A bottled Dubbel gives impressions of ripe banana but comes across as fairly dry and slightly bitter. I asked him if he was sure about the style since I've heard of a Tripel, a Strong Pale Ale, and a Pale Ale, but not a Belgian Tripel Pale Ale. It has been brewed by Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle since 1926, who also brew (unsurprisingly) the Westmalle Tripel and Westmalle Extra.

However, it is sweeter and maltier with hints of coffee and caramel. Currently, dubbel vs tripel is just a marketing difference. While dubbels are generally something akin to a brown ale, malt forward with some light hints of dark fruit and roastiness, Tripels are pale to golden, being a vehicle for both the yeast flavors (clove/bananna), fruity esters, and the whims of the brewer (Belgian candi sugar, coriander and … You might want to think of a Tripel as somehow “one higher” than a Dubbel, but alas, it doesn’t apply, because beer is weird like that. One of my neighbors, who is my brewing assistant on occasion, requested a Belgian Tripel Pale Ale. Wanted to make something that they could hold on to and age for a few years, so I decided to go with a Belgian Dubbel, Tripel, and Quad. Tripels should be served slightly chilled, or at least more chilled than dubbels, and also in a tulip glass. Belgian strong pale ale (also known as Belgian strong golden ale) is a more recent invention, credited to Belgian brewers Duvel Moortgat. In 1926, the recipe was changed, and it was sold as Dubbel Bruin.Following World War Two, abbey beers became popular in Belgium and the name "dubbel" was … A beer chalice is also acceptable. We learned something by tasting 19 different Belgian-style tripels: If there’s such a thing as a bad tripel, we haven’t had it. Belgian Dubbel, Tripel, and Quad. Recipes were all from candisyrup (with a few minor changes), and I ended up going with the Westmalle Dubbel, Westmalle Tripel, and Westvleteren 12. There's a stylistic difference (much like the difference between a stout and a porter), but as far as I can tell there's no fixed definition of how you brew one vs the other. ... in a tripel that almost seems to have a little bit of dubbel in it. Not that hoppy beers ever really disappeared from Belgium. We blind tasted 36 of those heady abbey ales known as Belgian tripel, and walked away with some interesting surprises. The Dubbel is presented in a dark brown bottle with a diamond-shaped chocolate brown label. I'm pretty sure your description of a Tripel vs a standard Trappist beer is incorrect. Today, these style names are used mainly as marketing words, where the “Dubbel” is a particularly dark beer with a 6-7.5% ABV, the Tripel is a pale gold beer with higher ABV (7-10%), and the Quad is typically a dark amber that can range up to 11% ABV. The origin of the dubbel was a strong version of a brown beer brewed in Westmalle Abbey in 1856, which is known to have been on sale to the public by June 1861. The term dubbel (also double) is a Belgian Trappist beer naming convention. Belgian Tripel vs Belgian Pale Ale. He was convinced he had had it before, so I let it go and figured I'd do a little research. Since dark beers were the norm throughout Europe before the 19 th century, and unmalted grains and sugar of some sort were historically used in Belgium, we can assume that something similar to dubbel had been brewed for centuries. The beer that started it all is known simply as Duvel (that's "devil" in Flemish) and it took its current bright golden form in the 1970s. Brewed some beer to give as a gift to my groomsmen.

The red-capped dubbel is Première, followed by the white cap tripel, Cinq Cents, and the blue cap strong dark, Grande Réserve. The Westmalle Dubbel is a popular dark Belgian trappist beer with an alcoholic volume of 7%. But there has been something of a hoppy renaissance gaining steam over the past twenty years. Before the tripel even hits the drinker’s palate, it should appeal to the nose with notes of citrus, banana and alcohol. A Dubbel from the tap tastes full in the mouth and less fruity compared to the bottled version. Saison Dupont is archetypal, and the Westmalle Trappist Dubbel and Tripel have an underappreciated hops character that countless imitators—including many Belgian ones—seem to miss.