’t IJ Zatte

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Abbey Tripel
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

bottle dated march 06, so a little over a year old. pours a cloudy gold, moderate carbonation. aroma is yeast, fruity malt (peaches? orange?), and a hint of alcohol. medium body, flavor has a big caramel, fudge component, but there’s some grapes/raisins in there too. very strange for a tripel. good, but (as others have noted) i expected something lighter and drier. ends sweeter than i’d like.

Cloudy, amber/orange appearance with a large white head and very nice lacing. Yeasty, spicy aroma layered with tart fruit. Taste starts a little sweet, yeasty and malty, eases past some fruitiness, before turning hoppier, with more bitterness and spiciness. Full bodied, decently carbonated mouthfeel with a dry, bitter, long lasting finish.

Picked up at Beer World of Largo. The 330mL bottle has a date that looks to be March 2005. Is that the best by date? The beer poured out a slightly hazy light copper with off white head. A nice sediment cake was left behind. The aroma is sweet with grapes and apples along with hints of sweet caramel and yeast. The flavor is much like the aroma with fruitiness up front consisting of Concord grape jelly, Gala apples and plums followed by caramel candy. This is a nice mix of flavors. The finish includes hints of yeast and some light fruit tartness.

very interesting honey flavor with a golden appearance with lots of head. very sweet taste, perhaps too much one way for me.

Draught at the t’IJ brewpub. Hazy yellow to brown color with creamy head. Sour and spicy aroma with cumin and pepper. Sweet, thick, worty, spicy and fruity flavor with strong phenols, some sourness and some woodyness. Usually the beers taste the best at the brewery but in this case its the opposite. The beers at brewery are very thick and not fully fermented.

From bottle acquired at Toronado in San Francisco over a year ago. Aged at 45F. Like all other ’t IJ brews I expected very strong yeast flavors, and very funky esters that have all the hints of high temperature fermentation.. There were definitely those flavors there, but far more subdued in this brew than any other that I’ve tasted from this brewery. Lots of malt flavors dominate the palate, but definitely not a sweet brew. Nice Moderately dry finish with a very delicious Belgian style interplay between the malt malliards and yeast esters. Very enjoyable... Not sure I’d call it quite a tripel though.. I’d expect a slightly lighter color and a slightly drier beer.

Pours to a hazed over caramel colored body with a tall foamy white head. Awesome lacing. The flavor is extremely yeasty with tart wheat. Tripel like. Crisp grains, bananas, yeast, golden raisins, and dry grassy hops. The aroma is dry and mineral laden. Sort of like Abbaye de Rocs. Yeasts and bananas meets golden raisins. The palate is full of minerals and is extremely carbonated. Effervescent. Nice texture and drying.

UPDATED: OCT 22, 2007 Golden color, small white foam. A lot of earthy and basement aromas from the yeast, and herbs ? from the hops. Sweet. A rather good tripel.