Planning on making a Tripel in the next few months, but using American hops. Similar to Captain Lawrence Xtra Gold. Not a Belgian IPA-- but a properly balanced Tripel using Amarillo hops instead of noble.
Can anyone suggest a good belgian yeast strain that would play nicely with the peach and tangerine flavors from the Amarillo?
Should be WLP 530. Check out Can You Brew it on The Brewing Network, they interview Scott Vacarro from Captain Lawrence and he was generous enough to paint a good picture of how to brew it.
Good luck, that is a great brew to brew. Just be sure to make a big starter 
I’ve been using Wyeast #3522-Belgian Ardennes and like the combo with Amarillo.
Awesome. Scott Vaccaro is one of the really nice guys in an industry full of nice guys.
I like WLP550 for my tripels, and love to blend in Amarillo too, especially during the aroma adition. fantastic combination.
I like that combo, too, for a “Belgian/American IPA”, but I guess I don’t think of 3522 as a tripel yeast. To me, it’s a bit too spicy and phenolic for what I consider a tripel to be.
I’ve always liked 550 with my tripels (American Hops or otherwise) - admittedly it has been a few years since I brewed a straight-up tripel since I started using American hops in the beers (I like Amarillo and Aurora blended together) - but just out of curiosity, what is your favorite tripel strain?
Hands down, WY3787. Maybe I’m in a rut, but that’s pretty much the only one I use for dubbel and tripel. I figure that if Westmalle invented the style, that’s the yeast to use.
I like that strain for my dubbel but have always preferred preferred the WLP550 for my tripel. Guess just different strokes. OTOH you don’t seem to care for phenolic beers, do you?
Generally, I prefer most phenolics over esters. I run 3787 pretty cool to reduce the esters. What Wyeast strain i the 550 comparable to? I almost never use Whitelabs, so I’m not familiar with the numbering.
According to the Kristen England chart WLP530 is comparable to WY3787 and the WLP550 is the WY3522.
Don’t really know how comparable they are, though. For some reason I have always gotten the WL strains for my Belgians and on side by side I always liked the WLP550 better than the WLP530.
Maybe I’m associating the 3522 too much with Chouffe beers, none of which really remind me of most tripels. Or maybe I’m associating tripels too much with Westmalle and overlooking other examples. At any rate, I find 3522 “spicier” than I usually think of in a tripel.
Another option is to try to culture the yeast from a bottle of your favorite Tripel.
Yeah, I agree that 550 is spicier. Maybe that’s what I like about it. Also, it reminds me a little bit like a wheat beer yeast. Maybe that is what you don’t like about it?
As long as it doesn’t taste like cloves and bananas, I’m good…
I have lots of 3787 around (it’s my dubbel yeast) and I was going to try to use something new…but I think I’m convinced to stick with it.
I still really like WLP550 for my “American Tripel”, granted, I haven’t tried any other yeasts with this latest incarnation, but you should give it a shot at some time.
Then don’t use 510. Worst Tripel Ever. Wait, I take that back, I had worse at Big Al’s Brewing Co. in Seattle. Blech 
Used the 530 extensively. Experimented with it several times in the lower ranges sub 65F. Didn’t like results. Not at all. Keep it a little warmer LOL.
That’s odd… I’ve used this multiple times and never had those flavors. I ferment cool (pitch in the high 50s, let it rise to about 70) since it’s the Orval strain and they do too.