Bottle priming of a Belgian Triple

[Brewer #334383]

I have just finished the primary of my Belgian Triple and have started the secondary which will be 4 weeks at 8 degrees C, which according the book "Brew Like A Monk" is what Westmalle Monks do for their triple. I am trying to work out my next stage which will be bottling. Westmalle aims for 3 to 4 volumes of C02 per liter in the bottle, which is high. Should I go that high or go for something safer like 2.5? I will be using ex Belgian beer bottles which should be strong enough.

Using the Brewer's Friend calculator for the amount of sugar to prime with you need to enter a temperature. What should I enter because my primary started at 19.5 and ended at 22 degrees, but my secondary is 4 weeks at 8 degrees?

Westmalle also use yeast for their bottle priming at 2 million cells per milliliter. I'm not sure how I could measure 2 million cells without a microscope and be good at counting! I saw on another forum that 0.4 grams of dried yeast per gallon of beer would give you 2 million cells. So for my 21 litre batch (4.4 gallons) that would be 2 grams of yeast. The Brewer's Friend app does not have a calculation for bottle priming yeast, only sugars. Can anyone confirm the calculation I saw elsewhere is correct and if adding yeast during bottle priming is necessary?

Finally, I have bought some Fermentis T58 if I do need to use yeast for my bottle priming. However this works within an ideal temperature range of 15-20°C, but I was planning to bottle condition at 12 degrees, which is too cold. Should I start my bottle conditioning within the T58 temperature range for a couple of weeks, then for the remaining time drop the temperature to 12 degrees?

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Should I go that high or go for something safer like 2.5?

Go high. If you have the bottles for it. It's part of the charm of triples, it's nearly wild out of the bottle, but not quite.

I was planning to bottle condition at 12 degrees

I don't know of any advantage of the lower temperature, but it will take a long time to condition at that temperature. Just about any yeast can be added if you are worried about yeast counts. Nottingham is commonly used for bottle conditioning because it's neutral in flavor and it settles into a tight sediment that isn't as easy to stir up as other yeast. Nottingham has been known approach the temperatures your looking for, but it's on the bottom end. If you try to bottle condition at 12C and it doesn't work very well, just bring up the temperature and give them a shake every couple of days. I like to give the bottles a shake anyway, they seem to condition a little sooner.

As far as yeast counts are concern, it really doesn't need to be that precise, 4-5 grams for 5 gallons will work. You could try using the existing yeast, but if you cold condition it long enough, a lot of yeast will drop out of solution. I believe that's why Westmalle add some yeast for conditioning, and it speeds up the conditioning.

 

[Brewer #334383]

Maybe I will go for the half way point and use 3 volumes of CO2 for the calculation of priming sugar.

The original recipe I based mine on was from Home Brew Beer by Greg Hughes which was 11 weeks conditioning at 12 degrees C, but no specific details. The book Brew Like A Monk does not give details of the storage temperatures that Westmalle use for their bottle conditioning, but they do have a warm room. However the book states the following for these other breweries:

Duvel fill at 68° F (20° C), bottles spend ten days to two weeks undergoing refermentation at
75° F (24° C) in a warm room heated from both the floor and ceiling. The beer then rests six weeks at 41 ° F (5 to 6° C) before being released,

Achel refermentation in the bottle takes two to three weeks at 72 to 73° F (22 to 23° C).

Orval refermentation in the bottle with primary yeast for 5 weeks at 59° F (15° C); centrifuged, but Brettanomyces remains and
will continue to ferment.

Westvleteren, their Blond spends eight days at 79° F (26° C) to bottle-condition, while the 8 and 12 take ten and twelve days, respectively.

So based on the above I feel now that the temperature for the first 2 weeks of the bottle conditioning should be 24 degrees, then I can drop it to 12 degrees for the remaining time. Having the temperature at 12 for the full conditioning time will I fear be bad for and prolong the carbonation as stated by HighVoltageMan! I will also look up the Nottingham yeast you suggested. Thanks.

 

[Zambi]

Let us know how it turns out.
I love my tripels and blondes.
What do you think of the book "brew like a monk"? I've been eying it gor a while

 

[Brewer #334383]

Let us know how it turns out.
I love my tripels and blondes.
What do you think of the book "brew like a monk"? I've been eying it gor a while

I am missing going over to Belgium and buying lots of their beers because of Covid, hence why I thought it was time to have a go at brewing a Belgium Triple myself. I am am hoping it will be something like a Westmalle Triple, a favourite of mine.

I did a Google for Brew like a Monk and found a free PDF. I have found it very useful. I don't know if the book that sells for around £14 on Amazon is better.

Yes I will post how it goes, but it will of course be a few months before I can do so! Will also be glad to share the recipe if it is.