Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog - Tripel-off, Semi-Final Game 1: Westmalle vs. De Dolle

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We’re now into the semi-finals of our Tripel-off. First up: De Dolle Dulle Teve vs. Westmalle Tripel, the reining world champ.

You might recall that this wasn’t the original match-up but Ray had a cunning plan to keep the tasting just a tiny little bit on the blind side for Jess.

• He changed the line-ups without telling her.
• He put Dulle Teve in a Westmalle branded glass, and Westmalle in a more generic Belgian vessel.

https://boakandbailey.com/wp-content..._westmalle.jpg
Both had huge, gorgeous, billowing white heads of foam. Both looked about the same colour, with Dulle Teve perhaps just a touch darker, more orange than yellow.
Our first sips were of Dulle Teve.
Jess: Oh, wow.
Ray: Same.
Jess: That’s just a lovely beer, but… Hmm… Have you put something other than in the Westmalle glass? Are you playing mindgames?
Ray: Yes, busted. That didn’t take you long to work out. It is great, though. It’s lovely. I would describe my reaction as swooning.
Jess: [Westmalle] has a much better aroma, though. Fresh and flowery. This one [Dulle Teve] smells fruity but much more restrained.
Ray: [Westmalle] is more elegant and lighter bodied. A classier beer. But.. Is there a sort of savouriness at the end?
Jess: I’m detecting a burn. Too much of a burn. It seems very boozy.
Ray: [Dulle Teve] seems almost tropically fruity. Again, great. Such wow factor.
Jess: Funny thing is, the more I drink, the better the first one [Westmalle] tastes. It reminds me of Duvel. Boozy, but also very drinkable. I think… I think I prefer it, on balance, but only just.
Drinking these two beers together was really interesting as each did strange things to our perception of the other (compare with our first-round tasting notes here and here) and both seemed to morph further into different beers in the time it took to drink them. If beer-and-beer pairing was a thing, this is a combo we’d recommend.
Deciding a winner really was difficult. In the end, though, we both agreed that by the narrowest of margins Westmalle had the edge.
That means, much as we expected from the start, it will be in the final, facing off against either Lost & Grounded or Karmeliet.
We’d like to thank Patreon supporters like Darryl Chamberlain and Bryan Robson whose support paid for the beer and access to the nice font in the header image.
Tripel-off, Semi-Final Game 1: Westmalle vs. De Dolle originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog


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