Defiant Tripel

Brewed by Defiant Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Pearl River, New York USA

Bottle. Pours a cloudy gold with a thick white head. Aroma of sweet fruits (particularly apple), sweet tarts, bubblegum, and lots of spices (clove and pepper). Flavor of sweet malt, some corn notes (tortilla chips?), and a sweet fruity and spicy finish (chiles?). Interesting for sure and super tasty. I really like this one! Solid triple, great beer. I really need to get more of this... 8/4/9/5/17 (4.3/5)

750ml of the new batch - pours a very hazy gold, with a fizzy body, and a large head of enormous bubbles - a nice mixture of candi sugar sweetness and fruits (pineapple, mango) in the nose, but deeper whiffs reveal notes of hay, spices, light earthy funkiness and musky character - full carbonation in the mouth - the flavor is quite sweet at first, with a lot of fruity notes of banana, pineapple, apricot - remains sweet through the middle, with some yeasty and bready notes - on the back end, the beer dries out considerably, and some crisp, grassy notes and dry spices and herbs settle in - the finish has a very mild earthiness, and even a slight funk to it - these qualities work well with a crusty, crackery character that also develops at the end - I would like this to dry out even more, but it’s still great - I’m surprised how much I love this beer - if only this brewery did have so much batch variation and bottling issues - I would buy a whole case otherwise.

A very yeast-hazy golden beer with a large white bubbly head that leaves nice lacing. The aroma is strongly light fruit (apple and perhaps some citrus) and yeast, perhaps a bit sour. The flavor is much the same, but a stronger bready, yeasty character and more sweet than sour. Some spice as well. A very fruity tripel!

750ml bottle acquired in trade with Lou16 (I got this one at least a year ago from Lou). Poured a medium and initially clear (hazed up as I got to the bottom) golden color with an averaged sized head. Some floaters towards the bottom of the glass as well. Aromas of yeast, fruits (pears and apples), and candi sugar. Tastes of fruitiness, candi sugar sweetness, caramel, and light spices. On the sweeter side, but not overly sweet. Alcohol content well hidden.

[1437-20080531] Bottle. Muted sour yeast aroma. Hazy, light orange yellow body with a medium-lasting foamy white head. Light lemon juice flavour has a bit of yeast and lots of sourness. Medium body. Refreshing.
(@ Mondial; Montreal, QC)

Draught at Bar Great Harry. Cloudy orange with a frothy white head. Aromas of sweet doughy malt with floral, and bubblegum/light fruit notes. Flavor of lightly sweet bready malt, with dusty spice and fruitgum. Pleasant enough, but this invokes my usual complaint about stateside tripels--basically sweet and bubblegummy with a too tame spiciness.

Growler from Bowery Beer Room, opened one day later, almost flat - not happy with Whole Foods... Despite that, sweet and spicy aroma, lightly hoppy. Tropical fruit. Sweet tarts in the aroma. Apples. Balanced, but sweet triple aroma. Belgian yeast and slightly bready. Spicy and hugely smooth finish. Pithy citrus at the very end. Excellent beer, I’ll need to get it properly poured.

In short: A refreshing and tart Triple. Excellent.
How: Bottle. Sample at Mondial de la Bière 2008
The look: Cloudy banana-yellow body topped by a small white head
In long: Lemony nose. Full and fluffy body. Honey cookies, lemon juice and apricots, lots of dry grassy hops, light tickling spicy feeling. Rather tart, a lot more than usual for the style. This is like a big fluffy and tart pilsner on steroids. More refreshing and highly drinkable than a 9% Belgian Ale ought to be. I have been disappointed by some of Defiant offerings but this one was Wow! Now you’re talking!!! And unless you’re a married man you can continue doing so.