Today is not the typical Monday. Rather than I go to work, I have a day off. This is so, because tomorrow is a national holiday here in Bulgaria and my bosses decided it would be better if all the personnel has a day off. The kids are having their afternoon naps, so this is the perfect opportunity to share a nice Belgian Tripel with my wife.
This beer was a present for me from my best man for my name day. It was on the 5th May and I usually do not celebrate it, but in the recent years people started sending me congratulations about it. Well, this does not mean that I started celebrating it, but really I’m not refusing any presents! Especially when it is beer! 😁
As you may know, La Trappe is one of the very few original Trappist beers, brewed in monasteries in Belgium. I think it’s among the more famous ones and it is easily available here in Bulgaria. And I would say it’s reasonably priced, unlike the XII Westvleteren which is extremely difficult to find and when it’s in the shops it has quadrupled its original price at the monastery. I had a great desire to buy a bottle of this XII beer, but it was extremely expensive and unavailable at that time. I think that it was priced at about 20-25$ a bottle which was massively overpriced given the fact that it costs about 2$ when purchased from the monastery.
Firstly I didn’t know what glasses to use for this tripel, but I remembered that I have 2 Leffe beer glasses. I think they are called goblets? Or I may be wrong, but I surely know that Belgian beer is most enjoyed in this type of beer glass. Well, the brand is different but after all who cares? We are not at a beer pub! 😁
It’s very unique and typical for the Belgian Trappist beers to be closed in bigger bottles - 750ml with cork stopper and metal brackets for further safety. After all these are heavily carbonated liquids and no one wants bottles shooting with their cork stoppers around the shops 😁
One other use of these cork stoppers is that they are very beautifully made, especially these sparkling wine and beer ones, and they are a perfect subject for some artistic photos of the beer, glasses and all the setup.
The beer itself is very typical Belgian tripel. There is not much hoppiness. Belgian Trappists build their beers around malts quality and the alcohol strength of the beers. The overall mouthfeel and taste is very rich, with some caramel hints and fruitful aftertaste from the esters from fermentation. One greatly famous fact about Belgian triples and quadrupels is that with time passing they become complex and balanced. However I don’t have this patience right now and decided it was a great day for a Tripel.
Now it’s time to end this post because the big boy is already awake and needs some attention. Buy and cheers! Have a nice week!
