[denny]

OG was 1.081
WLP530, which lists a range of 66-72.  I started off at 64 for the first 6 days, then ramped it up to 70.  I was considering going slightly above the range at this point to see if that would help. 

Early question was about the starter.  The starter was very healthy.  I cold crashed the starter, decanted, and pitched. 

I’m willing to wait if that’s the answer, but also want to brew another beer for a fishing trip next month.  May have to pull this one from my fermentation chamber at just let it finish (if it will) at ambient temps in my basement (mid to upper 60’s now).

1.081 to 1.016 is 79% attenuation...can't complain about that.  Sounds like it's probably done, but no harm letting it condition a bit longer in your basement while you use your chamber for your next batch.

For me, the key to tripel is not a high OG but a low FG.  A 1.072 OG that finished around 1.006 or less gives you the alcohol along with the dryness

[spurviance]

For me, the key to tripel is not a high OG but a low FG.  A 1.072 OG that finished around 1.006 or less gives you the alcohol along with the dryness

Would you go along with adding a bit of sugar and warming it up to the mid 70's to try and dry it out a bit?

[erockrph]

For me, the key to tripel is not a high OG but a low FG.  A 1.072 OG that finished around 1.006 or less gives you the alcohol along with the dryness

Would you go along with adding a bit of sugar and warming it up to the mid 70's to try and dry it out a bit?

That's not really going to do what you think. The yeast will (hopefully) eat the simple sugar you add, but it probably isn't going to ferment much more of  the maltose and dextrins from the wort. You may see a small decrease in FG, but that would just be from the higher alcohol content rather than lower residual sugar. There isn't much you can do to get a beer to ferment further once the yeast has finished.

And besides, your taste buds determine how much you enjoy your beer, not your hydrometer. I bet it tastes plenty good even at 1.016

[waltsmalt]

Thanks for all the advice.  It did taste good when I pulled a sample for a hydrometer reading the other day.  It seems a little on the sweet side, but I think I’ll go with it. 

Why I stopped thinking about attenuation lately while building recipes, I don’t know.  That’s what I’m kicking myself for here.  I like Belgians to be on the drier side, and unfortunately this beer might not give me what I want.  I wished I would have had the advice to back off the OG to make sure I got to an FG that I think I like in my Belgian beers.

[denny]

For me, the key to tripel is not a high OG but a low FG.  A 1.072 OG that finished around 1.006 or less gives you the alcohol along with the dryness

Would you go along with adding a bit of sugar and warming it up to the mid 70's to try and dry it out a bit?

That's not really going to do what you think. The yeast will (hopefully) eat the simple sugar you add, but it probably isn't going to ferment much more of  the maltose and dextrins from the wort. You may see a small decrease in FG, but that would just be from the higher alcohol content rather than lower residual sugar. There isn't much you can do to get a beer to ferment further once the yeast has finished.

And besides, your taste buds determine how much you enjoy your beer, not your hydrometer. I bet it tastes plenty good even at 1.016

THIS^^^^^  I think you're better off just leaving it.  I've ruined beers by trying to "save" them.

[joe_meadmaker]

You may see a small decrease in FG, but that would just be from the higher alcohol content rather than lower residual sugar.

That's a great notion.  I've added other fermentables (such as honey or invert) after primary fermentation was essentially done.  And seen a lower FG once the secondary fermentation completed.  It never occurred to me that the batch as a whole had changed.  Thanks for mentioning this.

@waltsmalt - You mentioned that you haven't had much luck with the addition of addition yeast.  I am in that same boat.  The method I used the last time I tried this was to use a small part of the batch as a guinea pig.  I had a mead that stopped fermenting at about 1.050.  I wanted it to be a sweet mead, but that was too sweet.  I pulled off about 1/2 gallon of the batch, pitched a different kind of yeast, and set it up on a stir plate.  For a couple days I let it go, and was seeing activity in the airlock.  Because the bubbler showed consistent activity for a while, I added the 1/2 gallon back to the full batch and the whole thing picked back up again.  It dropped down to 1.040 after another month.  It is still definitely on the sweet side, but much better.  Just mentioning it as a method you could use to test another yeast without dropping it in to the full batch.  Hope the tripel comes out okay for you.  Cheers!

[waltsmalt]

Planning to bottle this evening.  What level of CO2 would everyone recommend?  I'm thinking of 3.0 - 3.5? 

[erockrph]

Planning to bottle this evening.  What level of CO2 would everyone recommend?  I'm thinking of 3.0 - 3.5?

Do you have bottles that can handle that? I wouldn't go past 3.0 unless you have a stash of bottles designed for higher pressure.

That said, I'd shoot for 3.5 if you have the proper bottles.

[waltsmalt]

All Belgian bottles (375ml and 750ml), so no problem going 3.5.   That's probably what I'll shoot for.