La Rulles Triple

Brewed by Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles
Style: Abbey Tripel
Rulles, Belgium

2006 bottle tasted Nov 2008.

Pours a lovely gold but with tons of suspended particles, not quite in des Rocs territory but otherwise pretty far out there on the scale. Looks like it might be a bit flat from the pour, but plentiful carbonation erupts in small bubbles on the tongue; just right. Soft citric aroma, slightly grassy, maybe some honey. Lovely mellow flavor, lots of lemon zest, some peach, gently sweet, honey malts, not intensely spicy, just laid back and really enjoyable to drink. After 2+ years, relatively little of the floral hops that other reviewers have noted; I should try this one fresh as well. Quite an enjoyable and well crafted tripel, probably somewhat underrated on this site.

Pours hazy golden orange with off white head. Aromas of bread dough, spices and slight hoppiness. Sweet with spices, yeast, citrus and hops. Reminds me Chouffe Houblon but not quite as good. Medium body with lively carbonation. A pretty good beer.

Bottle, bought @ Utobeer, London. Enjoyed in Stansted Airport.
Pours muddy orange with a big, frothy, off-white head. Wonderful aroma, lots of fruit. Yeast, oranges, pineapple and grapes. Fine, creamy mouthfeel. Flavour is lightly tart, quite hoppy, lightly warming. Great pineapple, apple, citrus and oranges. Some coriander and pepper. But especially the hoppiness lifts this above the crowd.

This one exploded. The yeast just misted through the whole bottle, and the pour is a dirty blonde with a still suspension of particles obscuring it. Dandelion and sourish adhesive aroma. Coriander. Brown spices, surprisingly pungent and damp; cardamom, mace, and maybe turmeric. Salt, and some brown sugar. Lots of variables, some of them pretty unique. It has some appealing dirtiness and farm-like textures that spin it in a Fantome vein every so often.

Bitter and dry pithy citrus and green spice flavors. A certain golden dry graininess seems more in line with sunflower seeds and the earthiest of wildflower honeys than it does with the sweetened dough and candi sugar crunch of a prototypical example. The haze of mystery is heavy. Vinous textures are deep, surprisingly, as the dryness here at times seems quite tannic and wooden. The flavors of hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios really do a fantastic job of making the dryness of the beer soft and earthy, and bitter enough to sidestep the sugary, syrupy flavors that are a bit disdainful to me; likewise, there’s a delicate floral quality and enough sourish funk to make it interesting beyond its already complicated exteriors.

Wildflower honey texture. Soft and bright. Gentle carbonation and a medium-full palate. The departures here take positive directions, and it’s overall very pleasant; a fine effort from a fine brewery.

Hazed golden to light brown pour with a moderate but good bodied head. Aromas of yeast and floral hops. Not as fruity a nose as other triples. Fine mouth feel, but far from bold. Quite hoppy for a triple. Somewhat of a stretch of this style as it doesn’t have the fruit and spice I associate with triples. Yet, nicely done. Some sweetness in the mouth filling flavor but not dominant at all. There are some subtle spices. It’s a hoppier than the average triple with a good yeast blast. Alcohol, spice and fruits are there, just hard to discern. An interesting triple.

Pours a hazy orange with some sidiment seen. Small head. Not much aroma here. Few hops, sweet but not overly. Some citrus. Very enjoyable beer. A+

Pour is a hazy yellow with a small white head. Aroma is sweet and creamy with some citrus fruit. Flavor is sort of bland and boring. Some grain and sweet malts but very bland and almost flat. Maybe this is a bad bottle as so many others rated this high but as it is this is not a good triple.

Hazy dark straw in color. Flavors of corriander, lightly sweet, hints of yeast, lightly floral. My wife says it taste like "purple". Blame Homer