Help with bcs belgian tripel

[grainman]

This is my first tripel, got the recipe from BCS.I`m asking for help from some of you seasoned brewers.The recipe / book talks about kegging the beer, then carbonating , then lagering for 1 month at 45-50 deg.I have temp control and I have no problem doing that, except that I keg and was wondering if it would be ok to lager first, and then carbonate.Also it seems from what I have been able to gather that this will most likely take several months to condition.My problem is I don`t want to tie up my fermentation chamber for more than a month, so I can brew other stuff while waiting for this tripel to finish out.My basement stays around 70 deg this time of year...would it be bad to let it sit in the basement until conditioning is complete? Do you think I would need more or less time for it to condition doing it that way?My only other option would be to put in the fridge at 36 deg. or tie up the fermentation chamber and not brew till it was finished My gut tells me to lager it for 1 month as instructed, then let it sit in the basement with head pressure on it for 5 months or so, but I want this to come out right, so what do you guys think?

[TimmyR]

So can you rack it to your keg and lager it in your kegerator? I know I keep mine around 40F and have let beers lager in the keg. I am not sure if this deters the yeast from conditioning the beer at all. If you leave it at 70F, you'll want to not let it sit too long since all things happen faster when warmer. I love this recipe and have brewed it 2X.

[TimmyR]

So can you rack it to your keg and lager it in your kegerator? I know I keep mine around 40F and have let beers lager in the keg. I am not sure if this deters the yeast from conditioning the beer at all. If you leave it at 70F, you'll want to not let it sit too long since all things happen faster when warmer. I love this recipe and have brewed it 2X.

My last one did not finish out dry enough due to mash issues, so I still have 1/2 of it sitting in a carboy aging on brett...

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17044

[grainman]

So can you rack it to your keg and lager it in your kegerator? I know I keep mine around 40F and have let beers lager in the keg. I am not sure if this deters the yeast from conditioning the beer at all. If you leave it at 70F, you'll want to not let it sit too long since all things happen faster when warmer. I love this recipe and have brewed it 2X.

My last one did not finish out dry enough due to mash issues, so I still have 1/2 of it sitting in a carboy aging on brett...

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17044

yep I can keep it in my kegerator... But I'm not really sure if it will condition at that temp.I guess I'm not really sure about why this is supposed to be lagered as opposed to just normal ale conditioning.There must be a reason for the 1 month lager at 45 deg.Maybe after I get through with the 1 month lager I'll try a little every month till I'm happy with it.I guess your right about it conditioning faster at 70 deg.

[brewinhard]

This is a great recipe and if nailed correctly, the beer is AMAZING! Jamil calls for the lagering period simply so the beer will be crystal clear, or close to that anyway. I kegged mine, let it sit at 40 degrees for 2 mos, then bottled it to 3.4 volumes even in the regular brown 12 0z bottles (no problem, but added fresh champagne yeast at bottling). At 3 mos old the beer was placing in the BOS rounds in comps. According to my notes this beer still tasted good at 10 mos kept at cellar temps, but had lost just a tad of the original character it had early on (tropical fruit, spicey yeast notes). I would bet that the beer would be best from mos 3 to 6 or 7. But if it was kegged and kept cold the whole time, then much longer.

[TimmyR]

This is a great recipe and if nailed correctly, the beer is AMAZING! Jamil calls for the lagering period simply so the beer will be crystal clear, or close to that anyway. I kegged mine, let it sit at 40 degrees for 2 mos, then bottled it to 3.4 volumes even in the regular brown 12 0z bottles (no problem, but added fresh champagne yeast at bottling). At 3 mos old the beer was placing in the BOS rounds in comps. According to my notes this beer still tasted good at 10 mos kept at cellar temps, but had lost just a tad of the original character it had early on (tropical fruit, spicey yeast notes). I would bet that the beer would be best from mos 3 to 6 or 7. But if it was kegged and kept cold the whole time, then much longer.

How are you bottling this one. I found that since I do not purge with CO2, my tripel suffers in the bottle. This is the main reason I am considering a Beergun (well, and I am slowly becoming a Blichmann convert.)

[brewinhard]

With the classic ol bottling bucket and bottling wand to about 3.4 vol. Typically I too will start to notice oxidation in my bottled beers at around this time, but the tripel seemed to handle it well. The aromatics died a bit, but the flavor and crispness was still there. Maybe b/c it got some extra CO2 dissolved into the beer over its extended lagering time that it bottled better. I know, sounds weird, but who knows? Speaking of tripel, its getting on time to make another one!

[TimmyR]

...Speaking of tripel, its getting on time to make another one!

No Doubt...it's in-line behind an APA for my Family Reunion. Then either a Tripel or the Captain Lawerence Xtra Gold...