AG#9 - Isaac's Tripel

[olriley]

I wanted to try something inspired by the Belgian Tripels we know and love. So, after playing around with a recipe a little bit here, I brewed up yesterday. A few small changes to what I'd discussed - when I added 200g torrefied wheat I forgot to remove the equivalent MO, so slightly bigger grain bill. Also turns out I had no Northern brewer so I used EKG as bittering and aroma. White table sugar added at the end of the boil. Hopped wort tasted fab.

First time using liquid yeast so I did a nice big starter. WLP350 really is a beast, going like the clappers now.

Brew Length: 23 L
Mash Minutes: 90 Minutes
Mash Temperature: 65.0 °C
Boil Minutes: 90 Minutes
Yeast: White Labs Abbey Ale Yeast - (WLP530)
Notes:

Fermentables:
Pale Malt - Maris Otter Grain 5500g
Table Sugar Sugar 1000g
Wheat - Torrified Grain 200g
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L Grain 50g

Bittering Hops:
Name Weight (grams) % Weight %AA Mins IBU % IBU
Goldings, East Kent 50 100 6.5 90 27.4 100


Aroma Hops:

Goldings, East Kent 10g 30 mins steep


Expected OG: 1077 points The expected starting gravity points, e.g. 1054 points
Expected FG: 1017 points The expected finishing gravity points, e.g. 1007 points
Expected ABV: 7.9 % The expected alcohol content based on OG and FG
Expected IBU: 27.4 IBU The expected bitterness, e.g. 34.6 IBU
Expected SRM: 7.0 SRM The expected colour in SRM units, e.g. 13.1 SRM

 

[olriley]

Pics!
Hit just over my mash temp with a strike temp of about 80C and a little cool water added. Hardly budged over the mash period, wrapped the tun in loads of old curtains.

Sparging

Made a pint and a half starter of OG1040 DME the day before. Had reached a nice Krausen by the time of pitching

Used a blow-off tube for this one. Today, 24 H later, there is a constant stream of CO2 so I reckon it was quite necessary

 

[Jeff Brewjubbly]

Looks like a beast :) Nice one !

 

[olriley]

Good job I used a blow-off tube - not seen such a strong fermentation before.

 

[morethanworts]

Nice one. :thumb: What was your OG?

 

[Asalpaws]

Nice brew! I would expect your FG to be much lower than 1.017 the software gives. Depends a bit on mash temp but most of these yeasts seem to finish dry!

 

[olriley]

Cheers. I always come up slightly short and strong on wort, so it was about 20.5L at 1086. I have liquored back today with cooled boiled water to 23L which should give me more or less what I wanted, 1077.

 

[olriley]

Right, this is still bubbling away through the blow off tube after two weeks in the primary! :shock:

I am inclined not to worry, as everything was well sanitised and is sealed up (apart from the blow off, bubbling through sanitised water solution), just wondered whether anyone with more experience of high gravity beers and trappist yeast can comment on whether this is normal?

Cheers

 

[PD]

patience is a virtue....let it take all the time it needs

just keep it sanitised.

and dont forget...conditioning will take some time.

 

[olriley]

Thanks, that's my usual approach. Its tempting to fiddle around with these things but I've always got better beer when I've left alone.

 

[morethanworts]

I've used WY 3787, which is apparently same as wlp 530, twice now. Once on a 1075 Tripel and one 1085. Both took 3 weeks to ferment completely out (both to 1009: slightly different recipes) even with temp raised to 24C after the first few days and even with 2.5L stepped starter. Krausen stayed right until it had finished, both times, then dropped.

Sounds fine to me.

 

[olriley]

Bottled last night, tasting absolutely amazing already, I have extreme high hopes for this. FG was 1016 and I added a little priming sugar.

 

[morethanworts]

Glad it tastes good! :

1016 seems a little high (only around 80% attenuation from 1077) perhaps, compared to my admittedly limited experience with WY 3787, and considering your low mash and as per Asalpaws' comment above. Did you raise the temperature in the later stages of primary?

I've found carbonation to be poor after 2 weeks at room temperature (not that it's ready for drinking yet anyway), despite heavy priming, so I've given them a boost on a heated floor for a week, brought the yeast into suspension, and the tester bottle has gone firmer.

 

[olriley]

I did think that 1016 was still high, and there was a definite residual sweetness to the taste (not unexpected for the style though). I did not raise the temp in the primary, which was sitting in a room with an ambient randing from 15 to 20 ish C. Should I have tried a few days with the brew belt on perhaps? Didn't think of that.

I almost omitted the priming sugar in the bottles; as it was I went a little lighter than normal - perhaps a third tsp per pint.

I can move them to a warmer room to carbonate, I suppose the worse that will happen is that I get over-carbonated beer but it may just work out nicely...

CHeers for the advice!