Begin Brewing!

The American Homebrewer's Association web site lists a recipe for a " Corn Tripel " (a Belgian style Tripel Ale brewed with corn as part of the grist).  I decided to brew that beer today, tweaked a little for my system and preferences. Ingredients 8.25 pounds Belgian Pilsen malt 1.25 pounds Flaked Corn (Maize) 10 ounces Clear Candi Sugar Rocks 0.25 ounces Hallertau Magnum hops 11.6%AA (FWH) 0.50 ounces Styrian Goldings hops 1.3% AA (30 min.) 0.50 ounces Hallertau Mittelfruh hops 3.8% AA (15 min.) 0.50 tsp. Irish Moss (15 min.) 0.50 tsp. Yeast Nutrient (15 min.) 0.125 tsp. Brewtan B (mash) 0.25 tsp. Brewtan B (boil, 20 min.) 1 package Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity 5 gallons RO water, treated with: 1 gram Calcium Chloride 1 gram Table Salt 0.5 grams Epsom Salt 3 grams Gypsum 1 gram Magnesium Chloride 1 ml. Lactic Acid 88% solution Use 3.75 gallons for mash, 1.25 gallons for sparge Note: If I was brewing this again, I'd do 3.75 gallons mash, 1.75 sparge, for 5.5 tot...

I'm a big fan of the Tripel Karmeliet Belgian Tripel. I've wanted to brew something similar since I started home brewing. My last couple of attempts have gotten close, but have lacked the bright lemony flavor and aroma I get from the real beer. Last time around I had a touch of that flavor. This time I'm making some changes to dial it up a notch. I'm adding more corn sugar to dry it out somewhat, doubling the amount of lemon peel in the boil, shifting the hop load closer to the end of the boil to pick up more of Hallertau Mittelfruh's citrus notes, and even including a bit of citric acid in the boil. I'm hoping that the addition of acid will brighten up the hop flavor, and the slight drying out will make the citrus clearer. Ingredients 6 pounds Swaen Pilsner Malt 1 pound Swaen Wheat Malt 8 ounces Flaked Oats 12 ounces of Corn Sugar added to the mash water 6 handfuls of rice hulls added to help the mash flow 0.50 ounces Hallertau Mittelfruh @ 2.7% A...

Back in June, I brewed my third attempt to clone the famous Tripel Karmeliet. While that version didn't taste like the bottled version of Karmeliet I'd always had, I happened to taste a draft version of the beer and it was a dead ringer for that. The difference between the two is that the draft version I tried did not have the fresh lemon notes I picked up in the bottled version. This time around, I'm trying to better replicate the bottled version. All the recipes I've seen used Hallertau Mittelfruh hops, which are described as mellow, spicy, and citrusy. I decided to use those in this version of the beer and add some lemon peel to see if that will help punch up the citrus flavors a little.  As strange as it may seem, the White Labs Sweet Mead Yeast produced a very good clone of Karmeliet on draft, so I'm planning to continue using it in this version. My last version also felt a bit more full-bodied than I wanted, so I'm adding a pound of corn suga...

2018 Tripel 1.0 Despite having had a Belgian Tripel take fourth place at the Ohio State Fair this year, I've still never really made one that I felt was "perfect" for my taste. I decided before brewing another that I'd study the style a bit, seeing what has worked for other brewers, and try to come up with my own recipe. I located as many Tripel recipes on the web as I could.  If the recipe was for a commercial Tripel, a commercially sold kit, published in a magazine, or listed as a winner in a home brewing contest, then I included it in the study.  There are many (possibly very good) Tripel recipes listed on the web that don't have a "track record" (for lack of a better phrase) associated with them.  I did not include those. The Style The BJCP 2015 definition for the Belgian Tripel style suggests the following: Overall Impression:   A pale, somewhat spicy, dry, strong Trappist ale with a pleasant rounded malt flavor and firm bitterness. Qu...

The finished beer My last attempt at a Tripel Karmeliet clone used what was purportedly the actual recipe from the 1600's. The beer came out darker, heavier-bodied, and far less lemony than the actual Bosteels product. This time around, I reduced the amount of wheat and oat in the mash, and included some Simplicity candi sugar to further lighten the body. To amp up the lemony flavor, I've used a mix of Hallertau Mittelfruh and Lemondrop hops, added lemon peel, and a small amount of coriander. The last time around, the Zymatic had trouble dealing with the grain bill for the beer (which was a full 9 pounds - the device's upper limit). Dropping a half pound of oats and a pound of wheat got the grain bill down a bit. The gravity should come out about the same, since I've added the candi syrup to the mash water (to give it a chance to caramelize during the boil). I edited the mash schedule to dough in at 113F, which hopefully will provide several benefits. At this te...

My homebrew version on left, actual Tripel Karmeliet on right Bosteel's Tripel Karmeliet is one of the best Belgian Tripels on the market. The official web site (linked earlier) claims that what makes the beer unique is its blend of three grains, which they claim is a recipe dating back to 1679. Roel Mulder, on his Lost Beers web site, researched the original recipe and shared it with the world.  I scaled that recipe to the 2.5 gallon capacity of the Zymatic and gathered the ingredients to brew it. The photo at the right is of the actual finished home brew and of a bottle of the real Bosteel's beer, poured within seconds of one another. Recipe 6 pounds Belgian Pilsen malt 2 pounds White Wheat malt 1 pound Flaked Oats 1.5 ounces Hallertau Mittelfruh hops @ 4.0% AA (60 min.) 0.5 ounces Hallertau Mittelfruh hops @ 4.0% AA (30 min.) 3.5 gallons water 1/2 vial Clarity Ferm 1 packet Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale yeast Note:   I have since read an uns...

The finished beer, poured into a glass I've been trying much of the year to find a Belgian Tripel recipe that matches up to my ideal. What I'm looking for would be mildly sweet, balanced slightly toward the malt, with a touch of citrus flavor, fruity/spicy notes, and a nice effervescence.  So far, all I seem to have managed are dry versions that are not terribly flavorful or aromatic.  Today I decided to give it one more try for 2017.  I'm not entirely sure of the origins of this recipe, other than that it probably started as one of the recipes on the American Homebrewing Association web site - with modifications by me.  It was another opportunity to work with the Picobrew Zymatic, too. Ingredients 6 pounds Belgian Pilsen Malt 0.25 pounds Cara-Pils/Dextrine Malt 2 ounces Biscuit Malt 2 ounces Aromatic Malt 2 ounces Honey Malt 18 ounces of Turbinado Sugar 0.55 ounces of Styrian Goldings hops @ 6.3% AA (60 min.) 1.00 ounces of Tettnanger hops ...

BYO Magazine posted a clone recipe for BJ's Brewhouse's Millennium Ale. This is a Belgian Tripel brewed with bitter orange peel, orange blossom honey, ginger root, and coriander.  They created it to celebrate Y2K and ended up brewing it for several years afterward.  I've always tried to make it a point to get to our local BJ's when they have this, but I've missed it the last year or two, so I decided to brew my own. At right, you see a photo with the actual BJ's brew on the left, purchased in a growler from them the day before the photo was taken, and a glass of the clone on the right. The Ingredients 11 pounds, 12 ounces Dingeman's Pale Ale Malt 2 pounds orange blossom honey 1 pound Simplicity Candi Syrup 1 ounce dried ginger root 1 ounce bitter orange peel 0.5 ounces crushed coriander seed 3 ounces Hallertau Hersbrucker @ 2.0% AA 0.5 ounces Hallertau Mittlefrueh @ 4.0% AA (added because I had no more Hersbrucker) 1 tablet whirlfloc 1/4 ts...

Back in May, I brewed my last attempt at a Belgian Tripel. All of the attempts so far have been good beers but haven't been exactly what I wanted... sort of  cross between Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde, Tripel Karmeliet, and Victory Golden Monkey. I want a mildly sweet base with notes of spice and fruit showing through. The recipe below is a variation on a La Fin Du Monde clone recipe I found, and marks the sixth time I've tried to brew a Tripel I really loved. The Ingredients 11 pounds of Bohemian Pilsner Malt 8 ounces of Honey Malt 4 ounces of Munich Malt 3 ounces of Cara-Pils Malt 2 ounces of Aromatic Malt 1.25 pounds of table sugar 1 pound of Golden Candi Syrup (5L) 1/2 tsp. Coriander seed, crushed 0.5 oz. Bitter Orange Peel 0.25 oz. Sweet Orange Peel 0.5 oz. Styrian Goldings @ 6.2% AA 0.35 oz. Northern Brewer @ 10.1% AA 0.3 oz. Styrian Goldings @ 6.2% AA 0.3 oz. Hallertau Mittelfrueh @ 4% AA 0.65 oz. Czech Saaz @ 3.2% 1 Campden Tabl...