Westmalle Tripel

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip

Gotta be careful with tripels like this. Despite my efforts to get it into a Trappist glass with that magic one-inch head, every drop of this brew seems to be loaded with dynamite. The thick, white head eventually settles over the cloudy, sediment-whirling (I shook the last of the bottle) orange body and the smell of hay, hops, grapefruit and wine yeast really pours into the room - I can smell this beer from half a meter away! Taste is playful and intricate: strong yeasty notes playing among bitter citrus aromas; the hops carry hints of fresh grapes, pepper and herbs. Spicy and feisty, this is the original "tripel", brewed as a counterpart to the heavy, sweet, brown sugar varieties dominating the Trappist ales. The Westmalle does an impressive job at delivering just this, but unfortunately it is simply not my favorite style. The aftertaste is almost painfully dry and yeasty, and without even the mildest hint of malt to round it off this baby is almost too much for me to handle. I did say "almost", as the Westmalle Tripel is a very nice brew. Make no mistake about it.

UPDATED: MAR 26, 2010 33 cl bottle. Cloudy golden body with white head. Flavour is sweet, malt, yeast and fruit

The beer pours a nice golden color with a nice white head.... Aroma is of strong yeasty esters, belgian hops and fruits... It is actually fruity but also...BITTER ! My god what a bitter finish. A very nice tripel indeed.

Murky golden colour white head, full carbonation. Taste consists of yeast, bread and fruits. Ok.

Pours dirty yellow with a fizzy 1/2 inch white head. Aroma is farmhouse, sour and a little skunky. Flavors of dirt, spice, yeast, bitter grapefruit and a touch of alcohol. Mouthfeel is a little grainy, fizzy on the tongue and a dry aftertaste. Tasty, but not a favorite.

11.2 oz. bottle from Keller’s IGA. Tried side-by-side with a Westmalle Dubbel. Pours a cloudy orange-gold color with plenty of visible sediments. Aroma of yeast, farmhouse, pale malts, honey, apricot, and caramel. Flavor of yeast, apricot, straw, farmhouse, honey, malts, hops, and alcohol. Medium-bodied, with moderate carbonation and a yeasty mouthfeel. Boozy aftertaste. I give the slight edge to the Dubbel, which is a little more unique than this familiar brew. Neither blew me away, both are good, but not as good as other peers.

Smells quite strongly of licorice, alcohal, tappist yeast? Some head on pour, decent lacing, thick and orangy?? Mine poured out a few chunks of sediment that I could do without, though I’m sure it’s been sitting on the shelf a while and the guy at the till didn’t help by bouncing the bottle off of the counter. Normally I like bottle conditioning but this could have been done a bit more carefully. Strong alcohal warmth in the taste. Quite sweet, not too much malt flavour left in there after the yeast and alcohol. A bit red nosey after just a few sips. Very smooth, you get a nice aftertaste of the spices and some of the sweetness of the malts, but the taste is dominated by the alcohol and yeast flavours. Pretty nice all in all, but I just wouldn’t want to have it all the time, too alcoholly.

750ml bottle, poured to a murky golden color with tons of carbonation. The head is pillowy white with some lace clinging to the glass. Scents of yeast, bread, toast, and honey. This is a forward drinking triple with nice notes of yeast, bread, and an acidic apple alcohol taste heading toward the finish.