Toward a Hoppier Belgian Tripel, with De Ranke

One of Belgium’s most distinctive tripels leans in a more bitter, aromatic direction. Inspired by Orval as much as Westmalle—and by the hop fields near Poperinge— De Ranke Guldenberg is a contemporary classic. Joe Stange spoke with De Ranke’s Nino Bacelle about the beer’s origins and makings.

ONE OF THE SUBPLOTS in the story of Belgian tripel is that most examples don’t quite follow the original script. Even in Belgium, tripels tend to be sweeter, softer, and spicier than the Trappist archetype from Westmalle—whose balancing bitterness can be surprising, especially when fresh.

Much like the United States—but on a smaller scale—belgium had waves of small, independent breweries appear over the past 40 years. Meeting the niche demand for strong specialty beers, many of those breweries made and continue to make tripels. While there are some fun deviations, most follow that softer, sweeter, spicier path (think Tripel Karmeliet).

A handful of others took another road—hoppier and drier—to arguably wind up somewhere nearer to Westmalle Abbey, whose famous Tripel clocks in at about 39 IBUS. Examples of this approach include Jambe-de-bois from Brasserie de la Senne (about 45 IBUS, packed with floral-spicy German hops) and La Rulles Triple (39 IBUS, with some citrus zing via Yakima-grown Amarillo).

A beer that arguably paved the way for those and others is Guldenberg, which was the first beer produced by De Ranke founder/ brewer Nino Bacelle in 1994. It checks in at 40 IBUS, its bitterness balancing the restrained sweetness and alcohol and providing ample herbal-floral hop character via Belgian-grown Hallertauer Mittelfrüh.

Bacelle says he started with a tripel for a couple of reasons.

One is historical: His hometown of Wevelgem was home to the Cistercian Guldenberg Abbey as early as 1214. (Today there are only scant remains, including a large stone gateway that now has a restaurant attached—it’s called the Abdijpoort, or “Abbey Gate.” And yeah, it serves Guldenberg.) That abbey was almost certainly the first place in the area to brew beer.

The other reason is personal preference. Bacelle’s favorite beers at the time—and he still enjoys them—were the Trappist ales Westmalle Tripel and Orval, and Dupont’s abbey-inspired, tripel-esque Moinette Blonde. “So, my first ambition was to make a concoction of the three,” Bacelle says. He wanted the strength and richness of Westmalle and Moinette, but with the bitterness and aromatic dry hopping of Orval. The latter is really what sets Guldenberg apart.

“I think what makes it very different is, first, it’s more bitter than most tripels,” Bacelle says, “although, I think in the past, tripels were much more bitter than they are now. Most tripels are