Old Westmalle Tripel

Reads 3209 • Replies 12 • Started Saturday, September 19, 2009 11:07:47 AM CT

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Message maeib P beers 8749 º places 12 º 11:07 Sat 9/19/2009 I have a bottle with a best before date of 23 March 2008. Next week it will be 18 months beyond. Should I drink it next week or wait until March 2010 (or even later)? What are others experiences of aged WT?
Message satan165 beers 1021 º places 102 º 11:48 Sat 9/19/2009 good i hope, ive got a dubbel and trippel 750s in the cellar now about a year old and counting
Message JorisPPattyn P admin beers 14405 º places 93 º 11:55 Sat 9/19/2009 Originally posted by maeib I have a bottle with a best before date of 23 March 2008. Next week it will be 18 months beyond. Should I drink it next week or wait until March 2010 (or even later)? What are others experiences of aged WT? Depends a bit... If you really haven’t tasted an aged Westmalle before, I would urge you to have a couple of years’ patience yet. Unless you’re really curious, have a Westmalle of a couple of years, like yours, next time you’re in Belgium - you know where to get those. But once a Westmalle has, say, 7-8 years of age, the changes get interesting. One thing to keep an eye on is colour - difficult as it might be to estimate when in the closed bottle. Westmalle tripel is well known to get significantly darker upon aging. I prefer my tripel either a bit fresh - say 6 months after buying at the brewery, or around 12-15yrs of age...
Message maeib P beers 8749 º places 12 º 15:45 Sat 9/19/2009 Thanks Joris. I’ve lots of patience and am fascinated to taste such a beer at such at age. Reckon I might just leave it until 2018. I can always try a fresh one whenever I like.

Message JesseM beers 1169 º places 43 º 17:59 Sat 9/19/2009 Westmalle Tripel is awesome with age on it. In my experience, it has to be either fresh, or at least year old.
Message Jeppe beers 2634 º places 84 º 03:31 Sun 9/20/2009 I had Westmalle Tripel 1972 a couple of years ago and it was awesome!!
Message joet P admin beers 2900 º places 125 º 14:32 Sun 9/20/2009 Westmalle Tripel
Message dunkeylips 14:57 Sun 9/20/2009 I opened one I have had since 2003 last night and it was devine. Not as spicy as fresh, but full bodied and smooth.

Message fata2683 beers 2176 º places 131 º 15:43 Sun 9/20/2009 I love when the experienced guys on here discuss things like this. I’m still in the "drink nothing but new stuff" to focus on aging some beers and noticing the differences(besides a few favorites.) Originally posted by JorisPPattyn Originally posted by maeib I have a bottle with a best before date of 23 March 2008. Next week it will be 18 months beyond. Should I drink it next week or wait until March 2010 (or even later)? What are others experiences of aged WT? Depends a bit... If you really haven’t tasted an aged Westmalle before, I would urge you to have a couple of years’ patience yet. Unless you’re really curious, have a Westmalle of a couple of years, like yours, next time you’re in Belgium - you know where to get those. But once a Westmalle has, say, 7-8 years of age, the changes get interesting. One thing to keep an eye on is colour - difficult as it might be to estimate when in the closed bottle. Westmalle tripel is well known to get significantly darker upon aging. I prefer my tripel either a bit fresh - say 6 months after buying at the brewery, or around 12-15yrs of age...
Message OldMrCrow beers 3192 º places 91 º 16:02 Sun 9/20/2009 Originally posted by dunkeylips I opened one I have had since 2003 last night and it was devine. Not as spicy as fresh, but full bodied and smooth. Likewise, I’ve had an ’04 and an ’06 in the past couple of weeks; very nice and much as descibed above. Maybe not as full-bodied as fresher bottles either, but certainly interesting and without any glaring flaws.
Message puzzl beers 3258 º places 138 º 16:23 Sun 9/20/2009 I don’t have much experience with this beer in general, but I did have a bottle from 79 a year or so ago that was extremely oxidized. It was certainly drinkable, and tasty in its own way, but it wasn’t really what I look for in very old beers like that. The best I feel develop some very unique, strong, deep and complex vineous flavors that you simply can’t find it beer under 15 years old in my experience. I’ve got a bottle of the Dubbel from the same year as well that I should drink.