Brewday 30th March - Belgian Tripel

[mysterio]

Finishing off the mash for this one at the moment. I set a timer switch to heat up the mash & sparge water at half 8 this morning, saved me a fair bit of time.

My liver isn't going to thank me for this...

Tripel
Belgian Tripel

Type: All Grain
Date: 30/03/2007
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Brewer: Geoff
Boil Size: 6.87 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.60 kg Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (3.9 EBC) Grain 89.4 %
100.00 gm Styrian Goldings [4.00%] (60 min) Hops 28.6 IBU
20.00 gm Saaz [4.00%] (5 min) Hops 1.1 IBU
0.90 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 EBC) Sugar 10.6 %
1 Pkgs Bastogne Belgian Ale (White Labs #WLP510) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.088 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.4 %
Bitterness: 29.7 IBU Calories: 405 cal/pint
Est Color: 9.5 EBC Color: Color

Mash Profile

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Step Add 19.76 L of water at 70.1 C 64.0 C 90 min

[bitter_dave]

I recommend not operating any heavy machinery after drinking this one

Have fun

[monk]

Wow! That looks tasty. I'd need an eye-dropper to taste the proper quantity without getting tossed.
Do you have much experience with the belgian yeast strains? I've only tried the White Labs "Abbey" ale yeast. It started off slowly, then went berzerk and needed a blow-off tube (5 gal in a 6.5 gal carboy). It smelled like sulfury farts, if you'll excuse the comparison. Unfortunately, I think I fermented it with too high a temp and it retained a powerful sulfur smell and flavor over months of conditioning. If I did it again I'd keep the fermentation in the low 70's F.
Anywhooo....good luck Myste!

Cheers,
monk

[mysterio]

Not really... I've tried the WL Trappist one and I really liked it. I just fancied trying this one because it's the Orval strain. I pitched it a couple of hours ago and my room already stinks of bananas

I'm struggling to aerate this one properly though, the foam coming from the aeration stone is extremely persistent.

[monk]

I pitched it a couple of hours ago and my room already stinks of bananas

LOL sounds like you've got the right temp, then. Like I said, mine smelled like a cross between a volcano and flatulence!

[maxashton]

Mmmm.. bananery fermentation.

Any chance of a pic of the krausen?

[mysterio]

I don't have a camera at the moment unfortunately, I wish i did - the stuff erupted out and crusted all over the floor

[oblivious]

Sweet, going to a nice one

[mysterio]

10 days and this is down from 1.085 to 1.003...

11% ABV

[iowalad]

Makes my TC look wimpy.
Am sure it will taste a lot better as well!

[SteveD]

10 days and this is down from 1.085 to 1.003...

11% ABV

Ouchy! Are you sure you haven't got an extra 0 in the lower reading?

[tubby_shaw]

Those Belgian yeasts don't take any prisoners
The gravity of my Chimay clone dropped like a stone as well

[mysterio]

I trust my refractometer - even though the plasic flip screen has broken off after a couple of weeks of use

I thought over-attenuation would be the least of my problems with this beer

[mysterio]

Just an update on this, sipping it just now and it's delicious. Closer to the likes of Delerium Tremens than something like Westmalle tripel. The Orval yeast has produced a fairly restrained Belgian character. Very tasty.

I just checked a drop of the beer in my refractometer and it says ~8.25. The OG was 1.085 - according to Beersmith my FG is 1.001! Can that be right? It doesn't taste as bone dry as that would suggest