my bittering hops, so I guess about 1/4 oz of my bittering hops spilled out of the pot. How majorly is this going to affect my brew in the end?

- I accidentally added 1/4 oz of Kent Golding instead of Tradition during the bittering stage. I compensated by adding 1/4 oz of Tradition during the aroma stage. Here's how I modified

Bittering - 1.75 oz Tradition, 0.25 oz Kent Golding instead of 2 oz Tradition
Flavoring - 0.50 oz Kent Golding
Aroma - 0.25 oz Kent Golding and 0.25 oz Tradition instead if 0.50 oz Kent Golding

Since I am no hop expert, any comments on how this affects the brew would be appreciated.

- I re-hydrated one packet of yeast, but didn't realize I'd need to pitch two for a high gravity beer. So I sprinkled the second packet on top of the wort, figuring they'll join the sugar party slightly late, but will still be ok.

- I was able to cool down the wort to pitching temperature in about 40 minutes - Considering that the ambient temperature here in India is about 80 at midnight, that's pretty close to how fast I can cool it down.

- The ideal temp for the yeast is mentioned to be about 60-68F. Do I need to keep my temp at a fixed point, or will the brew be okay as long as it is within this range? I use a coolbrew fermentation cooler, so the temperature will fluctuate slightly during the process.

- This was my first brew where I hit my targeted OG spot on at 1.082 - Am extremely kicked about that.

After sealing up the fermentation bucket, I went to sleep. About 5:30 am, I have a nightmare that I screwed up my yeast pitching and wake up freaking out. Then I run out to the bucket and realize it was just a bad dream, and the yeast are merrily on their way. Strangely, I am always nervous and jumpy the night after I brew, and always wake up way before my morning alarm goes off. Anyone else go through this?

 

[masterfool101]

1) I don't think you'll have TOO many problems since you didn't run out of propane PRIOR to your boil . . . I'm assuming, anyhow, that your official boil hadn't started and you hadn't yet added hops.

2) Your brew will be less bitter by somewhere around 1/4 due to loss of hops if indeed you lost 1/4 of the hops so early. However, I'd guess you lost less than you think, and you'll be OK. In the future, I always recommend boiling hops in a nylon bag. Helps keep them in line, and if you DO have a slight boil over, you don't lose them.

3) I'm not an expert on Tradition hops, and have only used EKG a few times . . . but from what I know, I find it odd that Tradition was used as the BITTERING hops, as it's most commonly cited as an aroma hop variety. It does have a more earthy aroma than EKG, which tends to be sweeter. Expect some variation on the aroma of your beer, away from the fruity sweet of most belgians, and towards a slight earthy scent.

4) I don't think you'll have any problems with your yeast. I doubt they'll even "join late" as you said . . . you'll be just fine.

5) Cool down is fine. What method did you use?

6) Your best bet is to keep your beer at a specific temperature, plus or minus just 1 degree or so. Generally speaking, it's best to start at the LOW end of the scale. . . but given that you're brewing a Belgian Trippel, it won't hurt you to be in the higher end of the range - around 65-66 F. Near the end of the fermentation (usually about 4 days in) I like to raise the temperature of my beer slowly to about 70F, just to finish off the fermentation. This can be particularly helpful with higher gravity beers.

That being said, as long as you're in the range, you should be OK.

7) Congrats on hitting OG on the nose

8) Don't worry so much about your beer! It will be fine!! As we like to say, RDWHAHB!!!!!

 

[prince49]

Thanks a lot for the feedback

I'll keep a nylon bag handy - This is the first time I've had a boil over, so I'll prepare better next time

For the cooldown, I used a wort chiller, but that was pretty useless once I hit 90F since the tap water was so warm. I did change my water out a little late, and that'll save me another 5-7 minutes next time.

This is my first time with a high gravity beer - How long do you guys recommend keeping in the primary? I was thinking 4 weeks and then bottle for another 6, but just want to see what the consensus out there is.

 

[fork]

All of those things are no big deal, your beer will be just fine.