Belgian Trappist & Abbey Beer
Those terms originate from a custom in the Middle Ages. The normal (ordinary) beer was named ‘single’ and was drunk by the ordinary laborers and monks. This beer was good enough for them, but people with more esteem and money wanted a better product. To fulfil the desire of those rich customers the brewers made heavier beer (using more malt). Transporters and bar owners were often not able to read in that period. The brewer therefor marked his barrels with (chalk) crosses. One cross on ordinary barrels, two on barrels with heavier beer (dubbel beer) and three on the heaviest stuff (tripel beer). The terms single, dubbel (double) and tripel (triple) have nothing to do with the yeasting or maturation process of the beer, as often is presumed. It refers to the amount of raw materials (malts and cereals) used. The more material, the heavier the beer. A double is heavier than a single but it hasn’t to be twice as heavy neither that twice the quantity of raw material is used. Actually the term ‘single’ is in disuse but some breweries use the term ‘extra’ instead to denominate their light, thirst quenching beer. In addition a couple of brewers also launched some ‘quadruples’, with even more alcohol. Nowadays we usually associate a dubbel with a dark beer and a tripel with a blonde beer, but this isn’t a must. Most brewers do follow this ‘color code’ but a few ones do not care. Similar a quadruple beer is usually a dark beer.