Westmalle's dubbel is one of my favourite beers of all time. Today I'm going to see how their tripel sizes up. It's not available here in Manitoba, as far as I know. I bought this particular bottle in Arizona the day before I flew home earlier this month. All hail BevMo! It comes in an identical 11.2 fl. Oz. brown bottle, the difference being an off-white label (and bottle cap) as opposed to the dubbel's purple. It has 9.5% alcohol/vol and this particular bottle had a best-before date of 10 March, 2012.
When opened, the smell was immediately stronger in alcohol than the dubbel, with almost no fruity esters. It poured a dark yellow colour, with a huge white head. There were lots of tiny bubles, and very low clarity. After the pour, the fruity esters made a strong appearance.
The first sip was delicious. There was slightly less fruitiness than the dubbel, and a lot more alcoholic warmth. The feel in the mouth was very soft. There was no aftertaste to speak of. I wish I had a fire going in the fireplace and a good book. This beer is quite excellent.
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