Ottos Abbey Tripel

Brewed by Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Abbey Tripel
State College, Pennsylvania USA

In short: A perfumed Strong Belgian Blonde Ale
How: Tap at brewpub
The look: Clear blonde body with a short-lived white head
In long: Another tasty beer at Otto’s with a shy nose. Lots of honey. An unexpected perfume flavour although nothing suggested so in the aroma. Some (but not enough) dry grassy hops in the finish. That perfume thing just didn’t go away was there all the way through the after-taste. Alcohol apparent. Carbonation was anything but Belgian style, just some bubbles here and there. I really didn’t like both Belgian ales at Otto’s. I hope they just had a momentary brewing problem because both the Dubbel and Tripel were wong, they only made sense mathematically with the Tripel being about 1.5 times better than the Dubbel.

Poured hazy gold with white fizz head. Fruity with sweet malt and yeasty bread. For being a high alcohol beer it was well masked.

On tap at the brewpub. Stick nose of fermented banana, aging esters and bubblegum. Pours a burnished gold, with a rim of white. Flavor is bold. Some light acetone runs through a strong acetylhyde note. Banana paste pans through. Not too sweet, but not exceptionally dry. Crisp. Leafy. Malts aren’t particularly complex and sugar body is mostly in bread, pale honey, and plain cane. Light hop figure in the back end. Hot. A little coarse in terms of heat. I’d like to see a bit more restraint on the yeast, lots more carbonation and some full breadiness in the body. Otherwise, a faithful rendition.

On tap at the brewpub on 5/16/07: Pours a transparent dark golden bronze with a nicely-lacing white head. Aroma of rich, sweet caramel and biscuity Belgian malt with a hint of honey and clove along with some doughy Belgian yeast. Body starts very sweet and caramely sugary with some light fruity tartness and bready toffee complexity toward an authentic finish. A very nice tripel.

Shared growler thanks to CMUBEERMAN. Pours cloudy gold, thin head. Aroma is caramel, orange, sour dough, coriander. Flavor is sticky sweet, spices, honey wheat.

Malty. Sweet taste. Not served in the best glass...but I think Otto’s only has two different glasses. One for IPAs anad stouts, one for the rest.

on tap at the brew pub. Nose has a lot of yeasty funk similar to La Chouffe, probably because they use the Chouffe yeast strain according to the menu. It really was a familiar taste, that once you read the menu you made you go... a ha... So the flavor was relatively dry with a good alcohol punch in the back of the tongue. Also had some leathery and funky yeast notes. The beer came to me with a thin white head and had a deep gold and orange color. The palate was medium with a slight syrupy feel. Not a bad tripel, but definitely not my favorite.

Growler, courtesy of mj. Thanks, Mike! Pours a hazy, medium golden color; white head with fine-bubbled lacing. Pleasant yeasty and clove aroma; some marshmallow and candy sugar. Overly sweet and yeasty mouthfeel: lots of yeast and sugars, but a bit over the top; some white pepper and spice. Lengthy, sugary and clove finish.