Trouble with Tripples or How I learned to brew a Westmalle Clone without worries

[LakesideBrewing]

Bottled today. I used 5.2 oz. of table sugar for 4.75 gallons of beer, hoping for 3.0 volumes of co2. Used corked 750ml bottles and my floor corker. Keeping at 70 degrees for one month. Fingers crossed!

-Mike

p.s. sample was amazing! :rockin:

 

[jeffjm]

This thread has me thinking I need to brew a tripel next month., and you've gotta love the puns :rockin:

I re-read all ten pages a couple times just now and have two questions. First, when lagering, are you leaving the beer in the primary, on the yeast? Or racking to a secondary fermenter?

Second, after the month of lagering, is there any need to add fresh yeast? Will the 3787 be strong enough to bottle condition after fermentation and extended cold storage?

 

[DSmith]

This thread has me thinking I need to brew a tripel next month., and you've gotta love the puns :rockin:

I re-read all ten pages a couple times just now and have two questions. First, when lagering, are you leaving the beer in the primary, on the yeast? Or racking to a secondary fermenter?

Second, after the month of lagering, is there any need to add fresh yeast? Will the 3787 be strong enough to bottle condition after fermentation and extended cold storage?

In my opinion:

Rack to secondary for cold conditioning (lager).

I've had a batch not carbonate with the original yeast. I now reyeast with original strain at 1e6 cells/mL or use a neutral yeast (Lalvin EC1118 at 1g/5 gallons of beer).

 

[crusader1612]

Bottled today. I used 5.2 oz. of table sugar for 4.75 gallons of beer, hoping for 3.0 volumes of co2. Used corked 750ml bottles and my floor corker. Keeping at 70 degrees for one month. Fingers crossed!

-Mike

p.s. sample was amazing! :rockin:

Have you had a sneak peek yet?

 

[TrickyDick]

Update-

well I brewed this and then got super lazy. I had been procrastinating on bottling. Mine went from 1.082 to 1.010. I let it sit for far too long on the yeast cake in the conical. I did drain/dump some, but probably not enough. The biggest thing was that I then moved it into the basement out of fridge for what was planned to be a week but turned into a few months before I finally kegged it. Conicals aren't as great as they are made out to seem when it comes to dumping yeast, because in a stainless one, you can't see the yeast, and much appears to cling to the side walls.

Mine has all the flavor of a triple but it is a little bit murkey, and slightly darker than planned, but still within appropriate range. It has a displeasing homebrew "meh" quality to it, which I think must be attributable to the lazy manner of the brewer (me) leaving unpackaged for so long.

A further problems/flaw is that getting the carbonation level right in a keg, while easy to adjust, I cannot control the line length, so I get plenty of foamy pours, and its not the same feel as when popping a corked bottle.

I will brew again, and THIS time I'll bottle it. I bought bottles but had miscounted them and would not have enough to finish the job.

I think with this batch, that I'm considering adding some Brett T to one keg, and Brett C to another, with an oak infusion spiral, and then putting a spunding valve on the keg and let them age for a while. Anybody have any recommendations for the spunding valve pressure setting?
Planning to soak the oak spiral in beer before using, and perhaps also boil in water and cool several cycles so as not to overpower the beer. I think Allagash has an aged Tripel, might turn out a bit like that I hope.

TD

 

[butterpants]

Allagash's Tripel is aged in Jim Beam barrels.

In a keg I'll keep my Tripel at like 3.3 volumes or 30psi but when I serve, I turn the pressure down to 5psi and purge the keg, then turn it back up again once served. Helps alot with foam.

 

[TrickyDick]

Allagash's Tripel is aged in Jim Beam barrels.

In a keg I'll keep my Tripel at like 3.3 volumes or 30psi but when I serve, I turn the pressure down to 5psi and purge the keg, then turn it back up again once served. Helps alot with foam.

Thanks! Yeah, I might try that. My new draft system I can't change lines. I supposed I could add some resistance by adding some line length, but that'd be a huge PITA.

30 psi. Will try that.

TD

 

[butterpants]

My lines are 12' so your mileage may vary.....

 

[TrickyDick]

Would need to try using a Male Flare nut to female flare nut extension of tubing, but I've never seen a male flare to hose barb connector.


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[LakesideBrewing]

Have you had a sneak peek yet?

I have. I opened up a bottle about a month ago and it is heading in the right direction. It still had some sharpness that will mellow in the bottle with some age, but the flavor was right on. My color was also a little 'off'. It was inside the Tripel guidelines, but a touch too dark. Most likely my decoction method was a little off. I've put all of these bottle deep in my beer cellar and will open another at the end of summer, maybe sooner. I'll post results here.
-Mike

 

[TrickyDick]

Popped the gas in off , and opened the release valve, then poured a glass. Came out great. Thanks for the idea.

My results suffer from my own laziness of not getting off the yeast cake soon enough. I think I'm going to give it some Brett and some oak spirals soaked in whisky, maybe cognac or brandy even. Not sure yet.
How long do you think it'd take for Brett B & C pitched into kegs, to do their magic? Was gonna put spunding valves on the kegs and take them out of fridge. Not sure what PSI to set at either.

TD


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[LakesideBrewing]

Almost 8 months in the bottle and my Trippel is tasting awesome! The carbonation is spot on, too. It is a waiting game with this beer for sure; this bottle is far better than the one I had a few months ago. It will be interesting to see how it changes over the years.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[NTexBrewer]

Last week I popped my last bottle of tripel. So it was cellared for one year. It was good but I Preferred the couple month old ones. The picture with the bottle is a one month old beer. The other picture was the year old beer. It definitely settled out some!
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[butterpants]

Hops/bittering drops out after after a while for me and the sweetness jumps.