Batch #9 (Brewed Thursday May 7, 2009)

Goal:
A Belgian Tripel or Grand Cru (a lightly hopped golden ale with ~9% ABV)

Ingredients:
3.3 lb. can of BrewFerm hopped Grand Cru liquid malt extract
2 x 3 lb. bags of LD Carlson Briess DME (Pilsen Light)
8 oz. bag of Belgian Light Candy Sugar
Wyeast Trappist yeast slap pack (3787)
1 oz. Spalt hops (2% AA) added with 10 minutes left in boil for aroma only
5 gallons Publix Spring water

Notes:
Everything went well and normally. Wort was VERY foamy for a long time, and it took a while to get the boil over effect to quit. Boiled 20 minutes after that time, adding the Spalt hops with 10 minutes remaining. Cooled the wort in the sink with an ice bath, covered with the pot’s lid. When wort was down to about 98 degrees, poured it into fermenting bucket and added 2.5 gallons of lightly chilled Publix Spring water. Temperature at pitching was 81 degrees. With an adjusted OG of 1.0849, this should be a big Belgian.

Status: still in primary.

Original Gravity: 1.082 @ 82 degrees (corrected value is 1.0849)
Final Gravity: As yet unknown
Calculated Alcohol: As yet unknown

Lesson learned: Here's the blow-off solution provided by my LHBS. Take a regular airlock, and cut off the star-shaped tip, opening up the full diameter of the inner chamber at the bottom. Using about 2 or 3 feet of 1/2" tubing, attach one end to the top of the inner chamber of the airlock, and run the other end into a wine bottle 1/3 to 1/2 full of liquid (I used water). This means that the outer chamber for the airlock is completely useless during this setup, though it can be converted back to a 3-piece airlock easily. Even using this solution, I've still had to clean and rinse the blow-off twice. Airlock/blow-off activity has been a lot stronger than usual, and is lasting much longer than typical, too. Maybe that's what you get with an OG of 1.085!

Update: 5 days into primary and this brew is still going strong! Fairly significant airlock activity every 15 to 20 seconds. These aren't small bubbles, either; they are big and loud. I would guess if I was using the regular airlock it would be bubbling every few seconds!