BONUS POUR - Belgian Tripels at 2 Halfs Brewing and Distilling

In this Chat on Tap bonus episode, David sits down with Kirk from 2 Halfs Brewing & Distilling to dive into one of Belgium’s most iconic beer styles — the Tripel.

Fresh off the previous episode with Matt the Craft Beer MC, this chat explores how Tripel Day came about, what makes the style so unique, and why it’s often called the “king of beers.”

Despite sitting around 8% ABV, Tripels are known for being dangerously drinkable — and Kirk explains how yeast, malt and brewing technique create that balance of strength and elegance.

Kirk also explains the philosophy behind his brewery-distillery hybrid and how a small operation in Alexandria is producing everything from Belgian-style ales to house spirits and fruit seltzers. 

• What Belgian Tripel actually is — and why it drinks smoother than its high ABV suggests
• How Tripel Day started and the role Matt the Craft Beer MC played in it
• The flavour profile of a classic Tripel: yeast-driven character, fruit notes and deceptively strong alcohol
• Why Belgium’s beer culture — from glassware to serving temperature — is still the gold standard
• Inside 2 Halfs Brewing & Distilling and how the brewery + distillery operate side by side

If you’ve ever wondered what a Belgian Tripel actually tastes like — or why brewers revere the style — this short bonus episode is a quick crash course from someone who’s been brewing them for decades.

It’s also a glimpse into one of Sydney’s most interesting small producers.

Episode produced by: WHEN Studios
Follow: @WHEN.Studios,

Insta: @chatontap

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Email: hello@chatontap.com

Host: David A. Lennon – @davidalennon
Website: chatontap.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to this bonus episode of Catalm Cat where we're gonna dive into the triple beer, which I only just discovered uh a week or two ago. I didn't know it existed, and we have the I asked him what his title was. I said head brewer, he said maybe it's shit kicker, I don't know. But I've got Kirk here from Two Halves Brewing. Bring that microphone up. Nice and close to your mouth. Nice to meet you. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for coming over. So the triple day, how did how did this all come about? Uh the triple day came about because of this man here. We're talking about Matt the Craft Beer MC, who was on our last episode.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Like uh, like a lot of people say, it's the king of Beers.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Really? A lot of people will dispute that, but uh it's true. Okay, have you had you before getting involved in the triple day, had you made this style before? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I've uh made it from the start. We've got a few gold awards from local uh Brisbane and Sydney before. Yep. And for our Duble for Double. And also do the quad. A quad? Quad there. So our all uh all our beers uh first up is the Kirk, not just the pale ale, Belgian pale ale, then we go to the blonde, uh six and a half, roughly, then we go to the double, seven and a half, and then the triple, roughly seven, eight and a half. Yeah. This year that's eight point two.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

I mean it does not taste like eight point two. And cheers to you, it's a it's a beautiful beer. Could you talk to someone who is watching, listening, um, who is looking at this, it talk us through flavour profile, what it is, what the what the beer is.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Well, it's nearly 100% uh Pilsner Malt. Okay. You wouldn't think so, but it's nearly 100% Pilsner Malt. It's all uh nearly 100% derived from uh yeast flavours. You got it all different uh Belgium yeast. I gave right fruit as most beers, the they're similar name, the same name, but different recipe, different malts, different hops, always. Yeah, I haven't uh standardised any of the beers yet.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Yeah, okay. Where was the first time you had this style and went that is the king of beer? I agree with the sentiment.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh, geez, I've been drinking uh triple and double, probably very hard to get, probably 30 years ago in bottles and from specialised bottle shops in Australia. Uh now it's easy to get, but 30 years ago it was very hard to get. Did you have you have you had it overseas? Uh yeah, been a few times to Belgium, mainly to Brussels, had a few triples there.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

What do you like about the beer scene over there? Like what could Australia learn from over in Belgium say? Ooh. The glassware.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Uh well in Belgium uh every beer's got its own glass. Okay. Uh a lot of uh even a lot of uh different temperatures, uh the Belgian will keep the bottled beer.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Oh, they'll keep the beer at a different temperature. Yeah, different temperature, yeah. And and and um obviously for options. It depends on the on the cafe, on the on the pub. Have you thought about doing anything similar here? Is it just too much effort?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

At the moment for small, I've got too many other brews that you can see on the board. Yeah, yeah. What have we got? I think there's what's that for about 22 now. We've got some uh seltzers on there. How do you find making those? Uh a lot easier. Really? A lot easier, yeah. Well, there's a lot more wriggle room to yeah, well uh they're not uh uh brewed uh seltzer, they're they're a vodka-based seltzer. Yeah. So for me it's a lot easier uh because yeah, I got the vodka on hand uh from so I just use pristine vodka for the base. And then uh all the it's all natural ingredients, so something like the raspberry seltzer that's got roughly about 50 grams of uh fresh raspberries in each uh glass. Uh lemon cello spritz, that's our two halves lemon cello, and a little bit of lemon.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Oh yeah, so to explain, I'll probably get you to explain this a bit further. For someone who's who doesn't know two halves, we're in Alexandria, it is both a brewery and a distillery. And a distillery, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

So the brewery arm and the distillery arm. So that's well there's two parts of two halves. That's one part. Other part is uh my wife is the one part, and I'm the second half. And we who's the better half?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Of the two halves?

SPEAKER_00 4:51

She's the better half.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

So okay, so let's let's let's just talk. Okay, we're um triple days is one thing. Let's just um profile the the well what would you call it? Brewery distillery, brew stillery.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Brew stillery, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Uh let's profile the brewery for a moment. Someone walks in, they've only got one day in Sydney, they've chosen to come here. Yep. What are you what are you suggesting they should have off tap and what and and and out of the the distillery?

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Every well uh they always ask me what uh what's your best seller, what's your best beer. I'll I always uh ask them what do you drink? Yeah, what do you like to drink? Uh beer is a very personal uh thing. Okay for every it could be uh triple, it could be an IPA, it could be a hay, it could be just uh a generic uh macro lager.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Okay, if I I I so I'll let's pretend I'm the the person. Yep. I typically drink a pail or an IPA. It would be my the first place I'd reach. At the moment not too much.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

Have a triple. Have a triple. Uh no, at the moment not too much. Uh because uh at the moment depends on my turnaround of uh beers. Uh most of the IPAs and Hayes uh have sold out, so we've got a little stock in the end on in cans on can pours. Do you do you do um do you do you have a core range or do you kind of keep changing it? There's no core range. In the future I will have a limited uh core range, but for now it's uh like I said, the same name, but uh they're always sort of uh limited releases.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

And is that the same with the distillery side of the business?

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Uh distillery more more sort of core range, yeah, but that's ongoing too. We've got uh uh our sort of three-core gin's vodka, and we got uh rakia. What is that? Rakia is it's a bulkan uh brandy. Okay that's the easiest to explain it.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Okay, no, I love a simple explanation a bulken brandy, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Bulkan brandy, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Uh now looking at the range, I might be here all afternoon trying to get through it. Mate, uh, thank you for joining. Thank you. Um congratulations on your second year in the triple. Next year we get the triple triple. Yep, which is very exciting. Um, but you should be proud of yourself for a really good beer uh that is dangerously easy to drink at 8.2%. Uh but thank you for your time, thank you for having us today, letting us take over your trick. Thanks for coming in. Thank you. Thank you. What's the best title to give you? Head brewer, brewer, big dog, the shit kicker.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

That's what I am.