Light caramel colored, gentle white head shows good persistence for this strenght level. Yeasty and heady nose comprises a solid dose of banana esters paired with sweet herbal candied maple components. Grows a certain mintiness through its spicy back-profile, yet the hops fail to kick in, leaving comfortable alcoholic warmth and floral sweet residual sugar finish the experience with lots of lenght. Medium-full bodied, moderate carbonation fits the flavor profile. Very very sweet, but their yeast does the job in rendering enough intricacies to keep the interest and complexity up with its floral, pepper, herbal undertones.

<i>Any first impressions?</i><br /> -A voluminous ring of foam circles the filtered peach golden.<br /> -An idiosyncratic apple crumbler aroma proffers multiples cereals, yeast, and obvious apple fruitiness.<br /> -Multiple apples and pineapples lend their honeyed sweetness to the bready yeast and bulky cereal.<br /> -An ample mouthfeel and liquorous texture benefit from the soft carbonation.<br /> <br /> <i>What if you dig deeper?</i><br /> -I cannot recall the last time cereals came out so evidently when the body structure was so liquorous.<br /> -Alcohol is warming, but never agressive.<br /> -The yeast has worked overtime in this, loads of esters are developed, yet they don’t feel strained.<br /> -Decidedly, this apple crumbler of tripels is full of personality, and will please most Belgian lovers with a sweet tooth.<br /> <br /> <b>On tap at the brewpub.</b>

Sampled draught at the Mondial, Montreal &#40;May 2007&#41;. Darkish gold-amber, cloudy, with minimal head -- not a terribly good start -- but.....honey-banana, yeasty/lightly farmy aroma bodes well, fairly typical but pleasant and disarming my concerns fairly quickly, as....the body is too syrupy and thick with too-low carbonation, but the flavors are solid, the malt is quite full, it’s a bit sugary and lightly alcoholic &#40;10%? wouldn’t have guessed&#41; towards the front, drying out nicely at the finish, light fresh cidery notes...decent, overall if not on the level of this brewpub’s finest.

Sampled from a draught tulip at Vices et Versa on 9/29/07<br />Medium amount of white head is staunchly held above a lightly-hazed, light peach-golden body. Light lacing ensues.<br />Tremendously interesting yeast here! I don’t know what they used or how they fermented it, but it’s full of lovely esters and strong phenols, without being tacky or dominant &#40;ie. it’s not a banana/clove bomb, nor do the phenols over-dry the nose/flavor&#41;. Gives the effect of it being spiced with a variety of things, though I highly doubt there are any spices in it. Notes of light vanilla, ginger, white pepper, tangerine juice and a tasteful amount of nectarine/peach esters fill this vivid aroma, with soft, well-attenuated pale malt sugars lying gently behind. Terrifically balanced and with no sign of alcohol or flaw, I don’t see any way for the flavor to not be as good.<br />And I’m not disappointed as a tight carbonation spreads spicy esters and light hops all over the palate, only to further dust it with a layer of honey-vanilla-like maltiness and finally end on a snappy, citric-like acidity, with soft hints of bubble gum and juicy fruits to add complexity. Light alcohol warmth helps mitigate the effect of the sweet malts/esters and all the while, a distinctly Belgian yeast presence is fresh and endearing, adding depth to the flavor and authenticity to the style. Really nice stuff, not aggressive with the alcohol or perfuminess, nor with the yeast character, but neither is it mellow in any category. Well attenuated, preventing any syrupiness that some tripels succumb to. Fantastic!<br /><i>Looking at earlier ratings, perhaps the beer has continued to dry out, as I really wasnt put off by any sweetness that earlier raters mention.</i>

A dark amber ale with a thin white head. Sweet candy malt with mineral notes comes out, with yeast, and bananas. In mouth, a sweet maple candy with candied orange peels, vanilla, pepper and smooth alcohol burn. Restrained yet vibrant. A nice surprise. On tap at bar, Sept. 3 2006.