Thanks all for your replies and especially pointing fingers towards Triples I’ve yet to have or unheard of for me so far. And, whatever the reason. Though, Allagash apparently (never tried them, either) can produce good triples too, it seems American brewers have yet to beat their Belgian counterparts in this regard.
They are getting a little harder to find in my immediate area. Availability of imports has declined somewhat. Domestically, Allagash has my top three reviews in the style with Curieux leading the way over their straight triple and the James Bean Curieux variant. I'm pretty happy that Curieux is now available in 12 ounce formats. Surprised that I dont have at least a few of the imports and more renowned examples on my list. May have to fix that!
I think we have some admirable examples that definitely get in the ballpark (Allagash, New Belgium, Monkless, and Canada's Unibroue especially), but nothing better than what the Belgians are making. Then again, I'm not really sure that's even possible without deviating out of the style, too. Over here the main thing is that Belgian styles aren't exactly flying off shelves. Imports tend to be old and/or expensive and it's not like most craft brewers are excited to put a new tripel on the shelves. It's a pretty common seasonal for smaller breweries, but they aren't packaging them. I've had some pretty amazing examples from smaller places, but outside trading crowlers you have to go to those places to try them...assuming they're even still making one.
To what everyone else has said, I'd add these three: Straffe Hendrik Tripel | Brouwerij De Halve Maan | BeerAdvocate Affligem Tripel | Brouwerij De Smedt / Brouwerij Affligem | BeerAdvocate Dulle Teve (Mad Bitch) | Brouwerij De Dolle Brouwers | BeerAdvocate Give me a little time and I can probably come up with a few more that are worth your while.
[ Voodoo Brewing Voodoo Love Child https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13371/31546/?ba=liteon163#lists [/QUOTE] Wish we would that sold retail here again. Been to the original brewery in Meadville several times. Got a growler once for $9. The cherries chime in just at the right time. Locally, i recomend: "Neighbor Girl", from Massillon's Paradigm Shift brewing.
In my opinion that seems to be the case. The only potential 'outlier' could be Tripels that were brewed at small, local brewpubs. Back in the day (decade+ ago), local craft breweries (we typically referred to them as brewpubs) would on a rotating basis produce Belgian style beers only available on draft on premise (or you could buy a growler fill for a to go purchase). I enjoyed a number of very, very tasty Tripels back in that day. Were they exactly on the same level as the Belgian brewed versions? Hmm? As has already been discussed in this thread, Belgian style ales just do not seem to sell well to the US craft beer customers so they are not as readily available/produced by craft breweries. Because they aren't hoppy/hazy enough? I suspect that imported Belgian ales also don't sell as well today (2026) as they did a decade+ ago. Perhaps the high(er) prices affect sales? Cheers!
De Garre is one of my favorites….luckily I have a bar nearby that always has it on tap. It’s not traditional(barrel-aged with coffee) but I liked Barrel & Bean from Allagash a lot too.
Just yesterday @Sinfull posted in the Belgian beer thread a Tripel brewed by Schilling branded as Erastus. Below is the review he also posted: "Slightly hazy yellow pour topped with a medium white head. The aroma blends Belgian yeast, peppery spice, soft malt, and a touch of fruit. The flavor follows with a moderately sweet, yeasty profile balanced by a clean, steady bitterness. Well executed and very satisfying." Sure reads tasty. My local Retail Beer Distributor carries a few brands of Schilling beer but I have yet to see Erastus on the shelf. I will have to keep an eye out for this beer. Cheers!
I love tripels, it’s.a top 3 style for me for sure. I usually make it a point to try every new tripel I see, so I’m now up to 183, including 35 of the Top 100. Totally agree that the Belgians are still the best in this arena. I’ve had several great US & Canadian tripels that compete with the Belgians, though of course numerically I’ve tried a lot more US tripels than anything else. Looking at my ratings, my run-away favorite is Tripel Karmeliet, and though it was 16+ years ago now, I still remember how good that bottle was. Unfortunately, here in America, it comes in a big green expensive bottle, and so you never know how old or light-struck it’s gonna be (though I have seen it in smaller brown bottles lately, so I should go give those a try). Most of the Karmeliet I’ve had since then has been pretty disappointing compared to the memory of that one amazing bottle. Dulle Teve, Allagash Tripel, Boulevard Long Strange Triple, and Val-Dieu Tripel round out my top 5 (based on BA rating), but Fin du Monde, St. Bernardus, and Westmalle are what I normally get because they are just more available in my area. Cheers @Shanex for starting this thread! Love an opportunity to talk tripel
There are several Quebec breweries (some that never leave the province) that follow the traditional ways of brewing Belgian beers. I feel like it's common for french speaking Belgians to move to Quebec, at least in my experience. That might be the reason.
My local beer retailers sell Tripel Karmeliet in the smaller brown bottles; that was my last purchase of this brand. Apparently they are also now available in cans. I will be on the lookout for that: In my opinion this beer does indeed 'shine' in a Tripel Karmeliet tulip glass. I recently used my tulip glass to drink a homebrewed Orval clone in the Orval Day thread: Santé!
We get a huge and cheap selection here, but it’s not a style I drink often. Sometimes I do enjoy it and treat it as sort of a stronger Weizen with a nice Belgian edge. My 3 favorite mainstream tripels are: karmeliet, paix dieu and westmalle. But even better than those are two German micro alternatives: Rügener Baltic Tripel and Giesinger Lemondrop Triple. The latter introduced me to this great Munich brewery and their creative approach. I think they also cleared the marked of Lemondrop hops when it was first released. https://giesinger-braeu.de/products...gXvqr8S1siv8IxJrx1cnZDagFJTRI9HFOYl8behlYN4r6 I still want to try De Garre. On site. Out of the heavy glass. With cheese. And I might check out Golden Carolous this spring, it’s easy to come by here.
My Top Five are your usual suspects: St. Bernardus, Tripel Karmeliet, Rochefort Triple Extra, Chimay White, and Allagash Curieux. Curieux probably makes no ones' top five but I really like the barrel aged character of it.
I haven't had one in a dogs age, who knows what I would think now. I had some other New Holland offerings, kind of all over the place. That review I had is 14 years ago too!
Yeah, it was surprisingly good. A well‑made Tripel from an American brewery (Allagash being the rare exception) is hard to come by, so I wasn’t expecting much. Still, it’s nice to have another solid local option besides Allagash. It’s also very often available at Half Time - both in-store and online.
We did a beer dinner with New Holland back in like 2007? 08? back when I was working at Cygnus 27. Paired Black Tulip with a watercress, arugula, and watermelon salad dressed with a Black Tulip and maple syrup vinaigrette. Used Pilgrim's Dole to make a wheatwine ice cream with dates, Gran Marnier, ancho, and cinnamon.
