Belgian triple attempt

Style: Belgian Tripel OG: 1.083
Type: All Grain FG: 1.022
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 7.99 %
Calories: 272 IBU’s: 21.88
Efficiency: 70 % Boil Size: 5.83 Gal
Color: 5.1 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal
Boil Time: 60 minutes

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
(none)

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
12.00 lbs 72.73 % Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 60 mins 1.036
0.50 lbs 3.03 % Belgian Caramel Pils 60 mins 1.034
1.00 lbs 6.06 % Wheat Malt, Bel 60 mins 1.037
1.25 lbs 7.58 % Candi Sugar, Clear 60 mins 1.036
0.50 lbs 3.03 % Oats, Malted 60 mins 1.037
1.25 lbs 7.58 % Corn Sugar (Dextrose) 60 mins 1.046

Hops
Amount IBU’s Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 14.49 Styrian Goldings 60 mins 5.40
0.25 ozs 2.68 Saaz 60 mins 4.00
0.50 ozs 4.71 Saaz 40 mins 4.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.0 pkg Belgian Ardennes Wyeast Labs 3522

Additions
(none)

Mash Profile
(none)

Carbonation
(none)

Notes

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  1. Plan on this beer getting well below 1.022 FG. You want it about 12 points lower really.
  2. What is the purpose of the Oats? I would leave them out unless you were looking to use them for a particular reason.
    3.Wheat Malt - any particular reason? I would lose the wheat, and add more Pils.
  3. You can use regular table sugar instead of the corn sugar. It is cheaper and is going to do the same thing…boost the OG and help the beer get down to a lower FG.
  4. You will want to boil this for 90 minutes to drive off the DMS created by the Pils malt. You can still use the hop addition at 60 minutes though.
  5. Make sure to make a starter for the yeast and don’t be afraid to the let the beer temperature rise to the high 60’s and low 70’s…assuming you did not know this.

+1 to all this ^^^^

I would also add you want to mash low… like around 147-148F to get a more fermentable wort. I mashed my Tripel at 147F for 90min. Started at 1.092 and finished at 1.010. Used Wyeast 3787. Pitched at 60F and raised the temp 2˚ every day for about a week. When I make it again, I’d pitch a little warmer. Maybe around 65F and raised the temps again into the 70’s.

P.S. Mine was just Pils, candi sugar and Saaz hops.

Definitely an unconventional recipe. Using non-barley grains is the approach in Tripel Karmeliet, a very good beer, most Tripels are simpler in terms of grain bill.

The biggest thing I see is that your IBUs are too low. My Tripel has an OG of 1.084 and an FG of 1.010 and I shoot for 35 IBUs. My grain bill is Pils plus a pound and a quarter of Munich malt (recently I blended both a light and a dark Munich). I really like that little bit of grainy punch from the Munich.

I really don’t see the need for Cara-pils. You want the opposite of what this malt adds.

Thanks for the help I revised to this.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
12 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 82.8 %
1 lbs Munich 10L (Briess) (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.9 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 3 10.3 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 26.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 5 5.5 IBUs
1.0 pkg Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) [124.21 ml] Yeast 6 -

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.079 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.009 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.2 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 32.1 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 5.1 SRM

To help dry it out, I will not add the sugar until a few days later when fermentation is starting to die down. Add the sugar to just enough water to make it liquid. boil for 15 min and cool. pitch and watch it go crazy

Your second recipe looks much better and all the above advice is very good. I still like Styrian Goldings in a Belgian though. They have a nice citrus character. You could use them in the flavor addition.

The yeast you are going to use will have a very high krausen. You may want to split the batch between two fermenters. Put 2.5 -3 gallons in each carboy if this is a 5-6 gallon batch. If the yeast jumps out of the top, you will not get a low terminal gravity which is important to this style.

I usually brew a 1.050+ blond ale, and then drop the triple on top of that. You can drink the blond while the triple conditions. The blond is also a little bit more alcohol friendly so you can drink more of it.

+1. This needs to be 1.012 or lower FG otherwise it will be too sweet. I added my 2lbs of regular table sugar (boiled w/water into a simple syrup) after the krausen started to fall. If you add it in the boil your yeast tend to get lazy and not fully consume the maltose after snacking on the easy to digest sucrose, resulting in a way too high FG. My tripel went from 1.083 to 1.010 and the alcohol is barely perceivable (in taste anyway). I followed Jamil’s fermentation schedule of 65F and ramp up 1 degree each day until 70F and hold. Obviously much easier if you have a temperature controller. Good luck!!

EDIT: Like SA Brew says, the 3787 produces a monster krausen that takes awhile to fall. I used a yeast cake from a belgian pale ale and the ferment on both batches was quite explosive. Put a blowoff on from the get go just to be safe.

I’ve tried both adding sugar to the fermenter as well as to the boil with no noticeable difference in FG. I think it has more to do with the proper amount of healthy yeast and temperature control.

When I made Denny’s Westcoastmalle Tripel (highly recommended), I followed Denny’s advice and added the sugar to the boil. It went from 1.080 to 1.006.

The problem with a blow off tube, is you still lose yeast. I often use 2 carboys for 6 gallons of beer when using 3787/WLP 530. Lost yeast can lead to a high terminal gravity and a triple that is waaaay too sweet. Even my 1.045 table blond ale blew out of the top of a 6.5 gallon carboy (5 gallons in a 6.5 carboy.) This was not a problem for my blond, but I have had this problem when brewing a triple. 1.022 is still quite sweet. You ned to finish below 1.018, and 1.012 would probably be much better.

Thanks for all the help I am finally brewing this Sunday. Here is my final recipe.

1.00 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 4.5 IBUs
1.2 pkg Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787) [124.21 ml] Yeast 7 -
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (Weyermann) (1.7 SRM) Grain 1 41.7 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM) Grain 3 9.7 %
7 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsnermalt 6RW (Castle Malting) (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 41.7 %
1.50 oz Tradition [6.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 20.2 IBUs
1 lbs 4.0 oz Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 4 6.9 %

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.085 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.010 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 9.9 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 24.7 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 5.0 SRM