I learned something new today. (Did I learn something new yesterday? Hmm …) It’s New Year’s Eve, and I bought a beer I’d never tried—Bell’s Sparkling Ale. I’d tried several Bell’s brews and found them all excellent. Well, here’s how they tempt you on the back label of the tipple at hand: “Fill your glass and toast your friends with this special brew. Our take on the ‘glass of the bubbly,’ Sparkling Ale is an American Triple—light in color with a subtle fruit body.” I understood the “glass of the bubbly” part, but what the heck is a triple, American or otherwise? I know what a triple is in baseball, and I vaguely recall encountering it in my days editing a physics and math journal. But a triple ale?
Turns out it’s a beer with a higher-than-normal alcohol content. Some set the bar at 9%, and Bell’s Sparkling Ale is advertised at just that.
So now you enter 2008 knowing that, too, whether you care or not. Happy New Year!
