"belgian tripel" news and stories

"Is there coffee in that beer?" my girlfriend asks, pointing to a bottle of BridgePort Brewing's Stumptown Tart standing tall on the kitchen table. As a confirmed coffee junkie, she joneses for anything java-related, especially if it's from Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

Sadly, I must break her latte-loving heart. Stumptown, I explain, is Portland's old nickname, so-called because the stumps of the trees felled to create roads lingered behind. She nods, crestfallen. "Don't be bummed," I say, pointing to the beer's label featuring a swimsuit-clad pin-up model surrounded by raspberries, "this is even better."

Released this month, Stumptown Tart is BridgePort's category-busting fruit beer. Don't be frightened by the fruit. Stumptown results from the skillful blending of two batches of Belgian-style Tripels. One batch rested in French-oak chardonnay and pinot noir barrels for a year, while another unaged batch was brewed with Oregon-grown raspberries. "The beer's tartness comes from the fruit," says head brewer Karl Ockert, "not from lactobacillus or acidophilus" -- yeasts that create super-sour flavors.

Zotten Belgian-style pale ale. Photo: Jenene Chesbrough

Joshua M. Bernstein, Gourmet.com's beer columnist, has written about brews, bars and booze for New York Magazine, Time Out New York, ForbesTraveler.com and The New York Times.

Belgium Tripel fans dig burly, nuanced brews cut with candy sweetness. American pale acolytes savor smooth ales with a hoppy edge. The suds' styles are as different as cats and dogs, but Pennsylvania's Weyerbacher brewing has unleashed a hybrid that could cause both beer-loving camps to drool.

For its latest summer seasonal, Zotten (rhymes with verboten), Weyerbacher has taken a super-drinkable (why hello, 6 percent ABV) American pale ale and given it a Belgian tweak via the abbey-yeast strain employed in the brewery's medal-winning Merry Monks' Tripel.

But don't mistake the bottle-conditioned Zotten (Flemish for fools) for a chug-a-lug pilsner or lily-livered lager. Zotten slips from the bottle a glowing rusty orange, perfumed with a bloom of tropical fruit, Bubble Yum sweetness and enough pungent hops to imitate an IPA. Surprisingly, Weyerbacher's liquid magicians keep rampant bitterness at bay. The hops provide a springboard for Zotten's rich flavor constellation of pepper, coriander and yeasty bread, before closing clean and crisp with a lingering spicy bite.

The Belgian ale. The American pale. Two great tastes that taste great together.

What's your favorite hybrid beer? Spread some liquid gospel in the comments.

Once upon a time not so long ago, the word "beer" prompted mental images of frat boys chugging Miller Lites. It did not, traditionally, scream "mother."

But times, they are a-changin', and more and more women are drinking beer these days. And despite the lingering stereotype of a "mom drink" as a chilled glass of chardonnay (not that there's anything wrong with that), some moms are definitely sipping suds. Heck, Carol Stoudt, mother of five, has adopted the moniker of "Queen of Hops" since opening Stoudt's Brewing with her hubby in 1987.

Asked about the perfect Mother's Day brew, Matt Barclay of Brooklyn (N.Y.)'s Bierkraft says, "most of our women customers drink the Belgian Tripel [style]." With fruit and candy flavors, Tripels can be sweet but also incredibly complex. If mom is a fan of sweet wines or desserts, try pouring her a Belgian ale after dinner, like an aromatic raspberry Lindemans Framboise lambic. If she's a chocolate freak, proffer a Chocolate Stout.

Or maybe your mom does sling back Miller Lite with the best of them. School us! Does your ma drink beer? What's her favorite brew? (Moms, don't feel shy about speaking out on your behalf!)