Begin Brewing!

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...

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...

I've been on a quest to find what, for me, is a perfect Belgian Tripel recipe.  I'd like something that's a cross between Tripel Karmeliet and Unibroue's La Fin Du Monde.  It should be slightly sweet, not too bitter, have a nice head on it, and have the typical spicy/fruity notes that true Belgian Tripels are noted for.  I've brewed a few extract-based tripels that weren't bad but weren't close to what I wanted. I've also brewed two or three all-grain tripels.  One of those either soured a bit in the kettle due to a stuck mash or I added too much coriander to it - I don't know. The bottom line is that I'm still chasing that Holy Grail of a tripel recipe I love. The good folks at CandiSyrup.com post clone recipes of popular Belgian beers which of course use their products for the adjunct components.  They have a recipe online for a Tripel Karmeliet clone .  I had intended to brew their recipe as-is but couldn't source all the ingredients loc...