Belgian double hopped tripel

[TomFogarty]

I figured I'd give that abbey malt a try, so I came up with a tripel recipe...

-   6 kg 2 row
-   2.5 kg abbey malt
-   400 g amber malt
-       200 g dark crystal
-   100 g med crystal
-   600 g light caramel
-   0.75 oz goldings (60 minutes)
-   1 oz saaz (60 minutes)
-   0.5 oz goldings (15 minutes)
-   0.5 oz saaz (15 minutes)
-   0.75 oz Amarillo (8 days dry)
-   0.75 oz saaz (8 days dry)
-   Wyeast Trappist high gravity

Maybe you guys are already turning me into a hophead, but I figured a bit more bitterness might be nice to balance out the sweetness at any rate.
Any thoughts on this? Never made Tripel before, so maybe some of you Belgian folk can offer some constructive criticism.

[Kyle]

I would reccomend cutting the Amarillo dry-hop to .5oz or even .25oz. Otherwise it will overwhelm the aroma.

[Richard]

IMHO you're gonna want to sub some sugar for some base malt, else the body will be uncharacteristically thick. Try 20% point-for-point (gravity). You also don't normally see that much caramel in a tripel; I'd drop the light entirely if it were me. Amarillo might not go too well with the saaz, maybe swap the amarillo for something else noble to avoid muddling the profile?

That said I'm no style nazi, so I'd be interested to try the result as-is

[TomFogarty]

I noticed a lot of recipes call for light candi sugar but I figured it would be easier and cheaper to just cook something up than to buy it. I'll caramelize the sugar, but keep it very light so it doesn't overpower anything, but the sugars are altered as to avoid those funky off flavours from regular table sugar. I may chop down the base malt a touch and throw some more sugar in, what type would be best? I've noticed when adding too much simple sugar I get a cidery flavour that takes away from the beer.

I've never actually used amarillo so maybe I'll save that for another day... maybe I'll just bump up the saaz in the dry hop. Just a preference, it's a personal favourite.

[Richard]

Myself and others have just use sucrose in place of candi sugar with no observable detriment (to our senses). Using sucrose can result in higher levels of acetaldehyde (tastes like green apples to some degree) but a little extra maturation will sort that out. You can invert your own sugar; brew has a thread somewhere round here.

[TomFogarty]

Thanks Dean! Like I mentioned before, it was my first batch of all grain and I hadn't made anything but kits before that... not bad for a first time Next time I'll definitely ease up on the caramel and bump up the hops, maybe add a bit of flaked barley for body.
Speaking of which, would it be necessary to toss in any flaked barley or wheat with this one? Or will the large grain bill offer enough body as is?
Also, Richard, which is better in your opinion: sucrose or dextrose? I've heard different things about both...

[Richard]

Never noticed a difference between sucrose and dextrose; theoretically the dextrose is better because the yeast doesn't have to work to break down the molecule. Personally I can't notice the difference in flavour - either is 100% fermentable.

[brew]

Yup the Candi Sugar thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1084

Also, I've finally kegged my tripel: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1128

Comments at the end of the thread...

[TomFogarty]

Awesome, thanks!
I was just about to call up the Noble Grape in Burnside (I know how you all love these guys) to put a rush order on a couple of ounces of hops since I've run out. Figured I'd check and see if anyone had a little saaz and goldings on hand to swap before I call.
Brew day is Thursday, I'd rather not wait 'til after the March break because the grain came to me pre-milled. I don't have the yeast either but I think I"ll throw together a starter of the trappist yeast from the imperial stout I just bottled; I'm guessing there's still quite a bit of active yeast in there seeing as I didn't filter.

[Richard]

I got you covered on the Saaz & EKG.

[brew]

Or if you'd like to try the US Goldings, I have a bunch of that as well...

[TomFogarty]

Is there much of a difference in flavour?

[Richard]

Not massive, but yes. Same hop; different terroir.

[TomFogarty]

Which would you recommend, for the style?

[Dave Savoie]

I have US goldings here and I am not a fan