Yes, I cringe when I hear the guy at the beer store explain to a customer that Tripel Karmeliet is “triple fermented.” Like a tripel re-fermented in the bottles is different than a dubbel . . . sigh.

Or that some drinkers are under the impression that a tripel is “triple strength.”

Thus I point you to a wonderful post from Martyn Cornell: Everything you wanted to know about X.

Although La Trappe gets a mention the point is not to explain the Belgian terms. It’s mostly about Britain and the history of denoting beers X, XX, XXX and just keep going. But you should be able to connect the dots.

Phil Leinhart, currently director of production at Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, will replace Randy Thiel as brewmaster.

Thiel is returning to his home state of Wisconsin to become director of quality control at the New Glarus Brewing in New Glarus.

Thiel has been at Ommegang since the brewery opened in 1997.

In 2004 he became the first American brewer knighted by the Belgian brewers’ organization Chevalerie de Fourquet (”Knights of the Mashing Fork”), receiving the award during a celebration held annually in Brussels. An hour-long parade blocks traffic around the busy Grand’Place, with members of the Knights of the Mashing Fork marching in colorful robes to the ceremony, which itself goes on for some time.

Leinhart has worked in the brewing industry for more than 20 years, in England, Germany and the United States. He has experience in breweries of all sizes, from brewpubs to production microbreweries to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Newark, N.J. He joined the Ommegang staff in January of 2007 to develop increased brewing capacity and manage installation of new packaging and brewhouse equipment.

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a feature on the monks at Westvelteren and their cult beer: Trappist Command:Thou Shalt Not Buy Too Much of Our Beer.

Reminded me that I addressed this question last month at Amazon.com, but not here so . . .

InventorSpot posted what Seth Plattner calls the 10 Best Beers with Balls of 2007. The premise is that the “beers on this list push the limits of conventional brewing.” So you get Midas Touch Golden Elixir-The King’s Beer and BILK - The Weird Guy’s Beer (since it is made with milk).

Also Westvleteren 12. This entry could have used a little fact checking. Besides referring to a distributor (the monastery sells beer only at its gate and the inn it runs next door) there’s the assertion the beer is “so named due to its 12% alcohol by volume.” This despite the fact you can read 10.2% on the photo with the story.

So why Westvleteren 8 (not quite so strong) and 12? And why Rochefort 6, 8, and 10?

Until the early 1990s, Belgian brewers measured gravity in Belgian degrees. This could, and can, be calculated by subtracting 1 from a beer’s specific gravity and multiplying by 100. Thus a 1.060 beer would be 6 degrees.

Today brewers measure in degrees Plato, but the beers may take their names from the former standard. Thus, Achel referred to its initial beers as Blond 4 and Bruin 5 when it resumed brewing. Westvleteren and Rochefort also call their beers by degree numbers as well as by the color of their crown caps.

When Westvleteren 12 was introduced in the 1930s it apparently started at 12 degrees (28 °P!) and was 12% abv. These days the starting gravity is about 21.5 °P. About because it truly varies from batch to batch. When I visited the brewery I saw notes where consecutive batches started at 21.5, 21.1 and 21.7.

That’s one of the things that makes Westvleteren special. Even though these batches will be blended into a larger lagering tank after primary fermentation not every — heck, not any — Westy 12 is exactly the same. It 12 will lager until it is appropriately clear. That’s generally about eight weeks, but can be 10, the monk in charge of brewing explains, “when you get a difficult one.”

Belgian law permits brewers more tolerance when listing alcohol content than in the United States. The listed content may vary by 1% alcohol by volume, compared to .3% in the States. The Westvleteren 12 will be between 10% and 10.5%

Duvel Moortgat has begun selling a version of its classic Duvel with additional hops, calling it Duvel Tripel Hop.

The limited edition beer (approximately 20,000 bottles) is available mostly in Belgium, with some sold in the nearby region. Current plans do not call for a second edition of the beer, nor for any of it to be shipped to the United States.

“Trippel” in the name refers to the fact the beer is hopped with three kindsd of hops rathr than the usual two, and at a higher hopping rate (though not three times a much as Duvel, which measures 30 bittering units).

As well as using Syrian Goldings and Saaz in this beer, as is typical, the brewers at Duvel included the American hop Amarillo in the boil, then dry hopped with Styrian Goldings.

Today’s Guardian Unlimited published a travel story in which reporter William Little visited the six Trappist abbeys in Belgium where beer is brewed.

And the headline read: “With beer this good, no wonder they keep silent.”

To Mr. Little’s credit he didn’t write that monks take a vow of silence. We just have a clever headline writer playing on an old misconception.

The notion that Trappists take a vow of total silence is incorrect. Such a vow never existed, although there were strict rules about speaking. While those rules have eased, at some times and in some places silence still is expected. The purpose of silence is to give one space in which to pray, meditate, and read, and to allow others to do the same.

I won’t guarantee how much you’ll learn from the story, though I sure wish Little had elaborated on how Brother Jules makes beer with a wrench.