La Trappe Tripel

From corked and caged 750. Clear orange pour with minimal head. Light fruits and alcohol in the nose and flavor.

Copper pour with large, off--white head that quickly recedes leaving a thin head to swim on top. Malty nose with spice and ripened fruits. Flavor is more robust — corander, ripe plum, sweet caramel, sugar, banana and a peppery finish with a bit of tang on top. The body leans toward thin, but has a slightly sticky finish. The alcohol reveals itself at the end with a comfortable warmth. Enjoyable.

The aroma is spicy and fruity. It has plums, coriander, cloves, malt, alcohol, yeast, and bananas. The appearance is amber with a medium head. The flavor is very much like the aroma with moderate bitterness. The alcohol is well hidden but the aftertaste is a little astringent. The palate is quite thin for an Abbey Triple. Overall it’s not too shabby.

Pours a slightly hazy amber-orange supporting a quite durable thin white head. With its apparent clarity, which is unusual for a true Belgian triple, it appears to have been filtered. Notable and fairly assertive aromas of banana, bubblegum, caramel, fresh yeast and various spices blend well together. Mouthfeel seems a bit thin and watery, but shows off a pleasant spritzy carbonation to style. Flavors come through a bit more reserved as compared to the aroma. Notes of yeasty fresh bread, caramel, nutmeg, banana, orange zest and ripe apple come through. Late palate reveals a moderate, somewhat harsh bitterness which is a bit unpleasant. I found the 8% alcohol a bit too tame to make this a satisfying triple. In the end, worth a try, but just OK.

Bottle. Dense, stable, lacing beige head over a hazy orange pour. Spicy aroma of coriander, sugar, oranges, and malt. Smooth and slightly oily, strong taste of orange peels and pleasantly warming alcohol. Spicy but not as spicy as expected. Hops are well-rounded. Not my favorite triple, alcohol’s a bit too prominent, but a good dessert beer.

Watery, thin, vague banana smell. And that is all. Possiblty the weediest tripel in the world, and to show their contempt for the drinker, it’s filtered as well. For a brewery aspiring to the Trappist tradition, this is a disgrace. Unfortunately for them, this bottle was from a "Proefpaket" of their four "Trappist" beers, and this one wasn’t the worst. I’ll review the rest when I regain my composure. Totally gutless, both the beer and the brewers.

bottle. slight amber gold color. carpy grassy and caramelly. alcohollic on the tounge but not after. a bit annomynus.

The coldest day of the year Down Under called for a beer with a bit of heat in it. This was just the ticket. In the glass, this is a clear copper colour with a loose 2cms of lacing foam. The aroma was wonderfully rounded and inviting. It had a nice sugar-cane sweetness, some Bazooka Joe bubblegum, caramel and faint Christmas spice - cloves with a pinch of nutmeg. It’s damn near perfect. The Belgians make this sort of quality seem effortless. First sip and ahhhhh... lovely. It’s medium bodied and softly carbonated with notes of caramel pudding, bubblegum, raisins, muscat and a warming peppery finish that takes the edge off the chill in this under-heated room. It’s a smooth customer but bares some teeth in the finish, where the 8% abv is evident. A first-class tripel. (30cl bottle; IBS Perth; best by Dec 07)