Belgian Tripel (advice please!)

[mysterio]

I'm going to try my hand at a high gravity Belgian Tripel. This is a bit of a monster of a beer so i'd appreciate any advice, especially from folks with Belgian beer brewing experience. I'm using WLP510 (Orval strain) for this. The plan is to do a big 4 L starter, aerate will with an aeration stone, and ferment the main beer at around 20C (possibly higher).

Is it important to bottle these beers? Just about everywhere I read advises to bottle these styles without really going into the reasons why. I would quite like to just cornie keg this and force carbonate so I don't have to faff about with re-pitching yeast, or the possibility that the beer won't carbonate properly because of the alcohol content.

Also any tips on the kind of maturation time I should give this would be welcome. I'm sure I read somewhere that Westmalle don't age their Tripel for very long.

This is a recipe adapted from Pierre Rajotte's 'Belgian Ale' book from the classic beer style series.

Tripel
Belgian Tripel

Type: All Grain
Date: 04/03/2007
Batch Size: 5.00 Imp gal
Brewer: Geoff
Boil Size: 5.72
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.0

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.30 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 88.5 %
60.00 gm Styrian Goldings [5.40%] (60 min) Hops 24.5 IBU
20.00 gm Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.2 IBU
0.95 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 11.5 %
1 Pkgs Bastogne Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP510) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Measured Original Gravity: 1.081 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.0 %
Bitterness: 25.7 IBU Calories: 368 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.7 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Step Add 16.79 L of water at 72.1 C 65.0 C 90 min

[BarryNL]

I'm sure I read somewhere that Westmalle don't age their Tripel for very long.

Strange, from the Westmalle site (in English) "Westmalle Tripel is a clear, golden yellow Trappist beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle"

..while in Dutch.. "Tripel van Westmalle is een helder, goudgeel trappistenbier dat gedurende drie weken nagist in de fles"

Which says that it undergoes a secondary fermentation for three weeks in the bottle.

Obviously translated after a couple of bottles...

[Frothy]

Is that a stepped infusion mash Mysterio or Decoction?

Frothy

[steve_flack]

Usually a Belgian brewer would step mash but there's no real reason why you should if your malt's good. Personally I'd add a smidgen of aromatic malt into the grist but that's just me. Other than that the recipe is fine. If you're aiming for Westmalle Tripel then you need a lot more hops as it's around 37IBU IIRC. Many other Tripels are nowhere near that bitter and I prefer them that way.

There's no reason why you can't do it in a keg. I've had Tripels "van't vat" and they're fine - maybe not as complex as they would have been with a bit of bottle conditioning and age but fine nonetheless. Gouden Carolus tripel is nice on draught - it has a hint of coriander which I think comes from the actual spice not from the yeast (it can be hard to tell with Belgians)

[onlooker]

If you want the best out of the style you should bottle it. Bottle Conditioning gives belgian styles much character.

If you want lots of fruity estery bordering on phenolic belgian yeast character go for far higher tha 20c.

[tribs]

I find that when I get into those kind of gravities my efficiency suffers, so you may want to add a little extra malt to make up for any shortfall.

Belgian Tripels are usually brewed with spices. All of the recipes for Tripels I have seen have either coriander or grains of paradise in.

Tripels are best relatively young. They tend to become dry with age.

[steve_flack]

Belgian Tripels are usually brewed with spices. All of the recipes for Tripels I have seen have either coriander or grains of paradise in.

Spices are common but by no means always used - for example Westmalle doesn't use them AFAIK. On the other hand they can be rather yummy. Just don't overdo them.

[oblivious]

Here is a clone that a few lads have been working on

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
80.0 12.00 lbs. Pilsener Belgium 1.037 2
20.0 3.00 lbs. Cane Sugar 1.047 0

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 3.80 3.6 First WH
2.00 oz. Hallertauer Whole 4.80 23.1 60 min.
0.50 oz. Tettnanger Pellet 4.00 4.1 30 min.
1.00 oz. Czech Saaz Pellet 2.80 1.5 5 min.


Extras

Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 Tsp Irish Moss Fining 15 Min.(boil)


Yeast
-----

WYeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity

[mysterio]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not going for an out and out Westmalle clone, just a nice, dry, aromatic Tripel. Although I appreciate Westmalle invented the style. I want to avoid spices and get all the flavours from my yeast if possible.

If you want the best out of the style you should bottle it. Bottle Conditioning gives belgian styles much character.

This confuses me slightly, why would it be better when it's bottle conditioned? What happens in a bottle that doesn't happen in a keg?

[onlooker]

This confuses me slightly, why would it be better when it's bottle conditioned? What happens in a bottle that doesn't happen in a keg

The carbonation and the proximity of the beer you are drinking to the yeast just seems to suit Belgian styles. Draft Belgians are seldom as complex as bottled versions of the same beer. However draft versions are not usually cask conditioned so that could be the difference.

I think so much of the character of Belgian beer styles hinges on the yeast, and what esters it creates, when you are bottle conditioning you are creating a specific environment for that yeast which you dont get if you keg it.

Belgian styles are often very highly primed to encourage a serious refermentation in the bottle.

[mysterio]

Agreed, the high carbonation is a hallmark of these styles of beer but I don't see why I couldn't achieve that in a keg and a fair length of beer line.

[onlooker]

Absolutly . I think you can create a great Draft Triple, it will be different to a BC one thats all.

[tribs]

mysterio, why not keg most of it but bottle a few and see if you can notice the difference. I do this quite regularly with most of my ales and there is generally a marked difference between keg and bottle. Mind you, I don't add dry hops to the bottles

My kegs are currently full so I had to bottle my recent Aventinus clone. Its quite satisfying looking at 40 odd bottles afterwards. Its a lot easier to quantify how much you have to drink

[steve_flack]

Its a lot easier to quantify how much you have to drink

That's one reason I don't bottle - the wife might know how much I've had from the empties