The name "Tripel" actually stems from part of the brewing process, in which brewers use up to three times the amount of malt than a standard Trappist "Simple." Traditionally, Tripels are bright yellow to gold in color, which is a shade or two darker than the average Pilsener. Head should be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor runs along complex, spicy phenolic, powdery yeast, fruity/estery with a sweet finish. Sweetness comes from both the pale malts and the higher alcohol. Bitterness is up there for a beer with such a light body for its strength, but at times is barely perceived amongst the even balance of malts and hops. The lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candy sugar (up to 25% sucrose), which not only lightens the body, but also adds complex alcoholic aromas and flavors. Small amounts of spices are sometimes added as well. Tripels are actually notoriously alcoholic, yet the best crafted ones hide this character quite deceivingly, making them sipping beers.
View other type: Altbier American Adjunct Lager American Amber Ale American Blond Ale American Imperial Stout American IPA American Pale Ale American Pale Lager American Pale Wheat Ale American Porter American Strong Ale Baltic Porter Belgian Dark Ale Belgian Double Belgian Pale Ale Belgian Quadruple Belgian Strong Dark Ale Belgian Strong Pale Ale Belgian Triple Berliner Weissbier Biere de Garde Black IPA / Cascadian Dark Ale Bock California Common / Steam Beer Cream Ale Dopplebock Dortmunder-Export Lager Double / Imperial IPA Dunkel English Ale English Barleywine English Bitter English Brown Ale English Dark Mild Ale English Porter English Stout Euro Dark Lager Euro Pale Lager European Strong Ale Festbier Flanders Red Ale Flavored / Pastry Stout Foreign-Export Stout Fruit-Vegetable Beer Gose Grodziskie Hazy / New England IPA Hefeweizen Herbed-Spiced Beer Imperial Brown Ale Imperial Pastry / Flavored Stout India Pale Lager Irish Dry Stout Irish Red Ale Kellerbier Kentucky Common Kolsch Kristallweizen Lambic Light Lager Marzen Milk / Sweet Stout Munich Dunkel Lager Munich Helles Lager Oatmeal Stout Old Ale Pilsner Rauchbier Russian Imperial Stout Saison / Farmhouse Ale Schwarze Scotch Ale / Wee Heavy Scottish Ale Session IPA Vienna Lager Weizenbock Wheat Wild / Sour Ale Winter Warmer
