CulturAle Press

Ten Top Tripels: #5 De Gouden Boom (Palm) Brugge Tripel

Date:  March 6, 2019

The Story— Brewing in and around Bruges dates from at least the 11th century and the brewers of De Gouden Boom would love to have you believe they’re still using the original fathers’ recipe.   The web site is filled with a good deal of puffery– we’ll bet you didn’t know that drinking beer instead of water can protect you from the plague.   But it seems that  Steenbrugge’s abbey double does have monastic roots,  though after the Germans melted the kettles during WWII, the brothers focused on wine.

A series of secular brewers picked up the name and supposedly the recipe.  The De Gouden Boom name dates from 1983.  Palm bought De Gouden Boom and the rights to Steenbrugge and recently the “Swinkles Family Brewers” — formerly “Bavaria” brewery in the Netherlands, bought Palm.  As far as we know it’s still brewed in Bruges.  We believe all the Steenbrugge beers are spiced with a proprietary house blend that they simply call “gruut.”

We tasted this beer on the overnight ferry from Bruges  to England having picked it up at the Bruges Beer Museum.  The trip was a… trip– a throwback to the days when the chunnel made the overnight ferries almost obsolete.  If you’re headed to Yorkshire and would like to skip the hassle of a transfers in Brussels and London it’s still a great option if you have the time.  The ship is no resort cruiser, but it’s big enough to fill a night’s entertainment.   The bars were fun but didn’t pour anything that would keep us there late into the night,  so we retired to our cabin for this superior beer.

The Beer— This tripel recalls our impression of Steenbrugge’s house character,  with a bit more of the spice and notes of  orange peel and maybe a bit of coriander,  but all of it pretty subtle.  Metal and floral notes escape the spice sachet as it drinks.   Some subtle spicing remains, but the balance made us glad we were drinking this in our cabin rather than the yellow stuff at the bar.

Value — This was a gift from the curator at the museum.  We’re not sure what you’d pay for it — but it’s probably a good use of your money.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

 To start the month of March we’re featuring our top ten tripels over the past several years– these are wonderfully complex and even delicate strong golden ales.   At their best, Tripels are among the best beers in the world.   At their common norm, they’re heavy handed, big-boozed and barely better than the malt liquors of the 20th century.   Here are ten beers that could show the rest of the country how it’s done.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”