St. Bernardus Tripel

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Tripel
Watou, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

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Sweet pear-like aroma. Pale golden body. Taste is sweet and fruity balanced by a sourness that picks up in the aftertaste. Not much else going on, but a decent beer. Not my favorite.

330ml bottle. Pours light gold with a large, frothy head. Aroma is candy sugars, light straw and clove. Subtle. Taste is very yeasty, banana and clove. Clove in the dry finish. Very lively in the mouth.

Bottle 11.2 oz. into tulip. Pours amber orange with a frothy head. Aroma is light malty fruity, citrus with some caramel. Flavor is light sweet. Nice thick moulth feel.

Lovely beer! Pours pale orange with a quickly dissipating head. Minimal lacing. Nose is raw dough with a hint of candy. Mouth is good balance of sweet fruit and light bread and malts. Finish is mild bitter. Lively carbonation, medium body in the mouth. Awesome!

Poured into a Tappist glass, the beer looks perfect with a nice head with very good retention, aroma is yeasty and earthy, the taste is not as sweet as I thought it would be, medium carbonation with some snap, warth from the alcohol is very noticeable and slight bitterness.

Bottle from Nina’s. Pours a light golden colour with a thick, rocky white head. Aroma of candy sugar, grassy hops, caramel, biscuity malt and alcohol. Similar flavours with moderate carbonation and a chewy mouth-feel. Mildly bitter with lingering lemon and grassy hops again. Quite dry with well balanced alcohol.

I had such high expectations for this beer that i ordered 6 of them at Christmas. They didn’t last long! There is a distinct ’dough’ smell and the taste is pepper, yeast and sweet fruits. It’s a great combination. I remember there was a little more alcohol presence for an 8% ABV but it’s all good. Can’t wait to get more.

28 Oct 2009: I wrote this. 33cl bottle, best before 08 Mar 10. Had this bottle for some time, my wife and I are staying at the brewery in two weeks time, so I’ve decided to open the one remaining St Bernardus I own before we travel. Very suprised to see I’ve never reviewed the tripel before. Poured carefully into a Westmalle Chaice; no sediment in the pour, so a clear old gold body sits in my glass, on top a solid foam blanket of bubbles. Bubbles rise through the beer, it looks inviting. The head has the power, strenght and condition to stay complete throughout the tasting, very rare, even on the best tripels. The sediment was poured into a small wine tasting glass, it was taken after the review. Dough aromas, with yeast, but this isn’t any sort of bread in my hand. The sediment had a more vinegarous and potent smell. A deep warm glow desends down your body as you sip the beer, this is good stuff. It feels a lot heavier than the 8%ABV it admits too, some real body in this master of tripels. I am very lucky (various reasons) and have had many Belgian tripels, both on tap and bottled, this is without doubt one of the best. I mentioned in the review I would be staying at the brewery, well the first beer I had from the fridge in the Brouwershuys was a Triple and it was poured for me by no less than Hans Depypere, the owner of the brewery. The fridge is free to use if you are staying at the lovely appointed and furnished B&B.

First thing that comes to mind is the incredible sweet taste of this beer. Sweet with fruity notes this was a very enjoyable and one I would have/ looking forward to having again

Lightbrown, cloudy with flakes. White thick fine foam. Mild aroma of apricot. Medium body high in carbon. Taste is caramel mixed with apricot. Bitterness comes later and gets magnified and lasts long