Westmalle Triple Beer, 6x330ml

Product Information

Yeast character is pronounced in great Tripels. It leans towards fruity esters, like banana, pear, or bubblegum, blended with light spicy phenolics. In 1865 the monks of Westmalle started brewing a dark Trappist beer in addition to their table beer. They adjusted the recipe in 1926, doubling the amounts of raw ingredients to produce a new, stronger beer. Dubbel is a logical name for this doubled beer, though it is more often simply called ‘Trappist’. To this day, the 1926 recipe is the basis for Westmalle Dubbel. The verdict: The hoppiest of the the 19 we tried tastes more like a tripel blended with an IPA. This is the hop heads’ tripel.

Belgian Tripel is a strong pale ale, between 8 to 12% ABV. It’s defined by distinct notes of bready malts, herbaceous and floral hops, and complex fruit and spice from the yeast. The original and arguably best, Tripel Westmalle, is a work of art. The archetype of the Tripel style, Westmalle’s version serves as an inspiration for brewers around the world.A bit of history: Allagash, founded in 1994, specializes in Belgian-style ales and bottle-conditions all its beers.

The verdict: Now we come to a couple of big surprises. Or maybe not so surprising after all—it turns out that this beer from Iron Hill has won no fewer than three medals at the Great American Beer Festival over the years, so we’re not the only ones to identify it as one of the best American tripels out there. Fairly light of body despite the 9.5% ABV, Bedotter features a crisp, grainy malt profile that is layered with yeast-derived notes of bubblegum and banana. It drinks almost like an inflated saison, with a bit of peppery/coriander spice and booze that is impressively well hidden. 10% ABV seems to be the magic number, as far as tripel goes—none of the beers in the top 15 surpassed that number. This one showcases nearly everything that we like in the best American versions of the style, which are almost all dangerously drinkable.The verdict: A spicier hop profile differentiates it from its few peers. Anyone who thinks of beer as unrefined needs to taste this. Almost every Belgian artisan brewer does one but no one does a Tripel as well as the Abbey of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. The Trappist benchmark for the style, aromatic blast of esters and phenols in perfect balance with heaps of potential to mature over time. A huge beer in every way. Grab it if you see it. Never disappoints. Unholy is one of the best American-brewed Tripels. Distinctive Belgian yeast character meshes perfectly with a heavy hand of pungent American hops. They manage to push the classic style toward IPA level hoppiness without hindering the Belgian yeast complexity. The delicate nature of the Tripel style is preserved and the balance is refreshing and unique. Dulle Teve, De Dolle Brouwers

Artisanal beer in the Canadian province of Quebec has flourished since the early days of the craft beer movement. Among its pioneers is Unibroue – specialists in Belgian-style ales since 1992. Their most popular beer, Fin Du Monde, is an outstanding example of a Belgian Tripel. It’s introduced countless North American beer drinkers to the world of Belgian beer. Typical of Belgian brewers, any of the yeasts provided by the homebrew yeast suppliers will make a very good Belgian ale if fermented properly. So, feel free to use any type of yeast to make a beer in the true Belgian “non-style.” But, for those homebrewers that want to brew Belgian ales very similar to those classic examples, match the BJCP guidelines or achieve a world-class balance of flavors then this section is for them. Bitterness should be balanced, which is about 35 to 40 IBU given the hefty gravity of this beer style. This was true of most of the barley beers, which in the 19th century were regularly boiled for eight or 10 hours to develop color (wheat beers were different; they could be made pale or “white”). Drinkers and brewers both believed a long boil was critical in developing flavor, and deeper color was its proof. Golden hues in a barley beer would have seemed pale to them in all the wrong ways—pale flavor, pale strength, pale quality. Indeed, blond ales were such a rarity that, when the monks at Westmalle released a coruscating, golden beer called Tripel in the 1930s, it counted as a radical move. Tripel has a balanced hoppy character, but a significant hop flavor is not needed. Unless you’re brewing an exceptionally hoppy version, don’t add any boil hops after 15 minutes. YeastIn addition to the main article, I wrote a second blog post at All About Beer with material that didn’t make it into the main article for reasons of space and so on. Here it is. The brewery produces three beers. Westmalle Dubbel is a 7% abv Dubbel. Westmalle Tripel is a 9.5% abv tripel, was first brewed in 1934 and the recipe has not changed since 1956. It is made with pale candy sugar and has a very pale colour produced from a mash of light pilsener malts. Styrian Goldings hops are used along with some German varieties and the classic Saaz pilsener hop. After a long secondary fermentation Westmalle Tripel is bottled with a dose of sugar and yeast. Westmalle Extra is a 5% abv beer with limited availability, i.e. a patersbier. It is the beer drunk by the monks during the working-day. [4] [5] It has been speculated that Westmalle's choice of three types of beers was based on the Holy Trinity. [6]

Tripels are mainly brewed with European hops such as Styrian Golding, Tettnang, or Saaz. American substitutes are also great choices like Sterling, Mt. Hood, or Willamette. Though strong Belgian pale ales have existed for centuries, the “tripel” name wasn’t used until the Trappist monks at Westmalle Abbey changed the name of what they’d called Superbier, their heaviest pale ale, in 1956. Tripel is thought to denote the strength of the beer, though dubbels and quads are entirely different styles of dark beer. There is no single predominant flavor component in a great Tripel. For that reason, all aspects – from malt, hops, and yeast – need to maintain a very fine synergy. You might know it as Cinq Cents, or simple Chimay White – either way, this Trappist Tripel is doughy and complex, yet refreshing and balanced. It’s got a reddish-golden hue with a dense, bright white head contrasting the highly carbonated body. Sweet malts dominate, but spicy phenolic yeasts cut through, blending with a touch of herbal hoppiness. Highly carbonated, Tripels are dangerously drinkable and refreshing despite their elevated alcohol content. A light and very smooth body carries notes of fresh bread and sweet malts. Spice from specially selected yeast blends delicately with pleasant European hoppiness.A big and healthy yeast starter is required for this style. Normally you’d need about a 2 Litre starter for a 5 gallon batch. Tripel Fermentation Profile