Elysian Bête Blanche Belgian Tripel (2000 - 2010)

Formerly brewed at Elysian Brewing Co.
Style: Abbey Tripel
Seattle, Washington USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

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Tap at GCBF. Cloudy, bright yellow with thick persistent head. Aroma of coriander, banana, light spice. Seems like an emperial wit. Flavour is a bit phenolic, coriander, clove, heavier bitterness than is typical. Full mouthfeel, a bit creamy. Lingering spice and bitterness. Nice, but a bit strange.

Draft at the Abbaye. Barback must have dropped the keg down the stairs as Anders spent hours pouring off foam. Finally convinced him to leave me a glass, and oh what a delight. Orange ale thick with yeast - another energy beer. More of a superduper Wit than a Tripel - great apricot and peach flavors. Not at all boozy. Going back for more tomorrow.

Bottle courtesy of Larry Pitonka. Pours out with a huge white lasting head. Almost immediately, bursts of caramel, oranges, butterscotch and bananas filll the air. On settling, some grapefruit and other misc. citrus notes can be detected. Taste falls a bit short. Some of the usual suspects are present for a tripel, but not as pronounced as I’m used to. There’s a nice meadow-like finish to this one. Interesting, but not something I’m blown away by.

Tasted from draught at Tangletown in Seattle. This beer pours a cloudy orangey yellow color with a medium sized white head and very little lacing. The aroma is practically non-existant with florals, citrus, hay and grass being predominant. I mean it was served at the correct temperature, but there just really isnt much there. The mouthfeel is light to moderate with banana and grapefruit intermingling mid-sip and developing into this peppery orange tang ball in the finish. Very bitter and dry finish with high levels of prickling carbonation. Very little to the body of this beer, just one hell of an unwelcome kick after its gone. Astringent and mouth-puckering with visible carbonation tornados. Not my bag of tricks... banana + grapefruit + spices equals a F’in mess! Age it and maybe..just maybe it will be drinkable.

Clouded yellowy appearance, lively carbonation. Spicy, malty aroma, noticeable clove. Alcohol noticeable on the palate, sweet and spicy with banana yeast and clovey spice. Top notch Us version of a tripel.

Aroma: strong bananas and cloves, some hairspray, and light vegetables
Appearance: murky yellow, white head, lacing
Flavor: light and fruity, some sasperilla, and some mint
Palate: light, smooth and bubbly with a light mint aftertaste

Bottle 2005: Pale yellow, quite hazy until I poured the entire contents into the glass in which it became extremely cloudy, humongous frothy white head, stick lacing, with fairly strong carbonation.   Peppery nose, floral, yeasty.   Strong pepper up front that fades slowly.   Sharp floral aspect as well.   This one makes me think it still needs some time to mature.   Somewhat smooth, but it is also a bit biting.   Noticable heat too.   Decent body, medium to full mouthfeel.   Lingering pepper and strong perfumy aspects well after the finish.   Yeah, this needs some time to settle down, but still decent otherwise.

[At GABF 2004] A hazy yellow beer with a small white head. The aroma is sweet flowery combined with notes of yeast. The flavor is primarily yeasty combined with a slight note of alcohol.

Draught (GABF?). Body is medium yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), with notes of banana, clove, pineapple. Flavor is moderately sweet, moderately acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, moderately acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. Rather simple banana-heavy rendition.

Golden color with good lacing. It had a fruity taste with a little kick. Over all it was pretty fizzy.