Out of the Bottle: Tripel-Dubbel

I promise that Part 3 of my kitchen brewing article is coming soon. In the meantime, I'm hopeful that this will tide everyone over. Tripel-Dubbel is the followup to my The Dubbel that was a Tripel article. After a few weeks conditioning in the bottle, it's time for the big reveal.

Tripel-Dubbel pours a gleaming peach color and has decent clarity. As you can see from the picture, there's not much of a head on this one, but there's adequate carbonation. Very weird. The hue looks about right for a beer that's straddling two styles. In the mouth, the beer has a deceptive lightness that isn't at all watery. It also has a wine-like dryness.

Bitterness is touch lower than I was expecting, but pleasant and slightly peppery. There's a nice coriander spiciness from the yeast at work too. From the sweetness angle, there is a healthy dose of plum and pear, plus a hint of caramel. At 7.2% ABV, the beer isn't particularly strong, but the alcohol is noticeable. The finish is dry and provides a bit of warmth.

I'm rather pleased with how this one turned out. A little more bitterness next time, perhaps. But the big picture is quite nice.

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