10/14/2026
Justin Million's Beerducation Post Number Three:
Westmalle Tripel
If you were not aware, we here at Bijoux Bar, and St. Veronus next door, offer b**rs made my monks as part of their monastic chores. I like to say, in one of my many cheesy bartender lines, "If I had known that I could end my day of monastic chores by sampling some of the best b**r in the world, fresh from the kettle, I probably would have considered that life"... not that they would have had me!
Like our best b**r expert Michael Jackson says in The Greag Beers of Belgium, "Although it does make a dark Trappist b**r, this monastery is famous for its golden Tripel", as Westmalle's Tripel is widely recognized to be the standard of the style, often imitated by conventional commercial brewers. In my amateur b**r mind, dark usually means sweet and strong, whereas lighter in colour usually signals a cleaner, crisper, and lighter b**r. Westmalle's Tripel is made with pale, Pilsner-style malt, but has a fruity and strong taste that I used to think was exclusive to much darker b**r.
In Belgian b**r, there is something surprising about almost any bottle we keep in our fridge. Whether it's heritage, like the many Abbey and Trappist b**rs we carry that are brewed in monasteries, or the expert integration of alcohol, of which the Belgians are best, or the vast history that some of these b**rs boast (they started brewing the Abbey b**r called Averbode, which we carry, in 1134?!?), there is a galaxy of options in our fridges that you need to try while we are blessed to have them here in Peterborough. One never knows when a b**r will suddenly become unavailable (anyone remember when we carried DeKoninck?), so you better get down here and drink some monastic b**r, or otherwise, while the world allows it!
Thanks for reading.
Love,
J
