Tripels, Trappists, Barleywine, Oh My
As some of you may know from my personal blog, I am fermenting wine for the first time. I love the subtle complexities in wine and different approaches wineries take while fermenting and ageing. A Cabernet from winery x, may taste very different from winery y. Beers are the same way, but probably with 10 times the different character and complexities. The type of hops, barley, and yeast really defines the flavor of a beer along with the different methods in brewing. I love them both wine and beer equally, but since this is a beer site, I will talk about some beers that rival wine in both complexity and character and also in alcohol by volume.
While on my way home from work the other day, I decided to stop by one of the greatest beer stores ever and pick up a selection of Tripel Ales and Barley Wines.
Tripel Ales get their name due the addition of triple the amount of malt used during brewing process. Tripels came to life in the early 1930’s when the Trappist Monks in Belgium produced them. Today, Tripels are a popular style within the craft beer circles.
Due to the amount of malt used during brewing, Tripels average an alcohol by volume of around 8.5-9%. This creates a strong stomach warming beer with outstanding character. Traditionally Tripels are bright gold in color, but many new age crafters are producing amber and darker colors.
Barleywines are similar to Tripels, but were created in England in the early 1900’s. Barleywines often are darker and more bitter than Tripels. But in this day and age, the difference between the two are often blurred. Barley wines can reach up to 12% ABV. That is three times the alcohol than what is in Miller or Coors Lite. American Barley Wines usually contain a boatload of hops to produce an extreme bitterness, while English Barley Wines are usually more rounded in flavor between the hops and barley.
My mixed six-pack contained these six brews:
- Bigfoot Barleywine Style Ale by Sierra Nevada
- Old Horizontal by Victory Brewing Company
- Westmalle Trappist Tripel by Brouwerij Westmalle
- Watou Tripel by Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV
- Maredsous 10 by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
- Duvel by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat NV
I bought some of the beers on merit and some on instinct, but I never had any of these beers before and I can’t wait to enjoy them.
I will write about my experiences with these strong ales over the weekend or early next week. This will give me something to do while my wine finish up its second stage in fermenting.
on March 9th, 2007 at 7:19 am
In my humble opinion, Sierra Nevada’s Barleywine tastes like Bigfoots d*ck.
on March 13th, 2007 at 8:53 am
This is Maureen, Brian McElaney’s little sister. You and I met briefly at the craft beer festival. I had an open mind when trying that ale and just couldn’t hang. Perhaps I wasn’t drinking it correctly. or maybe at the time I was looking for something a little easier on the pallet. Consequently I stand by my previous statement.
on August 7th, 2007 at 8:36 am
After googling my name and finding this comment after some months, I realize that you may have missed my intended double entendre in that first comment. Perhaps you are familiar with the part of the film Anchorman where Brian Fantana wears his “Panther” cologne. “60% of the time it works every time.”