QUICK TAKE: TRIPEL KARMELIET

TRIPLE KARMELIET is a Belgian tripel dating back to some time prior to my birth – well, 1679 to be precise. I guess it’s somewhat hard to imagine beer this delicious and well-crafted being produced in the 17th century, and naturally the modern mind goes totally skeptical that the olde version would taste anything like today’s. I suppose one can never know, but just this connection to near-ancient brewing methods is one of the many reasons Belgian beer is so special. TRIPEL KARMELIET has a very strong and intense taste, quite bready, almost as if a batch of sourdough got into the vats and gummed up the works for a while before someone – maybe a monk – noticed. This happy accident, in my imaginary world of beermaking, produced a very tasteful and unforgiving beer; unforgiving in the sense that you don’t want to slam this one down at a kegger; you’ll just look & feel stupid. Its carbonation alone, which I found to be pretty high, would preclude such activities. Nope, enjoy it in the comforts of home with, oh jeez I don’t know – how about a steak and some “pomme frites”? I’ll restock this one again sometime in the near future. 7.5/10.