I shared a Chimay White with some friends today during our Tripel brew session, which went somewhat awry in a few respects but might have resulted in quality wort now beginning fermentation in my living room. And now, the day finally come to its close, I am enjoying an Allagash Tripel. In my opinion, the superior of the two – though mine still holds some vague future promise.
With a head that hangs in spots on the side of the glass, a face full of fruity esters from the yeast with a smooth mouthfeel and full body, this is a spectacular beer.
My own Tripel, however, is at risk. Missed the mash temp – hit 146 instead of 149. Had way too much water in the mash – practically nine gallons in the mash tun grain included, so I only sparged for a short while. Forgot the Irish Moss, leaving all the loose proteins uncoagulated and swirling around. Boiled off too much, only got 4 gal in the fermenter and had to top off. Whirlpooled and siphoned my wort instead of pouring through a strainer and a funnel, thereby gathering nearly all the crap into the fermenter. Went outside to pull the honey supers off the bees while the wort was oxygenating and came back to foam pouring all over the counter. Then, forgot to take an OG reading before pitching the yeast so now I don’t know my OG, nor can I evaluate the efficiency of the mash. Oh well.
Let’s just say this beer had better be good, but if it isn’t I’ll know what to do. At least I made a huge starter of Chimay yeast (Wyeast 1214).