Trying the Tripel

3# Cara Hell
4# Light Munic
5# Maris Otter
3/4 oz Hallertau Bittering Hops
1 1/4 oz Hallertau Flavoring Hops
3/4 oz Glacier Aroma Hops

1/2# Candy Sugar (used later)

Trappist High Gravity

Took 1/2# mixed malt and toasted it at 350F for ten minutes

Mashed with 2.5 gal at 125F for ~40 minutes (some reading I'd done concerning Tripels said that longer mashing should occur at the lower temperatures to ensure the beta conversion makes the beer exceptionally dry). Added 1.25 gal at 200F which raised the mash to 150F; held for 30 minutes. Sparged with 2 gallons (should have had more). Boiled at light boil (again, in congruence with reading) for 1 hour, starting with bittering hops, adding flavor hops at 15 minutes remaining in boil, and adding aroma hops at last minute. Let it seep for about 20 minutes. Cooled with 30 lbs of ice. Pitched yeast at about 75F.

OG: 1.045

Put candy sugar in smallest sauce pot (.5 qt?) and filled to one inch above sugar. Boiled for five minutes constantly stirring. Cooled in bath in sink until cool to touch. Poured into carboy after the fermentation started to slow. Next time will try more water, too much sticky stuff left in pot after I tried to pour it into carboy. Started to aggressively ferment about 12 hours after addition of sugar.

FG: 1.010

Tasted during racking. If I was just tasting the beer, I would very much enjoy it... But... Too hoppy for the style, as well, most of the esters I expected to taste did not come through, so I would consider it a stylistic failure, but a tasting success