I'm doing Brewer's Best Belgian Tripel for my fourth homebrew. I know a Tripel would be better bottle conditioned but I got a kegging system as a gift and want to use it for this batch. My question's are really about how long should I do the secondary fermentation; what fermenting temp should I shoot for; and what should I pressurize it at when I get to it? OG 1.083 Primary ferm was 3 days (seems really short) but it was done bubbling Temp was around 65F which could have been the problem I think I just put it in the secondary today, Brewer's Best suggests 4-6 weeks but I heard it should be aged for many months. Does this matter if I'm kegging? Thanks for any help.
I am unfamiliar with Brewers Best kits. What yeast came with that kit? What was your measured specific gravity of the beer when you transferred it? Cheers!
I would keep it in the secondary for 25 days at 70 deg. Take a gravity reading after that and if you are at your calculated Fg you are ready to keg or bottle. If you brew this again I would try and keep your temp at 70 and skip the secondary. I've had good results doing that and waiting 4 weeks.
Jack- not sure what the yeast strain was and I actually skipped measuring the specific gravity prior to secondary.
So I'm going to crank it up to 70 deg, check gravity at 25 days, once ready keg it. Then am I good or should I age it?
I wish you good luck with this batch. Sometimes a beer just needs some 'positive vibes'. For future brewing: Primary fermentation does not typically complete in a timeframe of 3 days (especially high gravity beers like a Tripel) There really is no reason to conduct a secondary unless you are doing something 'special' like adding fruit or oak or ... So, in other words it is 'best' to just keep your beers in the primary despite what the kit instructions state. Taking note of the yeast strain is worthwhile and if you decide to transfer to s secondary (which I discourage) take a specific gravity reading. For this batch, maintain positive vibes. Transferring after three days was less than ideal. Best of luck to your Tripel! Cheers!
Unfortunately, I should have checked my gravity before secondary. I put it away for 1 month and checked it out a few days ago to find out my FG 1.030. I'm thinking the kit had some weak yeast. Anyways I was still stubborn so I kegged it, but not that enjoyable. I'll probably pitch it once my hefe finishes and I can keg that.
My friend brewed this kit and it had T-58 dry yeast (If memory serves). Let it ride. Very cloying sweetness when green, but after a month or 2 it inspired me to do my own Tripel recipe. Very good kit IMO.
Secondary fermentation is kind of a misnomer. There isn't actually a second fermentation that takes place. Secondarys for home brewers are basically the same thing as dumping the yeast out of a conical. As others have stated, keep it on the yeast the whole time unless you are adding other ingredients to the beer. It still may turn out fine, but leave it on yeast longer next time, no matter what the kit directions say.
I am really not trying to be snarky or rude, but an un-enjoyable Tripel with a FG of 1.030 that was only on the active yeast slurry for 3 days then aged a month in secondary w/o sufficient numbers or health of yeast to actually do anything against the collaborative wisdom of some of BA's finest isn't the yeast's fault. 3 weeks is the shortest amount of time the beer should have been in contact with that yeast, then allowed to age another 6-8 weeks after bottle carbing. I know the desire to keg is relentless once you get into it, but for big beers like that you should really bottle them unless you have quite a few spare kegs to age stuff in and still have your kegarator full of your easy drinking everyday beers.
I'm thinking the beer wasn't left in primary long enough, and was possibly under pitched. Was this liquid yeast or dry yeast? if it was liquid yeast did you make a starter?
Sorry for the late message, It was a dry yeast that came in the kit. Either way thanks everybody for the input on everything, I'm still a beginner home brewer, this was definitely a more advanced brew than I should've undertaken. From what I'll take with me for next brew: Make a yeast starter; Primary ferment for longer; and bottle this style over kegging.
“Secondary fermentation is kind of a misnomer.” In the context of transferring from the primary to another bulk vessel that is indeed true. A more accurate term would be secondary conditioning. For folks like me who bottle their beers via bottle conditioning a secondary fermentation does indeed take place in the bottle. Cheers!
