an exception

While there are Christmas beers happily floating around by now, there aren’t actually that many. It’s almost the same as official Oktoberfest beers. I guess it’s time to bend my Calenbeer rules and make an exception to my black beer standard, but with a Belgian beer that you could possibly sneak in with it’s seasonal brethren. Westmalle, a classic of the widely available Belgian exports, shows off its stuff with a Trappist Triple, in a uniquely collared bottle. Although the label is fairly simple, the fact of being Belgian lends a certain festive flair to the beer, so it should be welcome in the ranks.

The triple is supposed to be light, but it seems surprisingly so to me, one of those lemony straw colored beers. The head would make a pilsner proud, at least for a few minutes. The aroma is at once sharp and citric and mellow and bready. It feels like a tangy Belgian aroma more than anything. The taste starts out with a full round bitter, melting into a wheaty tang at the back of the tongue, and sweeping down the throat pithy bitter again. It’s almost medicinal, with a hearty bitterness that gives you the sensation that it’s good for you. Sometimes sweeter notes peek through, slightly lemon candy and slightly clover juice.

Supplier: Hop Hop Hurrah
Price: €3.75