Let’s Make It A Tripel

The last beer in the Chimay stable is Tripel, otherwise known as White, and when served in the large bottle called Cinq Cents. First brewed in 1968, White is the baby of the three ales. Where strength is concerned, White falls in between Red And Blue at 8 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). This would make sense that the Red is a Belgian dubbel, White is a Belgian Tripel, and Blue is a Belgian dark strong ale. There is even a style of Belgian ale called Quadrupel, a category reserved for the strongest, powerful, malty and flavorful beer from a particular brewery (usually Monks), with a obvious alcohol presence. The Chimay brewery, Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont, does not offer a Quadrupel.
Belgian Tripels tend to be quite spicy, often fruity and tangy, and wonderfully alcoholic. Tripel was originally used to signify three times the malt used in a particular beer, compared with basic Belgian ales.
Chimay’s White is not the first Tripel ever brewed in Belgium. That would be the ‘Witkap Pater’ brewed by Hendrik Verlinden at the De Drie Linden brewery in Belgium in 1932. The name ‘Tripel’ was coined by Westmalle Brewery in 1956. The style became one of the most popular in the country, and numerous different versions are brewed in Belgium and abroad. In the states, think Victory’s Golden Monkey, Allagash Curieux, and Merry Monks from Weyerbacher.
As the Chimay name implies, the color is typically golden or some variety of yellow/white. The pale color and subtly gentle body of these ales is mostly due in part to use of candy sugar in the brewing process, although pilsner or light colored malts assist.
To be honest, of the three Chimay ales, the Tripel is my least favorite. However, it is still a fine ale, and a great example of the style. Yeast is visible at the bottom of the bottle, a sign of bottle conditioning. In a large mouth glass, this beer shows a vaguely hazy body, with a large, luscious, creamy head that leaves spider webs of lace as it drops.
Many different scents arise from this beer, and they change as the liquid is drained from the glass. Yeast and spicy hints are ever-present, but honey, pear and peach, a sourness, and a hay note all make appearances.
The taste is almost as complex, with spiciness and yeast at the start, and soft malt and alcohol coming through as the beer warms. A hop bite combines with the alcohol to give a dry, somewhat sharp finish.
Try a bottle now for a fresh, bright taste, or put one in a dark cabinet and try it a year later and note the sour and dirt/earth tones. Interestingly, Chimay is the only Trappist brewery to keg a Tripel ale. If you find this on draught, it’s an entirely other experience. Kegged versions offer significantly less carbonation compared with the bottle-conditioned version. The draught version proves a much more creamy experience. Here’s to the perilously strong yet dangerously drinkable dark golden ale. Enjoy the brews … Cheers.
Gene’s Haufbrau has at more than 200 beers in bottles or on tap. Gene’s is located at 817 Savannah Hwy. 225-GENE. E-mail the Beer Snob at publisher@westof.net.