Tripel Beer: Where To Buy And What To Know

Tripel beer, a strong, pale-coloured style of beer with a sweet, malty flavour, can be purchased from several online retailers. Beerwulf, Beer Merchants, Belgian Style Ales, and Total Wine & More all offer Tripel beers for sale on their websites. Beer Merchants, in particular, offers a range of Belgian Tripels, including La Guillotine Tripel, Straffe Hendrik Tripel, and Westmalle Tripel. Additionally, BeerMenus provides a useful resource for finding Tripel beers available at locations near you.

Online beer retailers

Beer Merchants

Beer Merchants offers a range of classic Belgian tripel beers, including well-known brands such as Westmalle, Abbaye de Scourmont (Chimay), and Abbaye de Rochefort. They also offer mixed cases of monastic Trappist beers and Belgian beers, providing an opportunity to explore different flavours.

Beerwulf

Another option for purchasing tripel beer online is Beerwulf, which offers free delivery on full cases. Their website provides information about the characteristics of tripel beers, such as their smooth and complex taste, with notes of sweet citrus and a warm, boozy bite.

Belgian Beer Factory

Belgian Beer Factory boasts an impressive selection of over 1400 different Belgian beers, including many tripel options. They offer well-known brands such as Leffe, Trappistenbier Westvleteren, Orval, and Grimbergen Tripel. They also have a newsletter and an account creation feature that allows customers to track their orders.

Drizly

Drizly is an online liquor store that offers a range of craft beers, including tripel. They provide a beginner's guide to tripel, highlighting its complex flavour profile, comparable to fine wines, with fruity notes of orange and banana, and spicy, clove-like phenolic notes. Drizly also offers suggestions for food pairings, such as cured meats, triple creme cheese, and desserts like peach cobbler and cheesecake.

BeerMenus

BeerMenus allows you to search for specific tripel beers, like the New Belgium Trippel, and find retailers near you that carry them. They provide detailed information about the beer's characteristics, such as its clear or hazy appearance, deep golden colour, and sweet citrus aroma.

Belgian-style ales

You can buy Belgian-style ales, including tripels, from various online retailers. Belgianstyleales.com offers a wide range of beers, including Christmas ales, and provides well-researched product information. They also offer gifts, online tastings, and Beer of the Month Clubs. Similarly, Beerwulf offers free delivery on cases of beer and has a range of Tripel beers available.

Total Wine & More also offers a selection of Belgian-style ales, including the Allagash Tripel Ale and the Westmalle Tripel Trappist Ale. Beer Merchants is another online retailer specialising in Belgian-style tripels, with options from breweries such as Westmalle, Abbaye de Scourmont (Chimay), and Abbaye de Rochefort.

In addition to online options, some physical stores may carry Belgian-style ales. For example, the website for Total Wine & More indicates that their Wilmington (Milltown Shopping Center) location in Delaware, USA, carries a selection of Belgian-style ales.

Trappist breweries

Trappist beers are brewed by Trappist monks. There are currently thirteen Trappist breweries, with ten of them recognised by the International Trappist Association (ITA) and permitted to use the "Authentic Trappist Product" label. Six of these are in Belgium, with others in the Netherlands, Austria, France, the United States, Italy, England, and Spain.

The six Belgian breweries are Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren. The Dutch brewery is La Trappe, which is based in Koningshoeven. The Austrian brewery is Stift Engelszell, located in Engelhartszell. The French brewery is Mont des Cats, and the American brewery is St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. Tre Fontane Abbey in Rome, Italy, is also recognised by the ITA, as is Mount Saint Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire, England. Finally, there is one Spanish brewery, Cardeña, from the Abbey of San Pedro de Cardeña, whose beer is currently produced off-site.

Trappist Tripel is a naming convention traditionally used by Belgian Trappist breweries to describe the strongest beer in their range. Westmalle Tripel is considered to be the foundation of this beer style, and was first brewed within the abbey walls in 1934. Other Trappist Tripels include Achel 8 Blond, La Trappe Tripel, and Chimay White/Cinq Cents.

Local availability

Tripel beer is a style of beer with roots in the Belgian Trappist beer tradition. You can buy it online from several vendors, including Beer Merchants, BeerWulf, and Total Wine & More. Beer Merchants offers UK delivery, while BeerWulf offers free delivery.

In the US, you can purchase Tripel beer from Total Wine & More, which has a store pickup option in Sacramento, CA. BeerMenus also lists a location in Lomita, CA, that carries Tripel beer from the New Belgium Brewing Company.

If you are located in Belgium, you can find Tripel beer at most of the country's best breweries, including Westmalle, Abbaye de Scourmont (Chimay), and Abbaye de Rochefort.

Food pairings

Tripel beers are a classic Belgian style of beer, strong and pale-coloured, with a sweet, malty flavour and fruity notes. With such a distinct flavour profile, there are some great food pairings to be considered.

Tripels are versatile and can be paired with a wide range of foods. A ploughman's platter with pickles, tomatoes, dried meats, bread, hard cheese, and nuts is a great option. You could also try a reasonably fatty cut of meat, like pork chops with green beans and new potatoes, or cured meats. For dessert, something with similar flavours to the beer, like citrus, peach, or apricot, would work well.

If you're looking for something more adventurous, you could try pairing your tripel with something spicy, like Cajun chicken or pork, or crab cakes. Lamb curry or a vindaloo has also been suggested as a good pairing. Seafood is another option, with salmon and pineapple salsa, or mussels and shrimp with garlic bread coming recommended.

For a classic Belgian pairing, try tripel with mussels, or for something a little more indulgent, pork and blue cheese.

Frequently asked questions