Belgian Beer no.9: Tripel Karmeliet, all the way from 1679

With Christmas near and winter officially here, Belgian beer drinking is again on top of our evening agendas. Depending on location, we either go for the deeper, darker richer beers, or for the mulled wine. Beer while visiting and discovering Beermania, mulled wine while visiting the Christmas market in Brussels.

One evening, four different beers. I was looking for my usual sweet, ideally honey flavored beers, while competing with a more unusual search for different beers. So we started off with a Tripel Karmeliet. Now this is a beer I liked. Although I usually go for sweet to very sweet beers, I found this beer had that extra special flavor and taste – and yes, I liked it!

Still brewed after an authentic recipe from 1679, this beer brings together three different types of grain: wheat, oats and barley. What I found probably to be a caramel taste, were the aromas of vanilla the beer has. But to be perfectly honest I was most impressed by the very stylish glass the beer is served in.

Duck with baby onions (serves 4)

duck breast
1 orange
2 finely chopped shallots
2.5dl Tripel Karmeliet
2dl chicken stock
1 tsp honey
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp red wine vinegar

Fry the duck breasts for aprox 10min. At the end add the shallots and the garlic. Remove the meat from the pan and keep it warm. Mix the juices with the red wine vinegar, Tripel Karmeliet, honey, chicken stock and a piece of the orange peel. Allow this to reduce and serve on top of the duck breasts.