Pour Moi - Abbey Style Trippel

[adm]

"Ca Plane" my Belgian style Singel is about done fermenting - it's down to 1008 - and will get kegged this weekend, so I'm planning the recipe for the Trippel that will use the yeast cake....

I'd appreciate any comments on this one as it's new territory for me, but here's the recipe so far....

Pour Moi - Abbey Trippel 23L

Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.045 SG
Expected OG: 1.076 SG
Expected FG: 1.008 SG
Apparent Attenuation: 88.6 %
Expected ABV: 9.1 %
Expected ABW: 7.2 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 31.8 IBU
Expected Color (using Morey): 4.6 SRM
BU:GU ratio: 0.42
Mash Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Duration: 90.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 18-24 degC

Fermentables
UK Lager Malt 5.000 kg 66.7 % In Mash
UK Munich Malt 1.000 kg 13.3 % In Mash
Sugar - White Sugar/Sucrose 1.500 kg 20.0 % End Of Boil

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
UK Golding 4.8 % 50 g 23.7 Loose Whole Hops First Wort Hopped
Czech Saaz 3.5 % 50 g 8.0 Loose Whole Hops 15 Min From End
Czech Saaz 3.5 % 25 g 0.0 Loose Whole Hops At turn off

Yeast
Wyeast 1214-Belgian Ale slurry from previous beer.

Water treatment will be just knocking the TA down to about 30 with CRS and then a teaspoon of gypsum in the mash and another in the boil.

This is very similar to the Singel recipe in terms of hops, yeast, fermentables (except the sugar) and water treatment as i want to compare and contrast the two beers when done.

My main worry for this one will be sufficient oxygenation. I've got plenty of yeast, but no oxygen or airstone etc....do you think that a good whip around with the paint mixer will oxygenate this enough, or should I go out and buy an air pump and stone?

[adm]

Ooops.....forgot to say:

3 hour mash starting at 65C and finishing wherever it ends up (probably around 62-63C)
90 minute boil
Fermentation starting at 18C and ramping up 1C per day to end at 24C
Probably? primed in the corny with additional sugar.

[Barley Water]

I think what you are attempting will work but if I were doing it, I would probably mess with things a little. First off, I would probably let the O.G. get to around 1.080-1.085, the higher the gravity, the more yeast character you will end up with. Also, I personally just hate to add straight cane/beet sugar to anything, I use jaggary in Belgians I make but for a tripple, I would consider maybe a little honey? I just got score sheets back from a really big contest and I did pretty well with a Belgian Blonde I entered which had about 15% jaggery if I remember correctly (no metals but the beer scored around 38 and made the second round so I was a happy boy). You can also spice a triple if you wish. I really love making Belgians since you can really play around with formulation, also of course they are a blast to drink.

[adm]

Thanks BW,

I've heard quite a lot about Jaggery - I might try and find some...I also worry a bit about using plain old table sugar, as it won't add anything to the taste, but I don't want to darken the beer up much if at all. I don't know about honey though - I'm not a big fan of honeyed beers, but i do have a little place selling local honey just down the road, so it might be worth a punt.

As for the OG - I might add another half kilo of malt which would take it up to 1081 - if I add another half kilo to that, I end up at 1085 and 10.2% ABV! I'm not really sure how to split out the sugar and malt ration though as I want to avoid the beer beig too cloying from all the malt, but also too "empty" from the sugar - so i probably don't want to go any higher than 20% sugar.

[Barley Water]

Wow, if I had a supply of local honey just down the road, I would be all over that. Maybe you can work out something with the local beekeeper and get a beer for honey swap going, you would save some money. I have never messed around with honey myself so I have no words of wisdom about that but my understanding is that all honey is somewhat different depending on the local conditions. You would be making a one of a kind product unique to your little corner of the world which of course is the ultimate expression of the brewers art. Maybe somebody on these boards has some honey experience and knows how to add honey to beer in such a way as to retain some of the unique flavor although honey should dry out your beer just as sugar would (for example dry meads). Anyhow, go for it man, I think you are on the verge of greatness.

[Swinging Beef]

When brewing belgian HG beers, to get them to finish dryer, I add any simple sugars mid ferment.
This way the yeasties havent been exposed to a massive 1.100 OG wort and they have started munching their way through the complex sugars already.
Once your gravity has dropped around 2/3 of where you target it finishing, THEN boil up your sugar, chill to an appropriate temperature and add it to the already 2/3 fermented wort.
This is also an opportunity to adjust the temp of your wort if you do not have temperature control. CHil to near freezing or add when warm.



All we are saying, is give yeast a chance.

[adm]

[Edit] Ooops...wrong thread

[adm]

Well.....this beer is now down to 1007! That's 91.7% attenuation and 11.2% ABV. Certainly sounds like a Trippel!

There's certainly something to be said for:

1) Pitching big. A complete slurry from a "regular" batch of beer works wonders if you are attempting a "big" beer
2) Fermentation temperature control.

The sample I just had was still completely full of yeast, but the initial taste is excellent. You can easily feel the warmth of the alcohol, but there's a little banana and bubblegum, a hint of orange and some other spicey tastes evident. I think it's going to be excellent, even if it is serious loopy juice. I'm going to leave it until this weekend and then keg or bottle it.

[DarloDave]

When I get around to brewing some belgians, I've been thinking, and although it seems wrong to keg say a tripel, I think im going to still do it rather than bottle, as its just too much fannying on.

[adm]

I hear you on that.....I'm quite tempted to bottle this one up and leave it to fester for a while, but it's so much easier to keg it.

The only problem I have with kegging is that there's always the temptation to fill the glass up again, and at 11%+, that could be lethal!

Maybe what I'll do is keg it up as normal, then leave it in my lager fridge at close to 0C to cold condition like a lager. Although, I'm interested to see what a secondary in the bottle with extra sugar would do.....

I guess it will come down to how lazy I'm feeling at the weekend....

[DarloDave]

Haha the temptation to keep filling the glass is a good thing, right? . When pitching a big beer on the yeast, is it as simple as just washing the bits of yeasty crap off the sides, and giving as much as of the FV a quick wash with star san, then running off a new beer on top?

[adm]

Basically, yes.....

I've done a few where I just wiped the ring of trub off the FV and then pitched straight into it. For this one, as I wasn't ready to do the Trippel right away, I just siphoned the beer out of the FV, gave it a good swirl round and tipped it into a sanitised, lidded 3L bucket and then stuck that in the fridge. When I was ready to brew, it had settled out nicely, so I tipped the remaining beer off the top and then added the lot to the new batch of beer.

It went off like a rocket!

[DarloDave]

Cheers adm! I can see myself doing that in the future to make liquid yeasts seem a bit less expensive.