the-adjunct-hippie
aspiring brewgenius
I overshot the gravity on this one. 1.124. whoops. I'm boiling a little water now to help dilute it, but what say you of an actual 14% (assuming it finishes at 1.010) Tripel?
14% Tripel?
- Thread starter the-adjunct-hippie
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I would say you send me one so I can sample it. 
anotherbeerplease
Well-Known Member
I had a belgian Tripel in Wyoming that was 14%... quite good, actually. Roll with it and enjoy 
How did this turn out or is it conditioning for a while?
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Quads are dark, unlike tripels.
Quads are more typically dark, but there is not generally accepted definition.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Could you elaborate why you'd say this?
BJCP style guidelines:
26D Belgian Dark Strong Ale states "Sometimes known as Trappist Quadruple"
If we look at actual Trappist beers...
Achel quad (bruin) is dark.
Chimay quad (bleue) is dark.
Rochefort quad (10) is dark.
Engelszell quad (Gregorius) is dark.
Westvleteren quad (12) is dark.
La Trappe quad is a fairly dark amber.
Etc. etc.
If it's too strong for a tripel, call it a Belgian golden strong ale.
The quote from BJCP guidelines is the best evidence I've seen that you may be right. The La Trappe example is one of the reasons I doubted the definition of a quad being a dark beer. Yes, it has some color, but it's really not that dark. (I used to have several cases of it, from a distributor going out of business).
Doing a google search, I keep coming up with definition suggesting that a quad MAY be dark, like this example from Wikipedia:
A quadrupel is a type of beer, with an alcohol by volume over 10% or more.
There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style.[1] Writer Tim Webb notes that similar beers are called Grand Cru in Belgium.[2]
Quadrupel is the brand name of a strong seasonal beer La Trappe Quadrupel brewed by De Koningshoeven Brewery in the Netherlands, one of the eleven Trappist beers.
In other countries, particularly the United States, quadrupel or quad has become a generic trademark. The term may refer to an especially strong style of dark ale with a spicy, ripe fruit flavor.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
No one thinks for me, much less Wikipedia. Are you trolling or just didn't put much effort into the way you phrased that?
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Not trolling... Just having a discussion. Apologies if I offended you.
My point is that quads are "generally accepted" as Belgian strong dark ales. Your quote from Wikipedia seems to agree with my point except for this statement:
"There is little agreement on the status of Quadrupel as a beer style."
Once you read the source, this statement is obviously outdated (before the most recent BJCP guidelines) and also does unequivocally describe quads as dark ales.
It's acceptable that La Trappe makes a lighter-than-average quad. "Generally accepted" doesn't mean "100% conformity". For what it's worth, the La Trappe quad is darker than their tripel.
Wikipedia is a tertiary source, so its statements are only as strong as its references. The Trappist breweries themselves clearly seem to agree (for the most part) that quads are dark; this collection of breweries is the primary source and therefore outweighs anything wikipedia has to say about trappist quads. I hope this explains my response.
Cheers
applescrap
Be the ball!
Sounds super good. Maybe some oak and a splash of wine on Friday night. Rack on cherries and oak and age ? (Assume that's possible). Super awesome man. Wax seal some bottles and I can help taste notes: )
Fair enough. What about the Brewers Association guidlines? They state the color of a quad as: "amber to dark brown".
https://www.brewersassociation.org/resources/brewers-association-beer-style-guidelines/#62
Curious to hear how this turned out, if it's not still aging. Could take a while for it to mellow--might taste like rocket fuel.
Maybe call it Imperial Belgian Golden Strong?
Maybe call it Imperial Belgian Golden Strong?
By coincidence, I just bottled an amber-colored Belgian ale. When it's carbed, I'm getting out a color chart to see if it's a tripel or a quad.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Lol. The color is a result of the ingredients, not actually the defining characteristic. Quads have darker ingredients than tripels (typically dark sugar adjuncts).
You can brew a tripel darker than style guidelines but that alone doesn't make it a quad. E.g. Using pils malt extract and boiling it full length.
I did one like this (about the same OG and exactly the same FG.) I called it an "Imperial Belgian Tripel." 
My recipe was based on Denny Conn's clone recipe for Victory's Golden Monkey Triple, so I named mine "Golden Gorilla." It was served at Club Night at the 2018 NHC in Portland.
By the way, if you use the alternate ABV formula from Brewer's Friend (which is supposed to be more accurate for higher ABV beers) the ABV comes out to 16.95 (standard formula gives 14.96.)
Brew on
My recipe was based on Denny Conn's clone recipe for Victory's Golden Monkey Triple, so I named mine "Golden Gorilla." It was served at Club Night at the 2018 NHC in Portland.By the way, if you use the alternate ABV formula from Brewer's Friend (which is supposed to be more accurate for higher ABV beers) the ABV comes out to 16.95 (standard formula gives 14.96.)
Brew on
Lol. A little tongue in cheek. This brew will not fit neatly into style guidelines, nor was it meant to.
I did one like this (about the same OG and exactly the same FG.) I called it an "Imperial Belgian Tripel."
Brew on
Golden Monkey has one of those unique flavors that I really like, but only occasionally, if that makes sense.
