Tomb

The annual question looms: What wine goes best with Christmas dinner? No doubt, every wine writer and cork-dork will be spewing their thoughts on what fermented grape juice will tackle the big bird. Most sommeliers recommend their favourite oak-y white wine, while the more adventurous will suggest a Pinot Noir or a spicy Beaujolais Nouveau to wash down the large fowl. They are all wrong. Belgian triple ales are best for the fest.

Wine pairing creates issues with fatty rich foods like turkey and gravy. It is virtually impossible to find one bottle that will pair nicely with everything on the Christmas table. Even if you could find that perfect bottle of wine, cranberries are lurking on the side, telling those grapes to: “Get lost.” Belgian triples are the Sauvignon Blanc of beers, but with better flavours. This style of beer, when brewed right, is delicate and perfectly balanced.

The Belgian triple is a great food beverage, with its tiny champagne-like bubbles that cut through fats and starches like those tiny cleansing bubbles in the TV ads. The hop bitterness takes the place of the tannins in wine and will make the caramelized skin of a turkey sing. Triples will bring out the herbal flavours in the stuffing, sweet potatoes and will even complement those damn cranberries.

A relatively new style of beer that only came into existence in the last 100 years, triples were invented by the Trappist monks of Westmalle. The term triple comes from the brewing process, which can use up to three times the amount of grain or fermentables than a standard beer.

Triples are light pale in appearance, gold in colour — a shade or two darker than the average pilsner — and light in body despite the high alcohol content. This style of beer is spicy, fruity with a sweet malty finish. The sweetness and lightness of body comes from both the pale malts and Belgian candy sugar. Triples are easily approachable, even by those who claim not to like beer.

Triples are naturally more alcoholic, ranging from eight to 10 per cent, yet the best-crafted brews hide this characteristic with a natural smoothness. Many consider Westmalle’s the prototypical triple to emulate.

Unfortunately, there is no Westmalle Triple in stock in the province at this time, but there is a wide range of truly excellent triples available in Calgary. So many, in fact, that it is hard to choose my favourite.

I have included a list of the best of the best available in Calgary, but if you’re going to try all of them, do not attempt it in one sitting; these are potent. Save some for leftovers and turkey sandwiches in order to select the perfect triple for next year’s celebrations.

For those who can’t get past the North American preconception that beer is the beverage for post lawn mowing and sporting events, some of these bottles are corked Champagne-style and will add a sense of adventure, even some class, to your Christmas affair. As for glassware, use the biggest wine glasses you have as they mimic the shape of most Belgian chalices. These beers will raise the gastronomic heights of your holiday spread to an unexpected level.

Season’s greetings to all, even those damn cranberries.

Some outstanding triples in our market:

• Triple Karmeliet,

• La Fin du Monde

• Charlevoix Domus Vosbiscum Triple

• St Bernardus Triple

• Moinette Blonde

• Malheur 10

• Gouden Carolus Triple