Westmalle Tripel

Brewed by Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle
Style: Abbey Tripel
Malle, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

One of the legendary Trappist ales, you’re never sure whether you should drink it or put it in a museum. Belgian yeast dominates the aroma, with a little banana and citrus coming through. Great balance between malt sweetness, alcohol, spice and carbonation in the flavor. Very easy drinking and surprisingly smooth for a beer this strong. A classic, even though I like the Westmalle dubbel a little better than the tripel.

Most probably the best tripel in the world! The bitterness is so delicate and well-balanced. A piece of art

Very strong beer with a overwhelming taste which is rather roasted and alcoholic with a touch of nutts. It’s palate is very strong and it develops great in your mouth and has an intense aftertaste.

The Westmalle trapist beer is maybe one of the best trappist beer in his kind. The most brillant aspect of this beer is the taste which stays in your mouth for a long time. The taste is full and nice with a minor bitter aspect. A must for beer lovers!

UPDATED: DEC 14, 2011 Golden colour, fine fluffy white head. Aroma malty and belgian yeast, vanilla, banana, quite spicy and citrus. Slight hops tone coming through. Flavour sweet(ish) malty. Citrus, yeast. Hops touch. Body bit oily and quite thick for a blond beer. Finish bit sticky with a hoppy bitterness.
It appears much lighter in alcohol than it really is, making it a bit tricky when enjoyed on Sunday mornings after short bicycle trips, as is more or less tradition in the Belgian border region where I grew up.
Quite simple the standard triple, the benchmark to which I put all other tripels.
(From 33cL bottle)

-update 14 Dec ’11-
Tasting of old bottle, bb ’06. Held up surprisingly well. Changed character, more malty tones, port and madeira notes, lost the hops. Solid body. Very, very pleasurable.

400# bottle 33cl, pours nicely cloudy pale golden with huge white fluffy head.... Aroma is yeast, alcohol, spicy...the flavor is spicy, orange, fruits.....lots carbonation, medium body ....... nice Trappist

UPDATED: SEP 2, 2011 I would sum up this beer as being conservative but very, very pleasing. The aroma and flavors are mainly spicy and yeasty, with the aroma having more of a bouquet of fruits and the taste being more citrusy, with lots of orange. The body is not too thick, but it isn’t thin either, and it has a lot of carbonation, with a distractingly fizzy finish that leaves a fruity, slightly bitter aftertaste that I find absolutely pleasant. I don’t find this beer to be as boozy as some have pointed out, and as a matter of fact I didn’t know it was 9.5% abv up until now. My only big complaint is that the orange character is so strong that it might get somewhat cloying. Overall, it is very well brewed and satisfactory, and I enjoy having it again and again.

Very strong in taste with not a whole lot of character. This had a huge yeast nose and the flavor was very much dominated by this. Not my favorite.