Duinen Tripel
Dec 10 '00
How much is too much to pay for beer? Can a beer cost too much? That’s a relative question, of course. For many people, most microbrews and imported beers are too expensive to purchase regularly, but when you think about it, they really are a bargain. Consider the superior quality and greater quantity of ingredients that go into craft beers, and you will more than likely come to the conclusion that the old adage, “You get what you pay for”, is so true when it comes to beer.
Think about the difference in price between most microbrews and mass marketed lagers like Budweiser and Miller. A six of Bud generally runs about $4 to $5. Not bad at all for six beers, but these aren’t beers that will bowl you over with flavor, to be sure. For about the same price though, you can have a six of Saranac or Brewery Hill. Not bad at all. But wait, let’s kick it up a notch, for an additional $1 or so there are beers like Samuel Adams, Pete’s, Shipyard, and Red Hook. These will set you back a mere $6 or so, a real bargain for some very delicious brews.
Most other microbrews will cost about $6.50 to $7.50 for a six-pack, and are for the most part well worth it. Some imports will run you a bit more than that, at times $5 a bottle or so. To some that might seem excessive, but consider what our wine-drinking brethren can pay for a bottle of the really good stuff, often ten times that amount. Beer drinkers are exceedingly fortunate, since we can purchase a sampler pack of 5 years worth of Thomas Hardy’s Ale for $25, or a 750ML bottle of Ommegang for $4. Incredible, simply incredible.
Of course, we have our expensive beers in the beer world too. Pharaoh’s Gold, based on an old Egyptian recipe, will run you $100 for a 12-ounce bottle. I haven’t tasted that one yet. Samuel Adams Millennium ale is twice the price and twice the size, $200 for a 750ML bottle. I have tasted this one, and can advise you to stick with the $5 bottle of Triple Bock instead. Millennium is a good beer, but not worth $200.
All this said, as beer drinkers we also need to be smart consumers, and I have always been of the opinion that Merchant du Vin, a Seattle based importer of fine beers, overprices their beer. The Duinen abbey ales are no exception to this rule.
Duinen Tripel pours to a light orange color with a thick, very creamy head. The nose is rich and very fruity, strong with alcohol too. The palate is rich and yeasty, full of funky Belgian horse blanket flavors. The finish warms slightly with a 9% by volume alcohol content, and spices become apparent. There’s also a harsh, somewhat unpleasant astringent bitterness that prevents this brew from being as good as it could be.
This is a decent brew, perhaps rating 3 on the Epinions scale. It runs $5 for an 11.2 ounce bottle though, and to me is therefore overpriced. Try a 750ML bottle of Affligem or Chimay for a dollar or two more. You’ll get twice as much of a better beer
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.