Trying out a simple Belgian Tripel all DME recipe

[_Keven]

Last year we tried a Belgian tripel extract recipe but it called for mostly LME, which we believe was the cause of our brew coming out much darker than expected (it looked more like a dubbel). So this time around we're thinking of trying all DME as well as adding dextrose to the recipe. This is what I have so far (I used brewer's friend to come up with the recipe). This is a 5 gallon batch btw

8 lbs Briess DME Pilsen light
1 lb Belgian Candi sugar clear
2 lbs dextrose
0.5 lb Briess Caramel Malt 10L (steeping grain)
3 oz Saaz US (20 minutes)
2 packets of Wyeast 1214

Few things to note:

The expected OG shows 1.087, FG is 1.016 (ABV 9.3%), IBUs: 17

I've heard that many people add sugars to the Belgian beers to get a higher attenuation rate, and in this case I decided to add more (subbing out some DME) because from the brewer's friend recipe calculator If I were to do 10 lbs DME and 1 LB candi sugar (or dextrose) the final gravity is expected to be 1.020 which is a tad bit higher than I'd like. Subbing in the extra dextrose the final gravity is predicted to be 1.015 which is a bit better.

I'd love to hear what everybody thinks of this recipe so far, I haven't purchased anything yet so definitely open to modifying it as needed.

 

[Bobby_M]

Depending on the age of the yeast packs, that might be an underpitch or an extreme underpitch.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I've heard that many people add sugars to the Belgian beers to get a higher attenuation rate, and in this case I decided to add more (subbing out some DME) because from the brewer's friend recipe calculator If I were to do 10 lbs DME and 1 LB candi sugar (or dextrose) the final gravity is expected to be 1.020 which is a tad bit higher than I'd like. Subbing in the extra dextrose the final gravity is predicted to be 1.015 which is a bit better.

It looks like a decent ratio of sugar for the recipe. Personally, when making a "standard" recipe with DME I like to swap out 10% of the DME for sugar. I find that gets me closer to an all-grain color, attenuation and body.

One could argue if the Caramel Malt 10L is desired, but 1) I do find that steeping a little grain adds a touch of grain character to extract batches and 2) a light Crystal might be the best low color and low starch option for steeping.

I agree that you might not have enough yeast. I almost always make a starter with liquid yeast. I would trust one pack in a 2L starter more than I would trust 2 packs. One of my favorite Tripels was fermented with Mangrove Jack's M31 Belgian Tripel dry yeast. I would use 2 packs of dry yeast if I went that way.

 

[IslandLizard]

As @Bobby_M said that would surely an underpitch, even if both packs were produced yesterday.

Per this yeast pitch calculator, for 5 gallons of 1.087 wort you'd need to pitch 297 billion cells. When using liquid yeast, it's best when made from a yeast starter:
https://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

I'm with @CascadesBrewer, and recommend using 2 packs of dry yeast. Especially for beginning brewers, it's the better, simpler, and much cheaper option.

 

[bike2brew]

I brewed a similar recipe with 1.076 OG and used 3 packs (34.5 gms) of BE 256. Made for a tasty Belgian. I initially thought I brewed a Tripel but have since reclassified it as Belgian Strong ale.

 

[_Keven]

It looks like a decent ratio of sugar for the recipe. Personally, when making a "standard" recipe with DME I like to swap out 10% of the DME for sugar. I find that gets me closer to an all-grain color, attenuation and body.

One could argue if the Caramel Malt 10L is desired, but 1) I do find that steeping a little grain adds a touch of grain character to extract batches and 2) a light Crystal might be the best low color and low starch option for steeping.

I agree that you might not have enough yeast. I almost always make a starter with liquid yeast. I would trust one pack in a 2L starter more than I would trust 2 packs. One of my favorite Tripels was fermented with Mangrove Jack's M31 Belgian Tripel dry yeast. I would use 2 packs of dry yeast if I went that way.

I could try and get another yeast pack but I plan on brewing this weekend. I could make a yeast starter using both packs, would this solve the underpitching problem?

 

[Bobby_M]

What is the manufacture date on the packs?

 

[_Keven]

What is the manufacture date on the packs?

It says the best by date is August 2025

 

[_Keven]

I brewed a similar recipe with 1.076 OG and used 3 packs (34.5 gms) of BE 256. Made for a tasty Belgian. I initially thought I brewed a Tripel but have since reclassified it as Belgian Strong ale.View attachment 870585

Looks great! What exactly is the difference in a Belgian strong and a belgian tripel? Why did you reclassify your beer?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I could try and get another yeast pack but I plan on brewing this weekend. I could make a yeast starter using both packs, would this solve the underpitching problem?

What did you end up doing? There is a good chance that your beer will ferment out fine with those two packs. There is just a lot of variables with liquid yeast about how it has been handled since it was packaged. A starter is cheap insurance that you are pitching very healthy yeast.

 

[_Keven]

What did you end up doing? There is a good chance that your beer will ferment out fine with those two packs. There is just a lot of variables with liquid yeast about how it has been handled since it was packaged. A starter is cheap insurance that you are pitching very healthy yeast.

Well that's reassuring as we stuck with just the two packs. We "activated" the packs two days before brew day, and made a large yeast starter about 24 hours before brewing. The packs inflated by the next morning, and after about 12 hours in the starter we started noticing some activity. I was kind of disappointed that by the next morning (on brew day) the activity was kind of the same, some suds on the top but not even covering the entire yeast starter. We pitched it anyways, fingers crossed.

 

[VTMongoose]

The main thing you'll be up against is that the fermentability of the DME is fixed and it tends to finish high. As much sugar as you have in the grist, it'll probably turn out dry enough but don't be afraid to push sugar to 30% of fermentables.

I would highly recommend swapping the 10°L crystal for an aromatic or munich.

Also, that's a ton of hops, even more aroma hops than I put in my Belgian Golden Strong. You might end up with something that more resembles a BGS than a tripel. For a Tripel I'd bitter up front with your favorite bittering hop and a max of 2 ounces in late additions.

 

[_Keven]

yeah I actually reran the numbers with the alpha acid % on the packaging and noticed the hops were a lot. I did 2 packs for 15 minutes giving roughly 22-23 ibus. Unfortunately we already brewed so we're stuck with crystal. Is aromatic/Munich just better at adding flavor? Also from brewer's friend recipe calculator it says the expected FG to be 1.018 with the current fermentables, would you expect the FG to be a bit higher from all the DME? One thing I will say is the color of the wort was the lightest we've been able to achieve, thanks to avoiding LME which was the main reason we used all DME. But if we're gonna have a FG of something over 1.020 it will be pretty disappointing. If thats the case maybe we'll pitch some more yeast?

 

[VTMongoose]

yeah I actually reran the numbers with the alpha acid % on the packaging and noticed the hops were a lot. I did 2 packs for 15 minutes giving roughly 22-23 ibus. Unfortunately we already brewed so we're stuck with crystal. Is aromatic/Munich just better at adding flavor? Also from brewer's friend recipe calculator it says the expected FG to be 1.018 with the current fermentables, would you expect the FG to be a bit higher from all the DME? One thing I will say is the color of the wort was the lightest we've been able to achieve, thanks to avoiding LME which was the main reason we used all DME. But if we're gonna have a FG of something over 1.020 it will be pretty disappointing. If thats the case maybe we'll pitch some more yeast?

Pitch rate doesn't have any meaningful ability to affect final gravity or attenuation, only fermentation performance, in my experience. You will be around 1.015-1.016 if I had to guess. Ideal for the style IMO is 1.008-1.012 and preferably on the lower end of that scale.

Aromatic/munich, is just a totally different flavor than C10. To me C10 is candy-sweet, I've hated its flavor in every single brew I've used it in. Munich is bready, and gets breadier the darker you go, and some brands are slightly carameley. Aromatic is also bready but more "malty-sweet". It's just very good at giving Belgian and even some German styles like wheat beers that "X factor". Victory's another good one, actually my favorite, with a similar effect but more potent and slightly nutty. All three are very bready but not as melanoidin heavy as biscuit or melanoidin malt which are extremely potent.

Aromatic, Victory, Melanoidin, and Biscuit malts are often referred to as "cheater" malts because they can give the illusion of tremendous malt complexity at very low addition rates of only 1-5% when added to almost any grain bill. In German lagers, I personally use about 1% melanoidin to "replace" the flavor of decoction, and it's very effective at doing so. Maltsters are designing the production of these malts specifically to produce a high amount of melanoidins, after all, and even Munich tastes bready because it contains the same chemicals that you get from baking bread.

 

[_Keven]

Pitch rate doesn't have any meaningful ability to affect final gravity or attenuation, only fermentation performance, in my experience. You will be around 1.015-1.016 if I had to guess. Ideal for the style IMO is 1.008-1.012 and preferably on the lower end of that scale.

Aromatic/munich, is just a totally different flavor than C10. To me C10 is candy-sweet, I've hated its flavor in every single brew I've used it in. Munich is bready, and gets breadier the darker you go, and some brands are slightly carameley. Aromatic is also bready but more "malty-sweet". It's just very good at giving Belgian and even some German styles like wheat beers that "X factor". Victory's another good one, actually my favorite, with a similar effect but more potent and slightly nutty. All three are very bready but not as melanoidin heavy as biscuit or melanoidin malt which are extremely potent.

Aromatic, Victory, Melanoidin, and Biscuit malts are often referred to as "cheater" malts because they can give the illusion of tremendous malt complexity at very low addition rates of only 1-5% when added to almost any grain bill. In German lagers, I personally use about 1% melanoidin to "replace" the flavor of decoction, and it's very effective at doing so. Maltsters are designing the production of these malts specifically to produce a high amount of melanoidins, after all, and even Munich tastes bready because it contains the same chemicals that you get from baking bread.

ah gotcha, well I'll be happy if we get 1.016, but yeah the dryer the better. And great to know on the aromatic/munich malt info, I'll definitely be adding that for my next Belgian brew. This recipe was somewhat derived from Northern Brewer's tripel extract kit which is actually what we brewed last year. It was alright but the color was all off from the LME and it was a tad too sweet (I think we finished at 1.020). We also changed the yeast to the Chimay strain (from Westmalle). They called for C10 in their tripel and we kind of just followed that for seeping grains.

 

[_Keven]

What did you end up doing? There is a good chance that your beer will ferment out fine with those two packs. There is just a lot of variables with liquid yeast about how it has been handled since it was packaged. A starter is cheap insurance that you are pitching very healthy yeast.

Update: just measured the gravity and we’re at 1.007, way lower than we anticipated. I like a dry trippel but boy is this a potent one clocking in around 10.9% abv. Not ideal but I guess it could be worse. From the hydrometer it tasted good, definitely a decent amount of yeasty banana but we’re big fans of strong Belgian yeast flavors. There is a ton of yeast in suspension so I’m thinking of just cold crashing this one. I’ve never cold crashed but could I just store this in a fridge for a few days, and bottle this weekend? Or should I let it settle out at room temp?

 

[Rish]

With a beer this big, I'd definitely leave it in the FV for a while (maybe 4-6 weeks). This will give it time for conditioning, yeast cleanup and clearing. I started doing this a few years ago and my beer got better. Good luck!

 

[_Keven]

With a beer this big, I'd definitely leave it in the FV for a while (maybe 4-6 weeks). This will give it time for conditioning, yeast cleanup and clearing. I started doing this a few years ago and my beer got better. Good luck!

Gotcha, I'm gonna give it some more time. Is it ok if I keep it in the cold crash or should I let it sit at room temp again?

 

[Rish]

I condition mine at room temp so I don't put the yeast to sleep then go cold after that.