Witkap Tripel

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Price: £4.75

Description Golden strong ale in the abbey style, 7.5%abv. Witkap relates to the Cistercian order of monks who preached piety and wore white habits. This abbey was to be found in an area around Antwerp and the beers are brewed by Slaghmuylder of Ninove. This is an unusual tripel style beer, most are based on the style of Westmalle, an excellent example all though the tripel term itself usually relates to a beer of 7-9%abv. 33cl bottle. Witkap Triple is a delightful  7.5% abv version of an abbey triple. It's the ideal "big Brother" to Witkap Singel  It has much of Singel's "lemon chiffon" character, but with more body and mouthfeel alongside a deliciously complex aroma.  Hints of banana and clove mix with the classically tart Witkap character. Close your eyes and you may think you are drinking banana parfait!  Witkap Triple is lighter than the other Triples. It provides a full drinking experience without being daunting. Sophisticated and flawless, Witkap eschews the high sugar and alcohol of its Triple brethren. (For example Westmalle weighs in at 9%).  Witkap Triple was the first golden Triple. The style was subsequently taken up by Westmalle. The Slaghmuylder Brewery is unique in more than a few respects. It is the only surviving brewery in a town of 12,000 people that less than a century ago had thirteen of them. The brewery boasts a functioning steam engine, Anheuser-Busch kegs (left behind after the American troops departed Ninove at the end of World War II), and makes the only beer brewed by a layman ever permitted to use the “Trappist” designation on the label.  Today the handsome 149 year old brewery and adjacent museum (in which the aforementioned relics are kept) is overseen by three cousins who are descendants of the founder Emmanuel Slaghmuylder, a grain merchant turned brewer. The Slaghmuylder cousins brew Witkap Singel (the formerly “Trappist” beer) according to a recipe first developed at the Drie Linden brewery (in nearby Brasschaat). The Slaghmuylders took over Drie Linden in 1981. The brewer there was instrumental in developing many celebrated beers for Trappist monasteries. He was so beloved by the Brothers, and his contributions were so valued, that they conferred on him a special honor. For the duration of his life, his Witkap beers (made at his own brewery) would be allowed to carry the “Trappistenbier” (Trappist Beer) designation. Witkap refers to the cowl worn by the Cistercians.  The brewer at Slaghmuylder is the young passionate Karel Goddeau who is also associated with the lambic brewery, DeCam.