La Trappe Tripel

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

My ongoing assessment of the Tripel style hit a new obstacle when I visited Amsterdam. For once I was not greeted with the usual golden straw color but rather a deep resinous orange with a slight haze if held up to the light. The fluffy white head lasts longer than La Trappe’s other creations and produces thin creamy lacing that hangs for a short moment before it cascades down the glass. The aroma held more resemblance to the brewer’s Dubbel and Quadrupel than my previous experiences with tripels. Indeed the familiar creamy pear and dried fruit frangrance found in La Trappe’s range was clearly noticeable. Banana, bubble gum, sweet butter, nectar, honeysuckle and apparently Gorgonzola (in an epiphany my friend Nicholas had) emerge in the nose. The fresh aroma of entering a florist shop is also apparent but rapidly submits to the salient alcohol notes. Again far from the conventions of the style but nonetheless inviting. In the flavor appears a creamy blend of pear and pineapple the progressively softens as you hold it on the tongue. With a brusque swallow the heavy alcohol creates what I can only describe as a cheesy fruit sensation. Peach and apricot merge with a flavor that even my turophile palate cannot pinpoint. In the aftertaste, some grains develop, reminding of milled wheat or corn. Generally it is genuinely a likeable beer albeit far from what I had expected.

33cl bottle. Golden colour with a frothy and mostly diminishing white head. Nice lacework on the glass. Aroma is yeasty, moderate citrus and alcoholic. Flavor has notes of orange peel, coriander, yeast, spicy, with a final moderate sweet, alcoholic and with an average duration. Carbonation is medium. Body is medium to high.

Coppery orange, white head that quickly dissipates. Nose is candy, malt, yeast, alcohol. Smooth, oily, somewhat cloying mouthfeel. Taste is yeasty, sweet, caramel notes, but it also has an odd turnip tinge in the finish.

une de mes bières préférées, très agréables avec un bon morceau de viande rouge

Pours a hazy amber with a fair amount of sediment Sweet, fruity, bubblegum aroma. Fairly well carbonated with a well balance sweet/bitterness. The taint reminds me of a lollipop. Must be the candi sugar. However it is not as sweet as some triples. One of my favorite beers.

It’s a long tima ago I drank this one but I remember it like it was yesterday: this is a perfect example why a trappist that isn’t Belgian still can be good!

Orange brown with withe head. Ordinary but rather sweetish tripel. Ok, but nothing special.

Bottle. Slightly hazy dark golden with a creamy head. Fruit, yeast, malt, some alcohol and toffee. Descent stuff!

blonde/orange color, nice white head, medium bitterness, light sweetness. I particulary like this one, because, compared to other tripels, it isn’t so agressive tasting...