Westmalle Tripel
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(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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One thing to come from this trip through the Trappist ales — I really enjoy Tripels. Strong, crisp and refreshing, Tripels are hard to beat.
Westmalle Abbey is said to have invented the tripel style in 1934, which they originally called a “superbier”. Deservedly, their website describes the beer as the “mother of all tripels“:
This type of beer was first brewed in Westmalle abbey in 1934 when the new brewing hall came into use. The current formula has stayed practically unchanged since 1956, thus more than 50 years.
Indeed, why mess with perfection?
Westmalle Tripel is 9.5% ABV. Like the Dubbel, the Tripel recommends serving at 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit and comes in a bowling pin bottle, but with a pale yellow label. It also popped when opened and fizzed to fill the neck, though less exuberantly than the Dubbel.
The beer pours a pale, lemony yellow with a fully, frothy head — I couldn’t pour it all at once for fear of overwhelming my glass. The aroma aches of spicy, citrus hops, with a delicate pilsner malt rounding out the warm profile.
The flavor has a crisp sweetness that tussles with and is defeated by citrus bitterness, warming and fading across the tongue to finish with a peppery, herbal bitterness. There’s a grainy consistency to the mouthfeel, wet on the front, drier on the finish, but fluid throughout.
I set the beer aside for maybe 10 minutes, and when I returned I found I could taste the hop bitterness and the sweetness of the candy sugar as almost two separate but equal parts. Whether my taste buds were given time to adjust, or whether the warming of the beer provided more clarity, I just don’t know. But the final third of the beer was even better than the first two.
Personally, I liked the Westmalle Tripel even more than the Chimay Tripel. If you agree or disagree, please weigh in via the comments below!
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1 Comments
March 30th, 2009 at 8:40 am
All this talk of monks brewing beer makes me want to become one. I wonder if their god is hiring?