Now Olympic fever is upon us all, what do you think of when you hear the words red, white and blue? Certain national flags? How about bottle tops - would you be thinking of those at all? Did you know that years ago, when very, very few people could read or write, Belgian Trappist monks used those colours on their bottle tops to identify how strong their beers were? Red used to mean the least strong of the beers, while white indicated something stronger and blue would have meant "handle with care!"
And talking of people who couldn't read or write, while we're on the subject of beer, we probably know that the Bass trademark of a red triangle was the first trademark registered anywhere in the world. And at some point, we're going to meet someone who'll tell us that the first representation of a trademark in an oil painting was in Manet's "The Bar at the Folies Bergres", where there's a bottle of Bass beer on the counter. You see - product placement existed even then! However, that's not the first time a bottle of Bass appeared in a painting: six years before Manet started sketching, John Robertson Reid included that famous triangle in his depiction of the shenanigans going on at "A Country Cricket Match" in 1876.
Today's art history lesson is over, so let's go back to red, white and blue again: these days, Trappist Chimay beer labels now use those three colours on their labels to indicate strength ... and by a strange coincidence (or maybe not, if you think about monks and the Trinity) the best known way of gauging alcohol strength in Trappist monastery breweries used to be the three types of beer they produced way back when: Enkel, which meant "single", Dubbel, meaning "double" ... and no points for guessing what Tripel means here.
Enkel was any basic recipe for a Trappist beer - the weakest brewed at a monastery, sometimes the only one the monks there were permitted to drink, and only on festive occasions. Dubbel was a beer style that used twice as much of the main ingredients as the Enkel, and again, no points for guessing what Tripel means in this context here.
But then again, for those who like their beer on the stronger side there's always the Quadrupel, coming close to the strength of wine. However, since we're talking about Belgian Trappist beers, we'll have to leave this one out, at least for the time being. That's because it's brewed by Trappists in the only Trappist brewery that isn't in Belgium - it's in the Netherlands!
And talking of people who couldn't read or write, while we're on the subject of beer, we probably know that the Bass trademark of a red triangle was the first trademark registered anywhere in the world. And at some point, we're going to meet someone who'll tell us that the first representation of a trademark in an oil painting was in Manet's "The Bar at the Folies Bergres", where there's a bottle of Bass beer on the counter. You see - product placement existed even then! However, that's not the first time a bottle of Bass appeared in a painting: six years before Manet started sketching, John Robertson Reid included that famous triangle in his depiction of the shenanigans going on at "A Country Cricket Match" in 1876.
Today's art history lesson is over, so let's go back to red, white and blue again: these days, Trappist Chimay beer labels now use those three colours on their labels to indicate strength ... and by a strange coincidence (or maybe not, if you think about monks and the Trinity) the best known way of gauging alcohol strength in Trappist monastery breweries used to be the three types of beer they produced way back when: Enkel, which meant "single", Dubbel, meaning "double" ... and no points for guessing what Tripel means here.
Enkel was any basic recipe for a Trappist beer - the weakest brewed at a monastery, sometimes the only one the monks there were permitted to drink, and only on festive occasions. Dubbel was a beer style that used twice as much of the main ingredients as the Enkel, and again, no points for guessing what Tripel means in this context here.
But then again, for those who like their beer on the stronger side there's always the Quadrupel, coming close to the strength of wine. However, since we're talking about Belgian Trappist beers, we'll have to leave this one out, at least for the time being. That's because it's brewed by Trappists in the only Trappist brewery that isn't in Belgium - it's in the Netherlands!
About the Author:
Good beer does not always have to be complicated. Belgique's Continental Cafes exemplify that belief, serving gourmet Belgian cuisine in a warm and welcoming environment. Belgique online delivers this experience, plus Chimay Triple and much more for you to enjoy in your own home.
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