Tripel Karmeliet

Origin: Belgium

Type: Triple

Color: Pale yellow to golden

Alcohol content: 8.4%

Recommended serving temperature: 10ºC/50ºF

Brewery: Brouwerij Bosteels

Webpage: http://www.bestbelgianspecialbeers.be/main_eng.html

I am going to write today on one of my all time favorite beers, the Tripel Karmeliet. 

I do not exactly remember when I tried it for the first time (yes, it was that long ago), but ever since I did, my passion for it has been undying. Proof of this is my vast collection of vintage glasses of this beer, outnumbering the equally easy to break glasses of Paulaner and Duvel combined.

This triple is a bit of a chameleon, ranging in color from the pale yellow to the very light bronze, passing by the golden color of strong Belgian ales. There is a slight chance that this is due to poor storage conditions on occasion (I must admit I have had it in grimy places where many people would not even venture to enter), but I doubt this is so as a general rule. The truth is this beer is almost like a craft beer in this sense, slightly varying in appearance and even taste from bottle to bottle. This is one of the factors that makes it so special to me.

I do not know if this variability is to some extent due to the fact that it is made with three different types of grain (wheat, oats and barley, as made by the Carmelites in Dendermonde), or to the re-fermentation it undergoes in bottles (like many others however), or just that it is done in a more artisanal fashion. However, the first, if not the first two of these factors are surely though responsible for the occasional slight haziness and sediments in it.

It boasts an impressive amount of rich creamy, soapy foam, which takes a long while to die down, and almost never completely does. This makes it harder to pour as well as to drink fast and in a hurry at the beginning, but it no doubt makes its aromas all the more apparent.

Its smell is pretty fruity, citrusy at the beginning. This is probably the dominating smell, astringent and citrusy, very in tune with its color and appearance somehow. However, this smell is joined by some sweet notes, spices and flowers, which are noticeable to different degrees depending on the bottle and its temperature (they are the first to go when this beer is served too cold).

Citric fruits are also the first things you can taste in this beer, although it is hard to pinpoint precisely which. My personal opinion is grapefruit, as it has a more depth in its flavor than lemon.

The spices and flowers are also present in the taste, less obviously the former than the latter, helping to give the beer a bit more consistency and body to its taste.

This makes it a good counterbalance to a beer otherwise dominated in your mouth by the heavy carbonation typical of stronger Belgian ales, which gives it a champagny character, and the astringent citrus smell and flavor.

Alcohol can also be slightly felt in the taste for a brief second, before giving way to a dry finish and a bit of grapefruit aftertaste.

All in all, this makes for a beer that is both refreshing and deadly at 8.4%ABV, and which can go perfectly with many foods, but especially with those garnished with honey or other sweetening condiments, with a strong presence of aromatic herbs, or poultry and, of course, cheese.