Top to bottom: Caveman Blue, Pecorino Ginepro, Délice de Bourgogne

Tripel (Triple)

STYLE NOTES: The Trappist monks at Belgium’s Westmalle Abbey brewery created a new category of beer in the 1950s when they christened their strongest pale ale a tripel. Some authorities say the word refers to the high quantity of malt used in the brew; others claim that it comes from a medieval practice of marking the casks of strong beers with three X’s. Whatever the term’s origins, tripels persist as high-proof golden ales brewed largely with pale malts. Other Trappist abbeys and Belgian brewers produce tripels today, as do a few American craft breweries, but Westmalle’s version is widely considered a benchmark.

The classic tripel is unfiltered, with a hazy golden to pale amber color. Poured into a chalice—the widemouthed stemmed glass that is a tripel’s traditional serving vessel—it throws a dense, creamy, and enduring head. A lacy webbing of foam, known as Belgian lace, clings to the glass as the beer level diminishes. Fruity and spicy aromas (apricot, banana, burnt orange peel, gingerbread, spice cake) leap from the glass, thanks in part to high carbonation. Many tripels are bottle conditioned (refermented in the bottle), giving them a fine, Champagne-like mousse. They can be highly hopped, especially in American hands. A dry, hoppy, bitter finish is common, but some tripels leave a sweet impression from candi sugar added to the wort to boost the alcohol.

Stoutness is a given in tripels, which tend to fall within the range of 8 to 10 percent alcohol. Some brews show their strength with an almost whiskey-like flavor, while others mask it dangerously well. Tripels are not beers to drink with abandon, although you may want to.

BEERS TO TRY: Anderson Valley Brother David’s Triple; Arend Tripel; Boulevard Long Strange Tripel; The Bruery Batch 300; Chimay Tripel (Chimay Blanche); De Dolle Dulle Teve; Malheur 10; Tripel Karmeliet; Westmalle Tripel.

CHEESE AFFINITIES: Potent tripels welcome cheeses with comparable strength of character. Delicate or mild-mannered cheeses tend to be outgunned by a tripel’s power, although full-flavored triple-cream cheeses can hold their own. Seek out well-aged cheeses such as Cheddar and Dry Jack; nutty sheep’s milk wheels such as Ossau-Iraty and Zamorano; and moderately pungent washed-rind cheeses. For tripels with a hint of sweetness, like Arend, try cheeses with whiskey and caramel notes, such as extra-aged Gouda, and buttery, mellow blue cheeses.

A triple-cream cheese from France’s Burgundy region, Délice de Bourgogne tops the charts for richness. This luscious cow’s milk cheese has a whipped-butter texture and a salty crème-fraîche tang that keeps it from being cloying. Spread the cheese on walnut bread and note how a tripel’s bitter finish refreshes the palate between bites.

Rogue Creamery’s Caveman Blue occupies the middle ground in the realm of blue-veined cheeses, with bold but not biting flavor and concentration without excess salt. A cow’s milk wheel with a natural rind, Caveman has a seductive aroma of nuts and buttermilk that develops over six months in the aging cellar. The texture is dense, buttery, almost fudgy. It’s particularly compatible with tripels that show some sweetness.

Pecorino Ginepro comes from northern Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, birthplace of balsamic vinegar. Perhaps inevitably, a local pecorino producer dreamed up a signature treatment for some wheels: repeated washings with balsamic vinegar and a coating of juniper berries (ginepro in Italian). After three to four months of aging, the 6-pound wheels are brushed clean and sold, their rinds dark and damp from the vinegar. Their firm, dryish ivory interiors smell like a broiled lamb chop, with lemony and grassy notes and a faint woodsy scent. Made from rich sheep’s milk, Pecorino Ginepro leaves a lingering impression of sweetness and salt. Belgian-style tripel has the spice and strength of personality to match this fragrant, gamy cheese.

MORE CHEESES TO TRY: Abbaye de Belloc; Bleu des Basques; Bleu Mont Bandaged Cheddar; Cashel Blue; Chaumes; Chimay; Comté; Montgomery’s Cheddar; MouCo ColoRouge; Ossau-Iraty; Petit Agour; Pierre Robert; Rocchetta (mixed-milk robiola); Tomme Brûlée; Vella Dry Monterery Jack.