La Trappe Tripel

Brewed by De Koningshoeven (Bavaria - Netherlands)
Style: Abbey Tripel
Berkel-Enschot, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

Pours a beautiful golden color with an enormous, creamy head with such a retention that I’m almost getting impatient to drink this, as there remains this huge blob of foam on top. Leaves some lacing behind as well. Aroma is of hay, earth, fruits and has a slightly sharp edge reminding me of superglue. Taste is slightly sweet, mildly bitter but again has a sharp edge that somehow keeps stinging my nostrils and the roof of my mouth. A bit too much alcohol present. Carbonation is good and this stuff has a very smooth feel to it that makes it easy to gulp down. The best part is actually the finish. Very long, starting a bit sweet but then moving towards bitter. I expected more of this, but it’s still not a bad beer.

Bottle. Clear golden amber body with a fluffy white head that lasts a while. Sweet, yeasty aroma with notes of caramel, lemon, coriander, molasses and clove. Flavour is sweet and spicy and is very similar to the aroma. Dry mouthfeel with a lots of carbonation, nicely hidden alcohol and a mildly bitter finish. Strangely, while being powerful and compelling, this beer is also a little boring and unadventurous. A very nice tripel all the same.

UPDATED: DEC 6, 2009 Pours a deep orange amber with a large ivory head. Aroma is fruity, sweet, and generally malty. Flavor is nice and fruity again; peaches, apricots. Also cream and a little spice. Kind of a molasses flavor in the body. Rich mouthfeel, decent carbonation, thicker viscosity, sticky finish. Pretty enjoyable tripel all around. Well balanced. Overall, very good.

An exceptional beer. Just arrived in Panama, and clearly the best beer available here. Perfect for a warm weather (but hey no rain) Thanksgiving. Pours a honey color with a large, foamy cream colored head. Lightly carbonated. A nose of honey and light fruits. Well balanced and a bit sweet, full flavored hanging on the relatively strong alchohol backbone. A real treat.

Bottle, poured into Abbey glass. Not that dark - more of a honey colour. Creamy beige head. Nose is fruity and grassy. Taste is yeast, pears and peaches. Quite carbonated mouthfeel. Alcohol sticks out a bit, but doesn’t totally overwhelm the hops at the end.

Serving date: 2009-02-24. Served in snifter. 330 ml bottle with freshness date on the label (best before end of 2010). Pours a brownish amber color with a lightly yellow shaded 1 cm head that settles after a while but leaves some decent lacings. First pour is clear, but a rather aggressive second pour with more or less all of the yeast going into the glass makes the beer rather cloudy. Lots of fruity aromas - most are on the sweet side, but some are slightly tart. Grainy malts, a general candy-like smell and some light phenols. The alcohol lurks in the background. The taste resembles to a large extent the smell. Plenty of vinous fruits (ripe apples, redcurrants), white bread, caramel malts, a touch of honey, some spices, candy and restrained yeast. It goes a little tart in the middle. A rather noticeable taste of alcohol. The gently bitter finish contains more malt, a taste of white pepper, a twang from the alcohol, and leaves a slightly dry sensation in the mouth. I must say, although the alcohol isn’t completely overpowering, it’s still rather prominent and sometimes overshadows the other flavors. Medium body, a bit too light if you’d ask me. Moderate carbonation with gentle bubbles. This is a good beer, but not great, and considering the expectations that one generally have on Trappist beers, I keep finding myself thinking that it’s just ok. It is surprisingly restrained for a Belgian Tripel, and not as complex as many other comparable Trappists. It’s simply just not that interesting. Also, considering it’s generally restrained character, it tastes slightly to much of alcohol. I’m not saying that it gets boozy - it just lacks some big flavors to back up the alcohol. However, in the end it is still a good tasting beer and I would like especially like to mention the composition of the sweeter components in it since I found them very pleasant. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Nice golden color, verging on amber. Smallish creamy white head with great retention and great lacing, also. Citrus fruits, bananas and caramel. Buttered biscuits. Very floral and fruity. Slightly spicey. Yeast and sweet malts. What you’d expect from the style. Lots of yeast with some spiciness. Light fruit flavors, mostly pears, apples, and peaches. Butterey caramel notes. A touch of oaky vanilla. Despite all this, I find this Tripel to be almost bland (compared to others) in it’s smoothness. Nice, creamy mouthfeel. Feels as a Tripel should. Lots of tiny little bubbles in the carbonation. Very smooth. This wouldn’t be bad to keep on hand as a ’go-to’ beer. Totally easy to drink.

UPDATED: NOV 17, 2009 Pours deep amber. thin head low retention. Very fruity yeasty aroma. Flavour is clean and fruity with notes of banana. Finishes dry and slightly alcoholic. Not bad.