St. Bernardus Tripel

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

Sampled yet again at a warmer temperature. Still nice. The main difference I noticed was a slight increase in the sourness. I stick by my previous impressions. A very solid tripel. Poured with a huge, slightly off-white head. This has a yeasty, sour lemon smell. The appearance is a hazy, light copper. The flavor is much sweeter than the aroma would indicate. It has ginger, clove and banana. The sweetness is subtle.

Doughy and yeasty with plenty of apples, pears and lemon-citrus fruitiness and a pastry like sweetness to the nose. Hazy golden body is topped by a fizzy byt lasting cover of white head. Plenty of yeast/protein in suspension despite careful decanting - in fact there was a half inch sediment in the bottle before pouring. Tangerine, apple, pear and lemon flavours with plenty of sweet doughy character. Some floral lavender notes and a moderate bitterness that doesn’t quite offset the sweetness. Medium body with lively, sharp effervescence. Tulip glass. Cellar temperature. Bottle (BB 040209, Bièropholie, Sep-05).

Hazy golden hue that was topped by a big fizzy and frothy white head and very good lace. The aroma has notes of candi sugar, caramelized malts, pear, apricot, floral and heather, star anise, white pepper, and a touch of wood. The taste starts malty and sweet with a dose of fruity twang. The finish is mildly spicy and a hint of alcohol. The feel is somewhat sticky on the lips but fizzy but the tongue. Nice brew, quite quaffable.

Bottle. White high and lasting head. Clear yellow body. Fruity alcohol aroma. Flavor too alcohol dominated if the intention was to make it fruity, only some dry hops bitterness apart from the alcohol can be tasted.

330 mL bottle. Poured a beautiful hazy, medium copper/amber with a nice, creamy 1" beige head. Nose picked up a wonderful bouquet of light fruits, cloves, pepper, some citrus, and a sticky underlying caramel sweetness. Mouthfeel was quite creamy and really coated the taste buds with all its goodness... and just the right amount of carbonation kept it moving. Subtle hoppy bitterness graced the tip of the tongue and returned for the finish, and the middle was chock fulla smooth malts. Flavors included some light fruits (apple, green grapes, pears), spices (pepper and some clove), floral hops, caramel, and a yeast presence not unlike the Abt. 12. My only gripe is that the fruit and other sweetness bunched up toward the back, and became almost cloying. This was an excellent brew... get some!

Peach and citrus, sugary malty. Lovely example of a trippel, and I like trippels. Becoming better known. Sweet and bubbly like Ommegang Ommegang but with the class of a Belgian. Yes, precisely. And not as spiced out and overly complex as Unibroue can be.

Bottle (330ml). At Ciro’s. Poured bubbly hazy gold with a big foamy slightly off-white lasting head, decent lacing. Aroma - ahh, that’s a real trippel. Ashy, spicy, banana, tobacco, sweet fruity malt, sharp yeast, and an odd note of hospital bandage on warming. Taste very mild - follows the nose closely, initially a bit ashy and a whisper of hop bitterness, very spicy, but as it opens up it mellows out and finishes flat, blended and sweet. Quite thick and sticky-sweet mouthfeel - a lovely trippel, couldn’t ask for a lot more.

Pours hazy citric gold brown ale. Large frothy head. Refreshing, yeasty aroma, with such potency yet soft and gentle. Meadow flower. Yeast, clean smooth body, hints of spice, just shade of alcohol in background. Drinkabitiy is superb. I am not sure how they have done it but they did it. Silky smooth Belgian ale, seamless blend of flavour. Very clean work I must repeat. Highly recommended.