I brewed a Belgian Tripel. Fermentation is mostly complete. I want to age it on the yeast cake for a few months. My question: What would be a better temperature for long term? My 63 degree basement, or 71 degree closet upstairs? I'm hoping to bring out as much of the flavor characteristics of the yeast as I can. Thanks!
I think the beer would likely clear better at the colder of the two temps. At the higher temp youd likely get some more yeast character , but I dont know by how much.
Why do you want to age it on the yeast? Exactly what do you mean by "flavor characteristics of the yeast"? If you mean the phenol/ester profile of the yeast then aging the beer on the yeast cake is not going to help with that as those characteristics develop during primary fermentation. What aging a high gravity beer on a yeast cake for an extended period of time may do, however, is give you autolysis characteristics.
A few months? I'd recommend aging in a secondary, keg, or bottles. Higher temps generally accelerate aging processes, but they also shorten your shelf life (which is really saying the same thing in a sense). I would err on the side of caution and age at the lower temp.
So, I should transfer to a secondary vessel? I've left my other high gravity brews on the yeast cake and never had an issue with autolysis. Granted, I've only gone several weeks in primary, not several months.
Several weeks is fine, several months may be pushing it. What is your goal? What flavor characteristics are you looking for?
Ok, thanks. I used Wyeast 3787, so hopefully it turns out good. What flavor characteristics might develop with extended aging in a fermentor? Is it not worth the time/effort?
You will not get that from aging the beer on the yeast cake, you get that by controlling the fermentation characteristics (i.e. pitching rate, fermentation temp, etc).
I personally would not recommend that you bulk age/secondary your Tripel. Once your fermentation is done (you have reached final gravity and all fermentation aspects have completed) I would recommend that you then bottle your beer. Once bottled, you can decide to conduct some extended bottle aging if you desire some complex flavors to your beer. I use 3787 all the time to ferment my Dubbels. I personally prefer to drink my homebrewed Dubbels on the young side (i.e., only a few months in the bottle); the combination of esters & phenols are more ‘bright’ and prominent when the beer is younger. I will also age a few bottles and the beer most definitely takes on a different character with time in the bottle; I would describe the beer as having more complexity in its flavor profile due to flavors which have developed with time in the bottle (flavors from oxidation). Good luck with your Tripel! Cheers!
If you want more complex flavors out of Belgians try mixing different yeast strains and varrrying the temperature during primary fermentation. Triples and Belgians do very well in bottle conditioning, I let my Belgians condition in the bottle for months before cracking a single one; and typically have at least a case around the 1 year mark. Especially with high gravity brews, they love aging in the bottle and reward patience with complexity and belgo goodness!
I'll second this. I have made some that start out tasting kind of plain, but get more Belgian-ish flavors as they age. It depends on the yeast you use. I made an abbey ale with WLP-530 and it was certainly true of that beer. It didn't taste particularly like a Belgian when I bottled it, but after a month in the bottle it had picked up those complex flavors. On the other hand, I have a Belgian IPA aging in bottles right now. I used WLP-510 on that one, and it already has strong Belgian-ish flavors. I am currently reading "Brew Like a Monk" and am about halfway through the book. It seems that a good many Belgian breweries are letting their fermentation temperatures rise higher than I would have expected, and they will transfer the beer to a warm room after it has been bottled. The length of time they let it sit there varies. Based on this, I would recommend, like others have said, that you don't spend a lot of time in the primary, but go to the 71 degree room after bottling. Let it sit there for a week or two and then move it to a colder area.
Brewing a tripel this weekend and will ferment at 80F. I'd say the warmer of you two options would be better for the style
“Brewing a tripel this weekend and will ferment at 80F.” 80 degrees is very, very warm. What yeast strain are you using? Cheers!
Yeast: Westmalle Primary Fermentation: Yeast is pitched at 64° F (18° C), allowed to rise to 68° F (20° C), 5 to 6 days Secondary Fermentation: 4 weeks at 46° F (8° C) Also Noteworthy: Bottle-conditioned with primary yeast This is from Brew Like A Monk about Westmalle Tripel's fermentation timeline and temps.
I experimented a lot with temperature variation- in belgian styles specifically. I did some whacky things. Sometimes good sometimes bad. I really like the unique fruity character I get from starting on the low end of the ferm temp spectrum for the yeasts I use, holding for the first 2 days of primary and then slowly going up about 5 degrees over 2-3 days, slowly going down 2 degrees over 2 days and then up another 5 over 3 days. Then I remove the majority of the yeast slurry (I shoot for 3/4's removed as I like my belgians to have that yeastiness) and drop it down to 48-52 for 2-3 weeks in secondary. I tend to let my Belgians dry out just a bit more than most people do as well and push the OG to the high end of the spectrum for the style. In my experience- blending yeast strains together and varying temperatures during primary will yield a MUCH more complex belgian that will please the palette more so than single yeast single ferm/primary temperature recipes. A lot of brewers I've known over the years will use corriander, orange peel, lemon peel or other such specialty ingredients to get different/complex flavors in belgians, but I really do not like beers with those additions in them most of the time, I really like the yeast to dominate the flavor in belgians.
