Bornem Triple

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Abbey Tripel
Ertvelde, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

Bottle at home. Slight gusher, huge overcarbonated explosion. Clear golden pour, huge foamy white head that lasts. Quite mild aroma of spices and some fruits. Flavor is also quite delicate, somewhat bitter and somewhat sweet. Nice balance. Huge carbonation, thick body. OK brew.

12 oz bottle
Selection #2 from the mixed Belgian six pack was this abbey tripel. It isn’t terrible but since I have had so many other great ones it just felt boring. I can’t imagine it was the age either; this should have held up reasonably well given it ABV. If other Steenberge beers turn out to be this average I probably won’t be putting any effort into tracking more down.

Aroma / Appearance - Carbonated and golden like the midday sun filtered through a glass of sparkling water, the smell of crisp granny smith apples is like a fall day at on orchard. Buttered scones are heavy on the senses like walking through a bread factory. Far too sweet this needs some more depth or balance to pull it together.

Flavor / Palate - Warm mouth fulls of apple sauce and golden graham are not what I picture in a tripel. Full of fail it only gets worse once the alcohol begins to bite back. One redeeming feature is at least it fades more quickly than more Belgian style beers. Seeing the bottom of my glass was not a disappointment in this case.

Aroma of raw bread dough, leather, and cider. Floral and citrus notes. Carbonation too present. Cloying sweetness in finish. Not a tripel to get excited about.

330 mL Bottle. Gold body with a generous foamy-rocky short-lived white head that settles to a rocky-bubbly ring. Sharp, cider-like aroma; apples really stand out and eclipse all other potential elements in this beer’s bouquet, leaving only that 9-octane to speak of any mellow warming character. Apples dominate the flavor making this beer taste almost like a hybrid of cider. Otherwise I can tell the light sweet malts in the aftertaste and the hops that show up in the finish in a somewhat lackluster combination. This one is a black sheep in the Brouwerij Van Steenberge line. The next one will stay right there on the shelf.

I much preferred the bornem double, but this one is consistent with the trip style. I would try this again

330ml pours a thick white head that stickes around. Strong aromas of banana and other fruits with a vanilla finish. A deep golden color that has hints of banana, cloves, and some slight bitterness of fresh hops leaves a very complex but refreshing flavor. The palate is left with a somewhat hoppy fruity finish. A delightful complex Beligum ale.

Bottle. Poured a hazy yellow color with a huge white head. It did leave some lacing on the glass as it went. Carbonation bubbles and some floaters. Aroma was dough, malts, spices and alcohol. Flavor was spicy. Lots of spice, with some fruit smells. Aftertaste was a little hoppy. Better beer than people think

Bottle conditioned, 330ml from Bruges Bottle Shop. Hazed gold with white head. Generally has all the standard Belgian Tripel attributes ticked off, yeasty, spicy with banana fruity note and simple lemony hop, it doesn’t bring everything together quite as well as some, but still quite pleasant with an astringent alcohol tone. Reasonable.