Monday, December 15, 2008

New Belgium Brewing: Trippel Belgian Style Ale

My local co-op allows customers to pull individual beers out of six packs and pay for that single bottle at roughly 1/6th the price of the whole carrier. It's a convenient policy for beer drinkers that want to sample a beer before investing in six identical bottles of the same brew.
As you may know from my other posts, I have have an affinity for American style beers. Despite this gravitation, I do appreciate a good brew made or modeled after a traditional European style. As a result, in my most recent visit to the store, I included a single New Belgium's Tippel into my cart.

This Belgian tripple has three ladies, three arches, and triple fermentation all encapsulated in one beer. After cracking open the bottle and pouring firmly into the glass, the Tripple exhibits an incredibly powerful aroma and wafts out fruit flavors of apple and banana. It will definitely remind you of a Belgian Ale. The taste is not nearly as potent as the smell and mainly has the flavor of Belgium yeast. There is very little hop or malt sensations and the beer possesses more of a creamy-fruity-yeasty combination than anything else. If the let the beer sit on your pallate your tongue will begin to sting as this tripple weighs in at 7.8% by volume. Despite this massive punch from the booze, the beer flavors hides the alcohol beautifully.
Overall this tripple is an accurate recreation of the Belgian style. So feel free to sample and enjoy one yourself in the future. Or if you really enjoy Belgian Ales, don't hesitate to grab the whole six pack. Because now I kinda wish I had another to drink. Cheers.

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