Tripel Karmeliet

Brewed by Brouwerij Bosteels
Style: Abbey Tripel
Buggenhout, Belgium

Bottle at home. Pours a slightly hazy pale yellow with an extremely thick near white head of about four fingers. Smells of lemon and orange zest. Bright on the tongue and nicely carbonated. Tastes of hints of banana and lemon with slight touches of vanilla and sugar. Balanced and refreshing.

Beer pours golden with a huge white head and lots of bubbles. The aroma is a mix of Belgian wheat and fruit, very inviting. The flavor is very similar with lots of lemon and other citrus dominating. You also get the Belgian yeast and malt character you expect from a world-class tripel. The beer has a light mouthfeel and is very carbonated. Very refreshing.

Source:750 mL bottle. Rated and then paired with cheese, crackers and a summer sausage.
Glass:Tripel Karmeliet tulip...what else. This might be the best glass in the world.
Appearance:Slightly hazy pear colored pour with a three finger, fluffy white head.
Aroma:Sweet malts, berries a slight skunked aroma and a subtle earthiness.
Flavor:Sweet caramel buns, berries, toast and a mild closing bitterness.
Palate:Medium body with active carbonation.
Overall:The aroma kind of ruined this beer for me. The flavor was absolutely excellent and the bubbly carbonation made the palate. Love this paired with food. Dry enough not to overwhelm and lacking palate destroying bitterness. This would have been a mid 4 beer if the aroma was better, and hopefully its just this beer. Will drink another and revisit.

bottle from SAQ. poured into tulip. clear gold colour with a big head that lasts throughout the beer, but left little to no lacing. aroma is sweet and fruity, strawberry and raspberry, some woddy notes with herbs and spices in there too. soft and bubbly on the palate, but not as much carbonation as i expected from this one. taste is mildly sweet, with some floral notes. a good beer, but not great.

bottle. pours a beautiful blond gold beer with a good head. fruity aroma with typical belgian beer hints. very nice taste. full mouthfeel. great beer. one of the best tripels I’ve had.

Bottled. The 3rd to last beer in my (rather simple) quest to rate all the top 50 most rated beers. This was one I passed up for far too long, merely because it was so readily available but slightly pricey. However, a $4 Belgian that was way too expensive a few years ago is now not a bad deal at all.

This pours initially a very clear gold with a nice, large bubbled head that fades pretty fast. An addition of the yeast (which was deemed critical after my first smell and sip) made it quite cloudy and nice, with some lacing that lasts in the glass and minor, actively rising carbonation.

The aroma is at first fruity and sweet, highlighting strawberry and pomegranate, and transitions to a more herbal, woodsy profile as the beer breathes and warms. While mostly licorice and alcohol when still, agitation provides a welcome complexity. However, the nose is a bit too sweet to me and lacking in a forward, doughy yeast that I always hope for in the best tripels.

The flavor is calm and inviting, displaying a mild sweatiness through with notes of egg, thyme, and mild tropical fruits. The carbonation is quite low and rather soft; I could do with a bit more here. There is a short, sweet finish, which leaves a bit of sugar on the lips, but there is a lack of complexity that I find disappointing.

In the end, I must say this one was a disappointment. Tripels to me are a theoretically fantastic style, yet I can find so few examples that truly impress me. With the very high rating on this one I expected an undiscovered (to me) gem that I’d been passing up for way too long, but instead was let down by a fairly straight-forward, too sweet (marginally) beer that differs little from most else out there. Guess I’ll have to keep looking.

Great beer! Golden color, with fruits -strawberry?- and carmelized sugar. Not overly sweet or sticky, but very nicely balanced. A tripel to rival Chimay as my favorite.