Bornem Triple

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

Bottle. Plenty of sweet candied malt on the nose. Some dusty yeast and spice as well. Pours full gold with a thick white head. Decent balance of candy malt and dry yeast on the tongue. Some odd tobacco and leather notes as well. Medium bodied with too much carbonation. Finishes with a blast of yeasty dryness.

Appealing apple juice color, fruity malty aroma, sweet but not thick, pretty much lacks complexity, gets somewhat dry at the end

Golden yellow color with a massive and rocky white head. Yeasty smell with hints of tropical fruit and noticeable alcohol. Very lemony flavor with some yeast and a little spice. Decent stuff.

Surprising light yellow color, clear, with a large white head. Aroma is prediminently apple, also a bit melon-like with some pear and medicinal properties. I suppose its simple, but I like it. The beer is way to fizzy though. It seems to keep on foaming up as I swallow which is a bit weird feeling. Flavor is a bit off like yeasty medicine with some apple stuff. Its not entirely bad, just don’t like the bubbliness and the yeasty flavor.

Bottle. Slightly hazy yellow, some nice looking head. Sour fruity aroma, which goes well into the flavor. A passable triple.

Rocky, white head. Spare lace. Yellow, cloudy body. Nose of flawers, wine and a little bit alcohol. Metallic finish. Lightly bitter flavour.
Earlier Rating: 2/19/2003 Total Score: 2.5
Bottled. Blond colour, sparkles of a white beer. Little sweet aroma, also yeasty. Dito flavour, also a bit 'sticky' and malt.

First off, my bottle says 11%. I know that ABV is the same regardless of where you obtain a beer but it is a bit disconcerting to have the concentration differ by such a significant amount. Anyway, my first wise choice was to pour this into a Duvel glass and let it sit. After a full 5 minutes the head was still billowy and full. The effervescence had died down and there was just a simple beading in the glass. The aroma is subtle but is consistent with the apple banana ester that is often found in a beer like this. The cloudy hue under the head indicates another good bottle conditioned Tripel. The mouthfeel actually felt less than the ABV stated, similar in many ways to the Duvel. I don't think beer shows Lamarckian characteristics so it couldn't be the glass. If that was the case I would be pouring macro swill into my Chimay or Kwak glass all the time. The palate is full and fruity, the hop presence muted but dry on the back palate. I think this is a beer to accompany some lamb or pork. Mmmmm.

Bottled 0,33 [Old Buccaneer Reserve].
Compact and adherent head, good persistence. Yellow gold color, good fizz, dense and fraught. Alcoholic and aged scent with wine cellar notes, yeast, must and wine. Prickly and full bodied taste, dense, warm, structured and winy. Decidedly alcoholic but rather balanced and pleasant.