Monday, December 12, 2011

Westmalle Trappist Ale Tripel

Westmalle's dubbel is one of my favourite beers of all time. Today I'm going to see how their tripel sizes up.  It's not available here in Manitoba, as far as I know.  I bought this particular bottle in Arizona the day before I flew home earlier this month.  All hail BevMo!  It comes in an identical 11.2 fl. Oz. brown bottle, the difference being an off-white label (and bottle cap) as opposed to the dubbel's purple.  It has 9.5% alcohol/vol and this particular bottle had a best-before date of 10 March, 2012.

When opened, the smell was immediately stronger in alcohol than the dubbel, with almost no fruity esters.  It poured a dark yellow colour, with a huge white head.  There were lots of tiny bubles, and very low clarity.  After the pour, the fruity esters made a strong appearance.

The first sip was delicious.  There was slightly less fruitiness than the dubbel, and a lot more alcoholic warmth.  The feel in the mouth was very soft.  There was no aftertaste to speak of.  I wish I had a fire going in the fireplace and a good book.  This beer is quite excellent.

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