Tripel recipes?

[bandarker]

Hey all,

Anyone have any tried and true Tripel recipes? There are lots out there...

[berley]

I just brewed a Tripel for the first time in years; I had a taste when I bottled it, but couldn't say for sure if it's come out great or not! But for this style, I feel that simplicity is key, along with yeast selection, pitching rate, and health.

Use a lot of good quality Pilsner malt. Add a bit of something else for character, like Aromatic malt, maybe 2% of the grist. And lots of sugar... up to 20%. Don't be afraid to use table sugar, it works fine. I'd stay away from adding spices, even though some Tripels ARE spiced, and taste great (I'm looking at you, Tripel Karmeliet).

And again, pitch the right amount of yeast, and pitch at a lower temp and let it rise. Mid 60s if you can, then maybe let it get up to 70-72 F, depending on the yeast.

[bandarker]

Maybe a dumb question - what is aromatic malt?

Any experience with Abbey malt? At least by name seems like it could be neat.

I need to do some more reading about yeast and pitching rates - I got through How to Brew and the Water book over the break, but yeast pitching and starters and all that seem to be quite important.

I had an incredible Tripel from Four Winds Brewing (Vancouver), and they add a bit of honey as well as 2 other fermentable sugars.

[berley]

Aromatic is a pretty low-kilned malt (maybe 20-25 L, I think?) that imparts a malt aroma and character... I've used it a few times in Belgian beers, but there's lots, I'm sure, you could sub in. I've never heard of Abbey malt... sound interesting. The main thing is not to go crazy with specialty malts, or start adding Crystal or anything, at least not in high amounts. The best Tripels are quite dry, hence the high amounts of sugar. Make sure you mash at a low temp, too, to keep the fermentables high.

Yes, I've heard of some Tripels using honey, sounds like a good idea to me.

[CartoonCod]

I made a tripel that didn't turn out (it didn't finish dry enough and had a solventy character) and here are my tips, or things I will do differently next time:
- as berley suggested, pitch somewhat cold (17-18 degC) and try to control the ferm temp for the first 48 hours then let it rise slowly afterwards (upwards of 24-25 degc by the end of fermentation) to help it dry out.
- don't forget that beers that have high O.G. will have a more vigorous fermentation so be careful for blowoffs.
- use some yeast nutrient
- if using liquid yeast oxygenate your wort to the best of your ability
- pitch more yeast, I think it would even be better to use 2 packages of rehydrated belgian dry yeast (Safbrew T-58 Ale Dry Yeast) rather then underpitching liquid yeast

Honey would work as it is very fermentable, but it would be expensive and I doupt you would notice the subtle honey character over the belgian yeast character. It wouldn't hurt anything though.

[bandarker]

Thanks for the suggestions!
I thought to use 3 liquid yeasts, the white labs abbey ale yeast packs. Some day I'll get to yeast starters and all that gear, but not yet

Do you think the fermentation temp would take off on its own? My basement is 16-17 degs

[CartoonCod]

If your basement is 16-17 I think that would be a good starting temp. Once your fermentation gets going, expect your beer temp to rise by about 2-4 degC during high fermentation, then once the fermentation slows down the temps will settle back down at 16-17 degC. When the temperature lowers like this the yeast will go dormant or at least be less active and not properly finish fermentation which will result in a beer thats not fully attenuated. So I recommend trying trying to keep it warm as the fermentation slows down and keep it at that temperature or warm it up further.

[McGruff]

I start at 64 F and let it ramp up to 70 F. I like Wyeast Abbey Ale II 1762 which doesn't throw any funky Belgian flavours. I usually use around 15% - 17% table sugar along with 2% Aromatic malt. I bottle condition these in Beaus 600 ml bottles to 3 volumes and have never had a bottle bomb. My final gravity ends around 1.012.

[bandarker]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll start with a simple recipe and see if I want to tweak it from there. 2% Aromatic with the rest Pilsner. Single hopped with Saaz to get mid 20s IBU. Candi sugar and honey to up the OG and your Wyeast.

Jayme sold me his $5 "stir plate" so I'll give that a shot too!

Thanks,

[bandarker]

Hey everyone,

I brewed this today (-15 helped cool it down after), and I'm wondering what you'd recommend to try to ramp up the temperature evenly for the brew. It's in a 6gallon carboy.
Heat belt?