i am confused by tripel ,quad beer. Does tripel means tripel yeast ,tripel hops or tripel malt? thanks for those who share.
None of the above, really! To my knowledge, tripel and quadrupel basically refer to the ABV of Belgian-style ales, although both also refer to disctinct kinds of ale. Your average tripel will be a golden pale ale, around 9% ABV, and generally somewhat hoppier than the classic dark Belgian dubbel--although still possessing a strong baseline level of that intense, rich, fairly fruity sweetness that is common to many Belgian or Belgian-style beers. By contrast, quadrupel is a somewhat more nebulous term that essentially refers to a dark Belgian ale with ABV higher than that commonly found in a tripel, generally anywhere from 9-12% ABV. They tend to be very robust and rich, with strong notes of sweet dark fruits in them--almost as much a dessert as a beer, in some ways! (Also, 从美国您好！)
If I'm not mistaken I believe it means how many times it's been fermented. Dubbel fermented twice, trippel 3 times, quadrupel 4 times.
I'm going to get yelled at for saying this here, but that's almost the opposite of my understanding. The gradation dubbel/tripel/quad is mostly based on alcohol content/gravity of Trappist ales, but that alcohol has to come from somewhere. In addition, dubbel is traditional, tripel is well established but not yet a century old and quad is effectively a recent innovation, so its definition is still in transition. Dubbels offer a balance between all flavors and alcohol, but somewhat darker and sweeter on average than tripels. Tripel is still balanced but heavier, probably with the most interesting interplay of flavors. The quads sacrifice a lot of malt and add more sugar to get the ABV up, so the flavor is a little thin (as it was in the original La Trappe Quadrupel) unless... and this is where the "style in transition" comes in. Brewers have been playing with quads trying to increase the flavor, but if it's not done right you just get a hot mess. And if they do do it right, I wonder if it's really a quad any more or if it approaches one of the other high-ABV styles albeit made with Belgian yeast. Note that the distinction is sometimes made between Belgian and American quads (not without good reason). Ljudsignal describes the American quad. I'd say Ommegang, Pretty Things, Boulevard, Avery and Weyerbacher are doing it right while others are still flailing, but I could be wrong (Ommegang's Three Philosophers is closer to the Belgian style IMO). Chow has a "primer" on Belgian styles, but it's of limited utility.
I believe, amongst other reasons mentioned so far, that it has to do with the traditional labeling at the monastery's. each batch was given a certain number of x's on the keg to indicate strength and how it was brewed. So the nuns would be in charge of placing one two three or four x's on the keg depending on the final alcohol content of the beer. The monastic life is more and more appealing to me every time I head to the man cave to get away from the wife and have a beer. NO WIFE AND ALL THE BEER I CAN DRINK??? SIGN ME UP!!!
I find this to kind of be like the fine line between porter or stout, or even stout and black ipa....
And that right there is why I always try to put a "to my knowledge" disclaimer on anything I write concerning styles, flavor profiles, etc. Let me offer my own thanks for this, Victor...as a fledgling craft drinker and also an employee in the beer department of my workplace, this is useful knowledge right here!
Bahahaha! But bear in mind that you'd probably only get the weakest stuff (I believe the St. Bernardus Pater 6 and the Rochefort 6 come fairly close to what most Trappist monasteries serve as their "table beer"...)
Don't know about the nuns, but the quad is a purely modern invention, so no XXXX barrels (certainly not kegs!). This is one theory advanced on Wiki and by several other sources, but there's very little evidence that this is the case, as is often the case with most popular folk theories of origin. More likely, it simply represents the floor of the traditional category (except for Quads) in multiples of 3%--singles, doubles and triples are 3, 6 and 9%, respectively. The lower two fill the gaps as well, but anything higher than 9.x is a quad. Personally, I'd like to see a nice heavy stout (e.g., Mephistopheles) mixed with a solid BA quad. Any brewers want to collaborate on that one? PS: While waiting for someone to make my dream brew, I'm going to open a Golden Monkey--yes, a Tripel. And a pretty good one at that.
