Trippel – New Belgium Brewing

Spring is upon us and like clockwork New Belgium’s updated Spring Folly pack has hit the shelves. Always excited at the prospect of a new belgian style ale, I headed straight for a bottle of Trippel. Also available as a six-pack, the beer hits the expected Belgian Tripel notes, while offering a surprising spice profile that makes it a great value.

The pour is a deep straw color and surprisingly clear for the style. A finger’s worth of billowy white head slowly dissipates on the way down the glass leaving next to no lace. The nose is comprised of Belgian yeast, bready malt, and a surprising amount of booziness giving away the 7.8% ABV.

A strong malt opening slowly fades to a finish of booze and spice accented by subtle bitter rind. There is a great carbonation and though the body is thinner than most tripels, this adds to the drinkability and makes the brew quite inviting. The warming burn on the back of the throat that helps me define a great belgian ale is certainly present here and has great staying power.

I find the hop to be more subtle than described on the New Belgium website:

“Our Trippel Belgian Style Ale (pronounced triple) opens with a bold blast of hops that slowly gives way to the fruity esters implied by our Belgian yeast strain. In the Belgian tradition of brewing singles, doubles and triples, Trippel is the strongest with the longest fermentation. Remarkably smooth and complex, our bottle-conditioned Trippel is spiced with a trace of coriander.” – New Belgium website

None the less, what we have here is a a very smooth beer with great character. The booziness and spice are something you wouldn’t expect to find in a mixer from most companies (nor is the 95% overall score on Rate Beer), but coming from New Belgium it certainly fits in with the other bold choices in the lineup. I think that for the money, around $9.00 for a six-pack, this is a great consumer tripel that has the potential to attract newcomers to the style.

Cheers
Dave