I've been itching really badly at brewing up a nice Belgian Trippel to drink down here in Texas, (for when it decides to actually get cold). I made one in my early stages of brewing from a Brewer's Best kit and it turned out pretty kick-ass. However, i'm looking for a little more complexity and quality. I'd love to have something around the 9% level. Does anyone have a go-to favorite? Thank you!
Keep it super simple and let the yeast shine. I use the same basic recipe for almost all Belgians: 60% Pils, 10% adjunct grain(aromatic, wheat, or biscuit), 20% sugar added after ferment starts. About 1-2oz tops of a noble hop. A long mash at 148F, a huge yeast starter, and a ferment that starts at 66F for 48 hours-then add the sugars, and then let it get as warm as it wants until it reaches final gravity. It almost always gets lower than 1.016, usually lower than 1.010.
Another vote for keeping it simple. Mostly Pilsner malt with some sugar (e.g., 2-3 lbs.). The key as has already been mentioned is the yeast strain choice. I would strongly recommend the Westmalle yeast strain (e.g., Wyeast 3787) and ferment warm (e.g. 70-72 degrees F). Cheers!
I agree with keeping it simple. I've only done one tripel before but it turned out great. I don't have my recipe here at work, but I think the malt bill was 85% pils (I used grain and pils DME), 5% aromatic malt, and 10% clear candi sugar.
Just brewed this one up. Even with rice hulls it wanted to stick. Smells nice tho. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...znf9_xq-RoxVRlgDzZakxw&bvm=bv.107467506,d.cWw
That one sounds really tasty. The only thing is that I don't really have a way to control the heat for temperature. My house is staying at 70-72 right now. I could probably get by with that.
If you could maintain a fermentation temperature of 72 degrees F while using Wyeast 3787 that would be ideal in my opinion. Cheers!
Here is one I did for a Westmalle clone. All pilsner with cane sugar for 18.5% of fermentables, added sugar with 15 min left in boil. OG80 FG10. Sazz hops 21IBU at bittering 14IBU at 15min. Malty water profile which means about 100ppm Cl- 50 ppm Ca2+ and low everything else. I had very soft water at the time so it was easy to adjust. 90 min mash at 150F. WY3787 split pitch rate between 750K/ml/plato and 450K/ml/plato. They both finished at FG10. Fermented at 65 for 48 hours then let it rise. Was at 72F by 72hrs and 80F by 96hours where it stayed until finished. 10 days post brew I transfered to secondary and lagered for a month I think, did not write down how long I lagered. Bottle conditioned to 3.4vol. Should have been 3.6vol or so. Not quite Westmalle but not far off. Was tasty. Needed more carbonation but I chickened out at the last minute because I was sending it out to 4 other people and was afraid of bombs in transit. Low pitch rate had more phenols higher pitch rate had more esters. Edit: I am pretty sure I reyeasted at bottling. I also poured the wort from the fermenter to my pot the day after brewday for an extra oxygen shot which the yeast seems to like.
I do ~90% Belgian Pils, ~10% cane sugar. 25ibu, saaz. Mash at 148. I've had great luck using 3864, but 3787 and wlp500 have made the best Tripels I've done. The key is pitch rate and fermentation temps, not so much adjuncts.
Just brewed this one for the second time... http://beersmith.com/Recipes2/recipe_102.htm The first time around I had week yeast and it turned into a multi-month rescue project...which turned out FANTASTIC. As BEERSWIMMER mentioned, the yeast carries the day. After the "repairs" I let it sit in a secondary with practically zero headspace (filled up) for about 6 weeks. It's amazingly clear without any whirlfloc, etc. This time I made a big starter with yeast I harvested from the first batch, which ended up with some White Labs 568 and also Wyeast 1762.
