The Session, where beer bloggers get together and write about a single topic, has seemingly passed me by. Until now - today's The Session day, I'm in front of the laptop, so it's time for me to go find a tripel to share with my darling nest of vipers. Who's never had a tripel before. Hmmm.



Southern Tier Tripel seemed like a good place to start. Bottle big enough to split between two. A brewery I know little of. Blurb on the back label sounds interesting. And, er, it maybe the only tripel I have in the beer store (when pretentious, I call it the cellar as there's a step down to it. When sober, it's the utility room. Strictly (and legally) speaking, it's an illegal garage conversion).

Anyoldhow, some dodgy cnut from the south coast bunged me a bottle of this stuff so I may as well drink it. My darling wife is always keen on wrapping her lips around what I have in my hand on a Friday night, so she joined in too.

Popping it open, there's a real waft of oranges - not fresh, juicy fruits but orange restrained. On the pour, gentle orange that sparkles just enough. Fairly sweet, candied edges then follow through into the aroma. Yet it's light candied sugar, nowhere near as intense as the style would suggest. The alcohol is well hidden; holding yourself over the glass you do get the itch down the sides of your eyes but otherwise it's a ninja alcohol delivery system.

Great aroma - oranges via a bread sauce. Still restrained, reduced... a whip of the wrist recarbonates a creamyness and fresher yeasty notes.

That first sip is surprisingly light, rather creamy smoothie with a bit of a yoghurt bite, the orange ebbs and overall it's not as sweet as I'd imagined. Or perhaps, not as sweet as I'd hoped for?

There's metallic apricot and a hint of bubblegum but.. to be honest, it tastes of feck all followed by shadows of something that ought to be better.

But tripels are for sharing.. so what does 'er indoors think?

"... looks like a Thorntons orange toffi choc... tastes of beer. I prefer a quad".

Fairy nuff.

Let's redress the balance. One of the bottles I've had knocking around from a Beers Of Europe order is the Stone/Alesmith/Mikkeller Belgian Style Tripel. Sounds a bit farty to me. I like the Stone beers I've tried. Rather drawn to the Mikkel beers I've had. Never had an Alesmith (all donations gratefully received). But is this truely gestalt beer? Aren't three great brewers going to cancel themselves out?

No. Thankfully. It pours itself a curious orange. Shining through a haze with scant carbonation in play. There's clean candy sugar on the nose, itching like loose pubes in your pants. On the palate, it plays the apricot card early with sherbet lurking and rising in waves.

I know what I should have done tonight. I should have drank a Belgian Tripel. Not a 'Belgian Style Tripel'. But who gives a fark - this itches like chlamydia, slightly spicy fruit collapses into polished hops... the only bad thing is that I'm seven sips away from finishing it.

Tonight has taught me three things:

1 - I'm proud to have married a woman who loves quads more than any other beer

2 - blogging on a First Friday is fun

3 - Epic beers don't grow on trees. You've got to sip a tripel or two (to know where you're at)
>

Brewer turned chocolatier Pete Slosberg has some great beer and chocolate pairings. I thought I'd try a variation on one of his staple pairings - milk chocolate with nuts alongside a Belgian tripel.


Tripel Karmeleit is a beer I discovered, like many a tourist before me, during a long weekend in Brugge some years ago. I brought home bottles along with the branded glass, anticipating the recreation of Belgian bar style in my own living room. OK, I didn't have the nicotine-stained ceiling or mad cyclists clattering into the windows but the sweet wheat notes took me right back. I have a bottle every now and then, usually when Sainsbury's flog it off on offer, so it seemed the perfect tripel for this tasting.

It's a damn fine beer that appeals at every stage; massive pillowy head, incredibly effervescent golden body, ripe wheat nose, a desiccating crispness, massive candied hit before the uncomplicated clean finish.

Now, Pete couples a tripel with his Nuts So Serious bar, roasted hazelnuts and roasted, salted pistachios in milk chocolate. The closest I could find was a hazelnut and milk chocolate bar made by Lindt, with pieces of caramalised hazelnut in there as well. It's smooth stuff, the right side of creamy with a little dryness in the hazelnut. The caramalised chunks add some sweetness that starts to balance out the bar. Not the kind of chocolate I'd normally plump for, the nuttiness works well although the chocolate is rather too smooth.

So, let's put both together. First impressions - Karmeleit's candied sugar and the chocolate's caramalised chunks combine to give a real sweet suckerpunch, almost overwhelming. The milky feel round your mouth softens the yeasty bite, more beer conjures up soft pears in a sweet, nutty sauce. More chocolate brings candy overload once more. I love the way the hazelnut works with the soft fruit and spices in the beer but the colliding sweetness threatens to overpower.

A fun combination, particularly if you have a sweet tooth. Sometime in the future, I'd like to try a tripel against a salted chocolate to see if it achieves balance on the palate. But if spun sugar shock is your thing, Karmeleit and Lindt Hazelnut could work for you. >