Belgian Dinner and Belgian Tripels

For the April beer dinner, we decided to focus on Belgian Tripels and a Belgian-inspired dinner.  I sent a note to Patrick, a friend in Belgium, who sent me over some recipes and some beer suggestions.  For dinner, I made Carbonade a la Flamande, Pomme Frites, and Lori made a side of green beans in a garlic almond sauce.  Dennis brought over a platter of cheese, salmon, strawberries, and pickles & olives.  Tibor brought over crème brulee with a Belgian chocolate topping.  The food and the beers were excellent; we did have one American version from New Belgium and one Belgian Christmas Ale.  It was very difficult for me to pick a favorite – all of these were great beers.  The tasting order was:

1)     Brouwerji St. Bernardus – Tripel (8% ABV) - http://www.sintbernardus.be/en/beers.html#tripel

2)     New Belgium Brewing Co. – Trippel (7.8% ABV and 25 IBU) http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=d6ed5dc2-7097-4c71-b1e3-9d72445c6db6

   3)     Brouwerji Corsendonk – Agnus Tripel (7.5% ABV) http://www.corsendonk.com/

4)     Brouwerij Het Anker – Gouden Carolus – Tripel (9%ABV) http://www.hetanker.be/DeBrouwerij/AlOnzeBieren/GoudenCarolusTripel/tabid/62/language/en-US/Default.aspx

5)     Brouwerji Corsendonk – Christmas Ale (8.5% ABV) http://www.corsendonk.com/

6)     Brouwerji Bosteels – Tripel Karmeliet (8.4% ABV) - see picture above. http://www.bestbelgianspecialbeers.be/main_eng.html

Belgian Tripel – http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/58 - BeerAdvocate

Food recipes:

Stoofvles or La Carbonade La Lamande -  http://www.grouprecipes.com/40440/stoofvlees-or-la-carbonade-la-flamande---flemish-meat-stew.html

Pomme Frites - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/follow-that-food/pommes-frites-recipe/index.html

Next month - wheat beers.