Boulevard Long Strange Tripel

Cooking and beer and memories of Belgium occasionally meet a euphoric point in our kitchen. This night we were preparing chicken suprêmes, a dish of halved chicken breasts and asparagus in a cream sauce. While the recipe called for white wine, we substituted Boulevard Long Strange Tripel and it performed majestically. And left plenty to complement the meal.

Into a Smokestack chalice poured the golden tripel … from the Smokestack chalice rose aromas of spicy hops, white pepper and subtle cloves. Bright and spicy, cloves, pepper, and orange peel danced in each drink. Crisp, slightly toasted malt, warming alcohol and a solid, though very clean, bitterness followed. The long strong drink finished dry, begging for another sip. But maybe another bite of chicken first.

I’m a fan of Long Strange Tripel. I overlook it more often than I’d like to admit while shopping thru Boulevard’s Smokestack Series or the bottles of strong Belgian (and Belgian-styles). It’s a very good, very, strong,

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