I brewed this beer on 4/20/2012. Yeah I know, 4/20, blaze it. Not that I made this beer with marijuana or anything (although that has been idea I’ve wanted to try) but I distinctly remember myself thinking how ironic it was, with me being a bit of a stoner in the past, that I in fact wasn’t smoking and instead was creating beer. This beer was my introduction into how fun and delicious Trippels can be. They instantly became one of my all time favorite staples of beer due to the variability of the style and the flavor profiles you typically can find in them. I wish I could taste one of these now that they have been cellared for a couple years. I always save 3 bombers from each batch to let age and see how their flavors develop. I love the deep caramel and fruit flavors that come out over the years.
Grains
4oz Aromatic Malt
8oz Carapils
Hops
2oz East Kent Golding (5.4%AA) @ 60min
.5oz East Kent Golding (5.4%AA) @5min
Malt
8lbs LME
.5lb Malto-Dextrine @10min
1lb Clear Candy Sugar
Yeast
Wyeast Belgian Strong Ale (1388)
SG: 1.064
1wk: 1.014
FG(2wk): 1.010
I also added an extra Tbsp of bottling sugar at bottling. **Don’t do this
One of the first things I really enjoyed about brewing a Trippel was the pure variety of ingredients you include. Up to this point, beer was very formulaic in my mind. I think already having an affinity for cooking and creating things, it was pretty fucking cool to be able to create new, delicious items that are also boozy. Another hobby of mine at the time.
My first tasting of this beer was fantastic. I loved it and I think changes started occurring in me where I started to veer away from hoppy beers because I finally found different characteristics in beers that made me notice the subtly and variability of beer as a medium. Similar in wine to recognizing different styles and even appellations. I noted fruit flavors (exactly which fruits are lost to memory and my inability to articulate my unrefined palate) and alcohol flavors. It was exceptional. I remember sharing it with friends and this was the first beer where people couldn’t believe that this was something I made. My final note, to be follow up on in a future post, is that I wouldn’t recommend adding extra bottling sugar. Trippels are supposed to be effervescent, but not adamantly so.