Beer · Medium strength
Belgian Tripel
Golden, spicy, deceptively strong — brewed by monks who knew exactly what they were doing.
How to order it: Pear, white pepper, candi sugar. Respect the 9%.
Flavor profile
The proper serve
- Goblet or chalice
- Serve at 45–50°F
- Pour leaving the yeast (or don't)
- Pairs: mussels, roast chicken
- Respect the 9%
The story
The modern tripel was effectively codified at Westmalle, the Trappist abbey near Antwerp, which released a strong golden ale in 1934 and refined the recipe in the 1950s into the version brewers still genuflect toward. The name likely descends from old customs of marking a brew's strength, though the etymology is cheerfully disputed. The strategic genius was color: in a market falling for golden pilsner, the monks built a beer that looked light and innocent while carrying around nine percent alcohol, its spice and pear-drop esters courtesy of yeast alone. Monastic discipline, applied to deception of the eye. Generations of Belgian and American brewers have copied it; the abbey remains the reference.
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