After reading an article on Tripel's in the May-June BYO mag, I decided to give it a go. I adjusted their AG recipe a little and it has turned out very similar to a Westmalle Tripel. Personally, I prefer Chimay Cinq Cents but I am not complaining...
21 Litres AG
OG = 1.079 @ 24C
FG = 1.010 @ 21C
IBU = 33 ABV = 9.2%
Ingredients:
5.5kg JW Pilsner malt
100g aromatic malt
100g Carapils
1.2kg white sugar (normal white sugar)
55g Tettnang hops 4%AA @ 60 mins
10g Saaz hops 4% AA @ 10 mins
Wyeast 1388 (Belgian Strong Ale) - add yeast cake from 4L starter.
Make a 4 Litre yeast starter (4L water and 400g light DME) a week before brew day. Remove beer from yeast cake once yeast flocs.
Add grains to 11.5L of 63C water. Temp should stabilise at 55C (+/-). Hold for 30 mins (protein rest). Add 5.5L of boiling water to bring temp up to 65C. Hold at 65C for 90 minutes. Complete conversion by raising temp to 70C for 10 mins. Mash out at 76C. Sparge with 77C water to collect about 25L of wort.
Boil for 90 minutes to reduce SMM in Pilsner malt. Add Tettnang hops at 60 mins from end of boil. Add half Whirfloc at 15 mins from end of boil. Add Saaz hops at 10 mins from end of boil.
Chill wort to 24C and transfer to fermenter. Add water to get 20L. Aerate very well. Pitch yeast cake at 24C and stir. Ferment at 21C - 24C until airlock stops bubbling. Boil 1kg of sugar in 1 Litre of water with a teaspoon of citric acid for 10 mins. Add sugar to fermenter and give it a stir without introducing too much air to beer. (I also added another 200g of white sugar that had been caramelised - toffee colour).
Ferment out then transfer to secondary fermenter for 3 weeks. Keg or bottle once beer clears.
NOTE: The beers tastes very similar to Westmalle Tripel after only two weeks in the keg. Very noticeable alcohol warming but this should settle slightly after another couple of weeks. I would not do a protein rest next time considering the high alcohol content - head retention and Belgian lacing is not as good as Westmalle. I might also add another 100-200g of Carapils to help with head retention. It should get better with age as bubbles get smaller. JW Pilsner malt seems fine for this style as it is not about the malt as much as yeast and fermentation characteristics.
Any observations or tips are welcome.
21 Litres AG
OG = 1.079 @ 24C
FG = 1.010 @ 21C
IBU = 33 ABV = 9.2%
Ingredients:
5.5kg JW Pilsner malt
100g aromatic malt
100g Carapils
1.2kg white sugar (normal white sugar)
55g Tettnang hops 4%AA @ 60 mins
10g Saaz hops 4% AA @ 10 mins
Wyeast 1388 (Belgian Strong Ale) - add yeast cake from 4L starter.
Make a 4 Litre yeast starter (4L water and 400g light DME) a week before brew day. Remove beer from yeast cake once yeast flocs.
Add grains to 11.5L of 63C water. Temp should stabilise at 55C (+/-). Hold for 30 mins (protein rest). Add 5.5L of boiling water to bring temp up to 65C. Hold at 65C for 90 minutes. Complete conversion by raising temp to 70C for 10 mins. Mash out at 76C. Sparge with 77C water to collect about 25L of wort.
Boil for 90 minutes to reduce SMM in Pilsner malt. Add Tettnang hops at 60 mins from end of boil. Add half Whirfloc at 15 mins from end of boil. Add Saaz hops at 10 mins from end of boil.
Chill wort to 24C and transfer to fermenter. Add water to get 20L. Aerate very well. Pitch yeast cake at 24C and stir. Ferment at 21C - 24C until airlock stops bubbling. Boil 1kg of sugar in 1 Litre of water with a teaspoon of citric acid for 10 mins. Add sugar to fermenter and give it a stir without introducing too much air to beer. (I also added another 200g of white sugar that had been caramelised - toffee colour).
Ferment out then transfer to secondary fermenter for 3 weeks. Keg or bottle once beer clears.
NOTE: The beers tastes very similar to Westmalle Tripel after only two weeks in the keg. Very noticeable alcohol warming but this should settle slightly after another couple of weeks. I would not do a protein rest next time considering the high alcohol content - head retention and Belgian lacing is not as good as Westmalle. I might also add another 100-200g of Carapils to help with head retention. It should get better with age as bubbles get smaller. JW Pilsner malt seems fine for this style as it is not about the malt as much as yeast and fermentation characteristics.
Any observations or tips are welcome.
