Tripel de Jar et Clu

Ok, this is my second attempt at a tripel. The first one ended up ok, but it had a fairly strong phenolic and fusel alcohol bite to it and it had way too much body. It was fermented way too hot. That's what I get for brewing a 10% beer in the summer. I'm not trying that again.

So, here it is in January/February and Jared and Clu asked for a tripel. So, I'm giving it a second shot. As for the recipe, I'm starting from scratch. I'm shooting for a light mouth feel, light color, light citrus and apple fruit aromas and a big head on top. The hard part is going to be getting the lighter mouth feel with the big head. Usually having a lot of protein in your beer will do both (big head and a thick feel). But, I'm hoping we can strike some kind of balance between the two. One thing that should help thin out the mouth feel on such a big beer will be a generous dose of carbonation. That usually makes the beer feel a bit lighter in your mouth.

Another - somewhat more technical trick is to do a short beta-amylase digest at 150 and then bring the temp up to 158 for a bit longer to promote alpha-amylase enzymes. That way I'll keep a medium body on there but skip the protein rest at a lower temp. I'm also going to use a fair amount of wheat malt with a fair portion of caravienne to boost the body. I don't really care about clarity so I'm leaning on the heavy side for these dextrinous malts. So, expect a cloudy, golden-yellow, slightly fruity beer with a big rocky head, and a medium to light, refreshingly carbonated feel on your tongue.

We're brewin' her up on Saturday the 27th starting somewhere around 9 am, so stop on by if you can make it.

Grain:
9 lb. Belgian Pils 2-Row
3 lb. Wheat Malt
6 oz. Cara Vienne

Double Infusion Mash:
150 degrees for 15 min.
158 degrees for 45 min.
Sparge at 170 degrees

Boil:
6 gal beginning volume and we should boil off a gallon or so
60 min. boil
Add 3 lb. Clear candi sugar (I'm actually just using table sugar or sucrose) at the beginning of the boil
1/2 oz. Irish moss added at 60 min.

Hops:
60 min:
3/4 oz. Hallertau (8.5% AA)
30 min:
1/4 oz. Hallertau (8.5% AA)
15 min:
1/2 oz. Saaz (3.7% AA)

Yeast:
A starter of White Labs "Abby Ale" yeast (WLP530) pitched into one carboy with 5 gallons of wort.

Predicted Original Specific Gravity:
1.079

Notes:
I'll be fermenting this thing at around 70 degrees.