Defining a Style
Nobody at Westmalle knows where the designations Dubbel and Tripel come from. The beers were first called, simply, brown and blond. From its inception, the brewery always made a brown beer. The revered former head brewer, Father Thomas, added blond in the 1950s. The change of names to Dubbel and Tripel possibly reflects the fact that other Trappist breweries produced a lower strength beer called Single and Westmalle was keen to stress the distinctiveness of its own brews.
As the beers are bottle conditioned, they will change and improve over time. A note of banana in a young Tripel will diminish in bottle. Father Thomas believed his beers were at their best between three and six months but were still in good form after two or three years.
Dubbel, 7 percent alcohol by volume, is russet colored, with a chocolaty, spicy aroma and palate. There are hints of coffee and guava and other tropical fruits. For a strong dark beer, it’s surprisingly hoppy and bitter, with a dry finish balanced by rich malt and fruit.
Tripel, 9.5 percent, is a hazy orange color with a floral, Saaz-inspired aroma and tart citrus fruit and banana. It has a tangy, fruity palate balanced by big spicy hops and a long, lingering finish with warming alcohol, resinous hops, a herbal hint and a big punch of hop bitterness. For a beer of this strength, it’s remarkable to find that its bitterness measures between 35 and 38 units. Both beers are available in 33cl and 75cl bottles—the bigger bottles have attractive corks and cradles. Connoisseurs believe the beers improve and mature in different ways in the two bottle shapes.
There’s a third beer brewed at Westmalle. Extra (4.8 percent) is only for the monks’ consumption. Without donning a habit and tonsure, I was permitted a taste and can report that it’s a delightfully hoppy, spicy and refreshing beer.
Westmalle produces 120,000 hectolitres of beer a year—around 72,000 barrels. It’s second in size to Chimay, the monastery in the French-speaking region of Belgium. The monks at Westmalle have no plans for growth. They are satisfied they make sufficient income from their beer to help fund their work in the community, which includes supporting a monastery in the former Belgian Congo in Africa. The size of the brewing operation means the monks have had to hand over day-to-day operations to lay workers, under the supervision of brewery director Philippe Van Assche. But the brothers, led by Father Benedikt, remain firmly in charge: they conduct weekly tastings, while a monthly board meeting discusses production and sales.
Visits to the brewery are permitted but only in small groups. On the main Antwerp road and opposite the entrance to the abbey, the monks own the Cafe Trappisten (487 Antwerpsesteenweg: open daily 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.- 24.00) where visitors can eat robust local dishes and drink the beers. A popular drink in the cafe is “half and half,” a blend of Dubbel and Tripel. The result is an amber red beer, less peppery than Tripel, but fruity with a good hop bitterness and a dry finish. Visitors can also watch a video about the abbey and its brewery.
Westmalle can only satisfy the demand for its beers in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Britain. At present, the monks have no plans to export to the United States. All you can do is pray… .
