Keeping with recent posts on blind tastings, last weekend the wife, father-in-law, a neighbour and I decided to do a Tripel tasting for Easter. The 6 beers up to bat were Karmeliet, Westmalle, Chimay, Maredsous, Agustijin and Koningshoeven. We all knew what the beers in the tasting would be, but only my wife (who poured) knew the order. Unfortunately, what was later identified as Koningshoeven was disastrously soured and even darkened a shade or two in colour, so the tasting really only addressed 5 beers in their prime. Other bottles of Konigshoeven bought at the same time, kept under the same conditions and drunk as early as a week ago seemed to be fine, so no explanation for the poor bottle. Bad luck, I guess.
Anyway, compared to the other blind tastings I’ve done for wheat beers, pilsners and doppelbocks, differences between the Tripels were much more subtle and all of the beers were surprisingly similar. The roundness of the Karmeliet, due to the addition of oats and wheat, made it stand out, but the other 4 only differed slightly by degrees of flavour, aroma and mouthfeel. Between the 3 of us doing totally blind tastings, the averaged results were…
1. Westmalle (hoppiest)
2. Karmeliet (oats definitely apparent)
3. Chimay (I rated this my #1, but I was alone in this rating)
4. Maredsous (lightest bodied despite having highest alcohol at 10%)
5. Agustijin (maybe the spiciest of the set. I actually misidentified it as the Koningshoeven)
NA Koningshoeven (due to spoilage)
Blind tastings like these are always educational. Even though the Agustijin was #5, it surprisingly stacked up admirably against the more respected Tripels. Also surprising was how well I liked the Westmalle (my #2). On its own, I always found it a little boozy and un-even, but in comparison to some of the others I though it was very complex and well balanced. Good fun!
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Tripels Aplenty!
Nice report!
I'd become somewhat burned out on tripels recently, having tried offerings from several different breweries but not having any particular one stand out.
Would have been good to throw a Fin Du Monde into your mix as well. I had one last week for the first time in a while, and it really hit the spot.
I haven't tried the Karmeliet as of yet. But there's one in my fridge waiting for a cork-popping moment to celebrate - hopefully next week!
I'd become somewhat burned out on tripels recently, having tried offerings from several different breweries but not having any particular one stand out.
Would have been good to throw a Fin Du Monde into your mix as well. I had one last week for the first time in a while, and it really hit the spot.
I haven't tried the Karmeliet as of yet. But there's one in my fridge waiting for a cork-popping moment to celebrate - hopefully next week!
Sounds like an awesome tasting! I did on this time last year on my lonesome. Poured a Chimay White, Fin du Monde and Westmalle Tripel and had them side-by-side. Compared to the other two the Chimay was a bit of a disappointment, and it was very hard to choose between the Canadian and the classic interpretation, but the hometown boy won. It was nice to know that a homegrown beer available in this province can stand tall amongst the best in the world and become a fridge staple.
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Jan Primus
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I actually did bring a 1 yr old 750ml La Fin Du Monde with me to the tasting, but we decided to keep it limited to 6 beers and have it an all European affair. In retrospect, that decision was totally arbitrary and I'm kicking myslef for passing it by!
Ah well, it's a good excuse for a future tasting. I jumped the gun and drank all my St. Bernardus before the tasting, so someday I'd like to do a La Fin Du Monde, St. Bernardus, Chimay, Westmalle side-by-side when I restock.
Ah well, it's a good excuse for a future tasting. I jumped the gun and drank all my St. Bernardus before the tasting, so someday I'd like to do a La Fin Du Monde, St. Bernardus, Chimay, Westmalle side-by-side when I restock.
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icemachine
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Sounds like a good exercise, I've been building up my 'cellar' currently have tripels of Westmalle, St. Bernardus, Karmeliet, Floreffe and Konigshoevenboney wrote:I actually did bring a 1 yr old 750ml La Fin Du Monde with me to the tasting, but we decided to keep it limited to 6 beers and have it an all European affair. In retrospect, that decision was totally arbitrary and I'm kicking myslef for passing it by!
Ah well, it's a good excuse for a future tasting. I jumped the gun and drank all my St. Bernardus before the tasting, so someday I'd like to do a La Fin Du Monde, St. Bernardus, Chimay, Westmalle side-by-side when I restock.
"Everything ... is happening" - Bob Cole
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Jan Primus
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I'm not sure if the same Scottish-born brewer was also part of the GluhKriek/Quelque-Chose carry-over... ?
You guys might also know that 'Tripel' is as much the Brewer's own indicator of relative strength as it is may be a distinct style group. I might say Chimay White together with its inspiration Westmalle Tripel form a mini- 'style group' (call it pale very hoppy belgian tripel / triple...) but some other 'tripels' are to me not particularly in the same style range. Maredsous, St. Bernardus and Koningshoeven, while each wonderful in its own right, are each kind of doing their own thing in making a triple-strength belgian ale..
Often 'Tripel' just means the product "more strong than dubbel and less strong than quadrupel" in a given product line. There can be a lot more distinctions than similarities. Anyway... discuss!!
You guys might also know that 'Tripel' is as much the Brewer's own indicator of relative strength as it is may be a distinct style group. I might say Chimay White together with its inspiration Westmalle Tripel form a mini- 'style group' (call it pale very hoppy belgian tripel / triple...) but some other 'tripels' are to me not particularly in the same style range. Maredsous, St. Bernardus and Koningshoeven, while each wonderful in its own right, are each kind of doing their own thing in making a triple-strength belgian ale..
Often 'Tripel' just means the product "more strong than dubbel and less strong than quadrupel" in a given product line. There can be a lot more distinctions than similarities. Anyway... discuss!!
In Beerum Veritas
