Pilsner malt, a dash of hops, well water, sugar, and a yeast strain with a strong personality.
Somehow, this straightforward and basic mixture produces a level of complexity unparalleled within the world of beer. The monks of Belgium, through their simplistic lifestyle, have successfully created and refined a cultural masterpiece while adhering to a life of strict simplicity. It is deep admiration of this simplicity which draws me to attempt to mimic their work, an experience which I will share on this blog.
A bit about me: I've been homebrewing for a little under two years, and have never enjoyed anything more. My first ever batch was Phil's Belgian Dubbel, an extract-based recipe recommended by a friend. Upon tasting that batch, unfortunately before taking meticulous tasting notes, I knew that there was much more to brewing Belgian-style beers than I had realized. Since then, it's been my personal quest to find out exactly what that "much more" entails.
The monastic-born styles of Enkel, Dubbel, and Tripel - whose names need no translation from their original Flemish - are the styles I plan to explore most in-depth. I hope that my log of brewing experiences along the way can assist (and maybe even inspire) others along their own brewing journeys.
Not quite a monk,
Eric
tripeltrubble@gmail.com
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