Re: Victory Golden Monkey.......decent example of a Tripel????

I agree on the importance of Westmalle, but not on the latter statement. It was totally unavailable for a long time in Oregon and I don't think that national distribution is that great. Certainly will reward the effort in finding it but . . .

Affligem makes a decent tripel, as do La Trappe, Leffe and Grimbergen. Le Fin du Monde is a damn good imitation.

--Jeff Frane

Unibroues makes Maudite, right? I thought Maudite was okay but nothing special. I didn't think it was very memorable. Have you tried Allagash Tripel Reserve? I noticed it is listed the highest rated Tripel. Are Dubbels worth checking out? How similar in flavor are they to Tripels?

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"highest rated Tripel." Ratings give me a big nasty itch in my ass.

Take ratings with a big fat grain of salt. They mean pretty much nothing, AFAIC.

As far as dubbels, yes, they're worth checking out. I happen to prefer them over tripels, as a general rule. They are not remotely similar in flavor to tripels, except for the commonality of funky, estery Belgian yeast strains. They are dark, usually very malty, and full of flavor. If you can get your hands on a Rochefort 8 (or 10, although I prefer the 8) or a Westvleteren (I think the numbers there are 8 and 12), do it. Pay the expensive price for the bottle. It's well worth it. Amazingly, astoundingly complex, flavorful beers.

-Steve

...it's spotty in its availability, yes. Who imports it? Should they be shot?

La Trappe == Konigshoven IIRC. Fin du Monde might be in my NSHO the best North American Tripel, though Golden Monkey is fantastic too. Just not as dry.

Witzel

Feh. I can live with Grimbergen. I'm more amused at the inclusion of an Interbrew "industro-abbey" on that list.

Westmalle just changed importers. The new importer is Merchant du Vin. Used to be Wein-Bauer. The supply has largely dried up in the VA/MD/DC area, so the first shipment under Merchant du Vin may not have arrived yet. Chuck C.

Oh joy. I suppose they'll apply their usual magic, and we can expect to pay twice as much for badly abused beer in cheesier packaging.

More proof of a lack of taste, piff.

"If" you had? Ho ho. You live for the day! Speaking of PA and bourbon, BTW...Sam's in Chicago is currently running a sale on Hirsch 16 YO: $40 a bottle. You won't ever see a price like that again. I got two bottles, might get more.

To be sorta fair, MdV hasn't mucked about too terribly much with Orval and Ayinger packaging, and I've lucked out in getting reasonably fresh samples of those beers. Agreed about the price hit, though. However, MdV has broad market reach, and is reasonably consistent in supplying its line to distros and retailers. Cross your fingers and hope that they don't muck about with the Westmalle line too badly, and hope especially for good 750's of the Triple.

I just ordered six. Not as good as the absurdly cheap deal I got a couple of years ago in Oregon, but $40/btl plus shipping isn't a price I'm gonna bitch about. Thanks for the tip, "Gunth."

Those dumb bastids out in Oregon... didn't know what they had, and out-of-staters like you had to come in and take it off their hands, laughing all the way home. Glad you availed yourself of the deal. I originally thought, damn, I can't tell anyone about this! When I got over the greed-panic, I figured I might as well let folks who'd appreciate it know about it. It's best that way. Hate to have posers buying the stuff.

Maybe because MdV is a Seattle firm? Hmmmmm?

Agreed about the price hit, though.

It's been fairly expensive here in Portland, and I doubt the price will go up. Would be excellent if there was a steady supply of reasonably-priced 750's in good condition. But, I dream . . .

--Jeff Frane

Must be a Chicago thing. Binny's has the same price, plus they have Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve, the wondrous whiskey.

What's happened to Internet Wine & Spirits -- used to have great prices, and now their bourbon costs more than Oregon prices. Except, what's this?!!! Ancient Ancient Age? $17? And Old Charter 12 y.o. Mmmm, why do I have to waste all my money taking the family on a vacation when I could be buying bourbon!?

--Jeff Frane

That's worth looking into: thanks!

It's all about choices, man.

Two tankfuls of gas and a round-trip ferry fare is your definition of "waste all my money" ?? Dude. Put the kids to industrious labor. Now.

"Gunther Prien" wrote in news:FjVSa.3833$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com:

Well yes, the "why aren't there any really highly-rated lagers on the top

50 list" thread pops up on the Ratebeer boards every few months or so. Big, complex ales tend to appeal to at least the majority of the beer geeks there, and I'm in that crowd. All it really means is, if you prefer, say, a standard lager, check the ratings on the standard lagers. If you're a pilsner nut, check the pilsner ratings, or check the ratings of the group of people who have pils as their favorite style.

It ain't perfect, but it's still a good place for people to find info. Besides, a "I like British IPAs, but superhopped West Coast IPAs aren't my style, what should I try" threads either here or there give good pointers towards those.

Most of the beer geeks I've talked to tend to prefer the more complex styles, so the ratings work for at least a decently-sized portion of the beer geek demographic. YMMV.

Oh, c'mon, it's not *that* bad. I'd put it down toward the bottom of the second-tier Belgian abbey ales. The Grimbergen Dubbel is better.

-- Joel Plutchak Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots

"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."

Well, ratings by a bunch of anonymous/pseudonymous yokels whose only credentials are the ability to use the WWW are worth very little. Reviews and ratings by people who have some demonstrable source of knowledge and experience, and whose body of work allows you to properly assess how your tastes compare to his (or hers, but I am familiar with only one well-published woman in the beer field)... those are worth something.

-- Joel Plutchak Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots

"Resorting to personal harassment is a tactic of desperation."