Belgian tripel using pale ale malt?

[Monkhouse]

I know people will scream Pilsner at me but here goes! My local brewery sells 25kg sacks of pale ale malt quite cheap, it’s decent malt and it means I can actually brew decent beers without forking out for expensive malt miller deliveries where they charge an absolute fortune for the base malts.
I’ve always wanted to brew a good Belgian tripel ever since myself and my wife honeymooned in Bruges, think kasteel beer
Anyway is it totally out of the question to brew a convincing Belgian beer using pale ale malt as the base?

 

[MickDundee]

I made a Helles with Maris Otter last year and won a category at the LAB competition. It can definitley work.

 

[Sadfield]

Go for it. There's all sorts in Tripel Karmeliet, Pilsner, wheat, oats, unmalted barley.

 

[Obadiah Boondoggle]

The major factor in Belgian Ales is Belgian yeast

It creates the distinctive Belgian flavour much more so than the base malts you use

Make sure you choose the right yeast

 

[Agentgonzo]

I'll check my copy of The Rules of Brewing for you.

...

No, that book doesn't exist. You may be brew your beer however you want, and name it whatever you like.

There's not a lot of difference between a pale ale malt and lager malt anyway.

 

[marshbrewer]

I have done this myself several times. As @Obadiah Boondoggle says, get the yeast and fermentation temps right, and I doubt you will notice a huge, if any, difference.

 

[prog99]

I know people will scream Pilsner at me but here goes! My local brewery sells 25kg sacks of pale ale malt quite cheap, it’s decent malt and it means I can actually brew decent beers without forking out for expensive malt miller deliveries where they charge an absolute fortune for the base malts.
I’ve always wanted to brew a good Belgian tripel ever since myself and my wife honeymooned in Bruges, think kasteel beer
Anyway is it totally out of the question to brew a convincing Belgian beer using pale ale malt as the base?

No problem at all. I've made a very good Czech Pilsner with pale ale malt.

 

[The Baron]

Use the book/rules as a guide only, I bastardise a lot of recipes to suit my personal taste and one of mine is I make a Oktoberfest but use 1 third Pale, Vienna and Munich and call it a triple grain brew and it suits me to a tea.
Follow the rules more if you are a beginner but do not be afraid to experiment. BJCP are only guidelines for most unless you are entering competitions and then some judges become too anal with it but some do flex.
Go for it

 

[chthon]

Yes, I made several with Dingemans Pale Ale malt (9 EBC), and I use it in my clone of Grolsch's "Kruidige Tripel". Just don't make it too complicated.

 

[Monkhouse]

Wow I wasn’t expecting such a positive response lol! So in terms of yeasts- I use dried yeast is there one people would recommend? I’ve used Safale t-58 with a leffe kit before with great results but I’m unsure of the abv limit of this one.
Does anyone a tried and trusted tripel recipe? 7-9% ish?

 

[The Baron]

CML do a couple of Belgian strains now I have used both and seem ok to me but not a Belgian beer expert so maybe listen to the aficionado's
Ps day out in my fave place today for 45th wedding anniversary so may try a few Belgians.
LEEDS

 

[Monkhouse]

CML do a couple of Belgian strains now I have used both and seem ok to me but not a Belgian beer expert so maybe listen to the aficionado's
Ps day out in my fave place today for 45th wedding anniversary so may try a few Belgians.
LEEDS

Wow I’m jealous, I’ve got covid and can’t smell or taste a thing, I’m devastated!
Have a great time!

 

[The Baron]

Wow I’m jealous, I’ve got covid and can’t smell or taste a thing, I’m devastated!
Have a great time!

So many great city centre pubs it's a beer drinkers heaven and will all be trimmed for Chrimbo.
Thankyou

 

[chthon]

Wow I wasn’t expecting such a positive response lol! So in terms of yeasts- I use dried yeast is there one people would recommend? I’ve used Safale t-58 with a leffe kit before with great results but I’m unsure of the abv limit of this one.
Does anyone a tried and trusted tripel recipe? 7-9% ish?

The T-58 has an alcohol resistance of 9 to 11%.

The simplest tripel recipe is a SMaSH. Only your pale ale malt, and one flavor hop. I once brewed one with only pils malt and EKG for bittering, flavor and aroma, the secret ingredient was the St.-Bernardus yeast. Mash 45 minutes at 65° C, then again 20 lminutes at 72° C.

 

[Monkhouse]

I have an ssbrewtech InfuSsion mash tun so unfortunately don’t have the ability to raise the mash temp that way. Is it totally necessary?
Edit: I could sparge at 72c for 20 minutes though, maybe this is what you meant anyway?

 

[Agentgonzo]

I have an ssbrewtech InfuSsion mash tun so unfortunately don’t have the ability to raise the mash temp that way. Is it totally necessary?

No. A single infusion mash temperature will be fine

 

[UKSkydiver]

I have only ever used dry.

I've used
- BE-256 in a Tripel
- MJ M47 in a Leffe Brun
- CML Monk in a Leffe Blond

All very nice beers, even though I say so myself.

 

[Monkhouse]

So what makes a tripel a tripel? I always thought it was triple grains? And likewise for dubbel, quad etc?

 

[Monkhouse]

I’ve just looked it up, it’s nothing g to do with triple grains so it’s just about the strength of the beers, typically around 9%

 

[Agentgonzo]

So what makes a tripel a tripel? I always thought it was triple grains? And likewise for dubbel, quad etc?

What makes a porter a porter? Stylings are just an arbitrary grouping of beers into categories to make it similar.

Trippels are generally, pale, strong abv, and fairly fizzy and have some decent phenolic flavours from the Belgian yeasts

The BJCP style  guidelines are a good source of information for styles, but don't get too hung up on their prescriptive wording like "it must be ..." and colour/ibu/abv ranges - take them for what they are: guidelines.