Gulden Draak a Dark Tripel? C'mon!

Well, Tim Webb in his Good Beer Guide To Belgium asserts that triple is mere a designation of a brewer's (traditionally) strongest beer and that some beers labeled Tripel have been dark.

"(a tripel) is, traditionally, the strongest (in alcohol) of a range of Trappist beers. Although the version developed by Westmalle in 1934 was blond, the color can range to near-black (Westvleteren and Rochefort). The term "tripel" has since been adopted by non-Trappist breweries to signify a strong ale."

 

I find that the American BJCP styles and naming conventions don't necessarily apply to classic European styles from Germany, the UK, and Belgium. I stopped trying once I discovered that 1/2 the beers in Bavaria wouldn't medal in their own categories.

 

one thing I love about dem tripels is the variety in the style... mmmm so good..

 

I'm with the crowd that says the brewery knows best or, at least, the brewery gets to make the call.

 

Strong Dark Belgian Ale. One Style catches them all, dubble, quad, alt, "dark triple"
But let the brewer call it, what it likes, APA/IPA, DIPA/BarleyWine, Quad/Alt, Stout/Porter

 

Love this beer, always a treat!

 

I mean for fuck sake what is a dark tripel

 

Check out the first post at the top if this page for the answer to your question.

 

Belgian-style Barleywine, that's very poorly executed.

 

In fairness, neither was a tripel until Westmalle decided to rename their strongest beer.

 

probably just exactly like it sounds ... just like a heavy armadillo...

 

The brewer can brew a Sorghum Beer and call it a "100% Sacc Sour Funky Brown Pale Black Imperial Session Light Stout Weizen Gose Flanders Blue Lager Ale" if they want (depending on appropriate label laws). It won't be helpful for anyone wanting to purchase it, but there's no rule saying that a commercial brewery has to meet arbitrary homebrew focused guidelines.


If you take a look at the BJCP guidelines, you'll find it explicitly states:

The BJCP Style Guidelines are guidelines not specifications.

The Style Guidelines were written primarily for homebrew competitions.

Not every commercial beer fits our styles

 

There´s a mexican brewer that offers "Dunkel IPA" so... dark tipel is not so bad man.

 

Traditionally a "tripel" only meant it had 3x the ingredients as a traditional belgian table beer or "single". So they ranged in color depending on the types of grains used as that 3x amount of barley or wheat. The color and common flavors we now associate with tripels is relatively new. Belgian brewers haven't been known to be very strict either

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/681/20714/

 

I think it becomes more understandable when you think of how Belgians often categorize these types of ales simply by strength and color.

 

This thread amuses me. I love the exasperation conveyed by the OP.

 

Well done! From the brewery: 'Gulden Draak can be drunk as an aperitif or dessert, or whenever you have the time to sit back and relax. But this barley wine is also perfect with and in stews, especially the Ghent variety.' When I last bought it, it was called a barley wine.

 

Whatever they want to call it, Im fine with just dont stop making it.

 

Don't like Gulden Draak, so I don't really care.