Brewferm tripel suggestions?

[Derren]

Afternoon all

So on this damp and miserable afternoon in intending to set a brewferm Belgian Tripel going in the hope that it may have conditioned enough to enjoy in the new year celebrations.

My intention is to make it to 9L but I have also bought a wyeast smak pack of Belgian Abbey yeast (1214) which is currently just sitting and swelling up.

Had anyone tried this and if so what suggestions does anyone have for getting the most out of it.

The instructions say to add 500g sugar but I'm thinking of substituting this for some DME although it really wouldn't take much encouragement to get me to try golden syrup instead as I've bought some especially.

Would be particularly keen to hear your suggestions of anyone tried either of those things and how much I should be adding.

What is the general expert opinion??

 

[An Ankoù]

I would go with the sugar. A tripple can be be heavy if it's made with all malt and the sugar is there to lighten the body while keeping the strength. I think nearly all strong Belgians use sugar in the fermentables mix for this purpose, recipes often stipulate candi-sugar. I reckon table sugar or perhaps golden syrup is perfectly good enough.

 

[QED]

@Derren I posted this recently on another thread but i'll just copy it here too:

I inherited a Brewferm Dark Abbey (Abdij) from my brother in law who got it 2 years ago in a secret Santa! The yeast is way out of date but the LME should be fine. I’m going to stick in some Muntons extra dark DME and a litre of filter coffee. I've got a Safbrew BE-256 Abbaye to go in it. Banking on 10 litres.

I've heard that the Tripel's need at least 6 months conditioning before they reach their prime so should be ready for Christmas

 

[marshbrewer]

I brewed this back in my kit days, and used golden syrup and it turned out really well. In fact, unless I'm doing something like using honey, I always use golden syrup in my Belgian ales rather then sugar. Never all malt, though, as has been said, I think it would come out too heavy for a triple; I think you would end up with an under hopped barley wine IMHO.

 

[QED]

I always use golden syrup in my Belgian ales rather then sugar

Do you use one of the 454g tins instead of 500g sugar?

 

[Derren]

Thank you to you both.

I think maybe on this my mind is now made up! I'll report back on this one next year!!

 

[Derren]

Jjsh..... Can I substitute like for like when using golden syrup or do I need to add extra?

 

[marshbrewer]

You need to use more golden syrup because some of it is water IIRC. I think there is about 80g of sugar in 100g of golden syrup. I make that 625g of golden syrup to sub for 50g of sugar.

 

[marshbrewer]

Do you use one of the 454g tins instead of 500g sugar?

I can't remember, tbh, it must have been 2010 when I last did that kit!

When I'm brewing all grain now, I just use the amount I've dialled into brewfather, for a triple it would be around 15-20% of the total grist / sugars. I always have a couple of 908g tins in stock, I tend to pick them up just in case, when I go to Lidl as I also use it with black-strap to emulate brewers invert in British recipes.

 

[Pavros]

You have to use more golden syrup than the recommended amount of sugar because of the water content in the syrup. I think it's about 25% more syrup but not sure exactly.

Edit: that fits with what jjsh said above. 625g of syrup instead of 500g of sugar

 

[QED]

You have to use more golden syrup than the recommended amount of sugar because of the water content in the syrup.

Funny, I was just looking at how to make your own syrup and thinking you'd have to do that based on the water being added in the recipe.

 

[marshbrewer]

Aye, the specs say there are 80.something grams of carbs in a 100g of golden syrup, and you can assume all those carbs will be sugar, so thats damn near to to 80% sugar / use 25% more (1/0.8=1.25)

 

[Derren]

I can't remember, tbh, it must have been 2010 when I last did that kit!

When I'm brewing all grain now, I just use the amount I've dialled into brewfather, for a triple it would be around 15-20% of the total grist / sugars. I always have a couple of 908g tins in stock, I tend to pick them up just in case, when I go to Lidl as I also use it with black-strap to emulate brewers invert in British recipes.

I'm sure there is a good reason but I find 908g a random number and wonder why they didn't just make it a 900g or 910g tin!

Anyway thank you everybody.... Golden syrup was used and I now await the results! Roll on 2021!!

 

[marshbrewer]

They are the metric equivalent of 1 & 2lb tins - I misremembered, it's 907g.

 

[Coomzy]

I used 500g of candy sugar and it's a delightful brew, improving with every couple of weeks. Be interested to try it again with golden syrup

 

[QED]

Following this post I am going to use Golden Syrup - it's on the shopping list for the weekend.