Westmalle Tripel

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

Bottle - poured golden with a fair white sudsy head. Aroma of yeast, honey, some apple, and a touch of alcohol. Flavor is a nice blend of yeast, apples, spice, and honey. Nice somewhat bitter dry finish. Palate is smooth, airy and creamy. Very pleasant mouthfeel. An enjoyable tripel...

I liked the Westmalle dubbel much better. The chunks of sediment were strange, and not in a good way like a 6 year-old bottle of Bigfoot; it was in a bad way, like finding chunks of dirt you tracked in. Alcohol/wine aroma, light fruity alcohol taste, crisp ending. If I wanted to smell and taste alcohol, I would drink scotch.

A 750ml bottle with a synthetic cork. Pours a hazy gold color and is topped by a frothy two-finger thick pale tan colored head. The aroma is quite yeasty, despite the beer resting unsettled for two weeks in my beer fridge. There is also lots of spicy yeast driven notes with pepper, ginger and lemon being most notable. As I get used to the aroma some fruit notes begin to pick up, with notes of green apple and tart pear being evident. The green apple note really becomes quite apparent after a bit.

The beer is full and peppery after my first sip. The beer almost has a creamy consistency and the spice notes give it a piquant sharpness that I like in a good Tripel. The spiciness hold throughout the taste profile of this beer, finishing with a sharp ginger like note at the end. This has a fairly full body to it, yet still remains quite dry on the palate, mainly I think because of the yeasty spiciness. As I mentioned this tastes quite yeasty as well, it gives it a sharp yeast bite to it. The beer has a light tartness to it that plays up the fruity aspects of the beer; mostly I get notes of green apple but there are notes of pear and a bit of tart plum as well, it also plays up the ginger note that is found in this beer.

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750 bottle from Colorado Springs. Pours a lush amber with a head that takes quite a while to settle but once it does, it leaves abundant lacing. Aroma is very citrusy, almost like a mixture of orange juice and mango. Flavor is, as advertised, rather spicy. Hints of coriander, grapefruit, orange, and a bit of grape are noticeable. Finish is dry, but pleasing. Palate is watery but full and rounding. One of my favorite Trappist ales by far.

Bottle conditioned. Huge pear like alcohol aroma along with spicy yeast, mild citrus fruit and faint herbal aromas. The alcohol just batters any subtlety of the other aromas into submission. Full bodied with a drinkable texture. Alcohol continues in the taste with a touch of sweetness and hint of spicy bitterness in the finish. An after dinner drink with the spicy alcohol flavours similar to a grappa. However it falls short as an after dinner drink, on the one hand being too alcoholic and full to cleanse and refresh the palate and on the other not rich and complex enough to satisfy the appetite for depraved gluttony.

Tried in Blois, France. Gold Coloring. Spice. Remember as a great introduction to Abbey Tripels..

Bottle (33 cl) from Systembolaget. Cloudy golden, big fluffy head. Yeasty, earthy and spicy aroma. Medium bodied. Dry finish, alcohol very well hidden.

330mL bottle. in a Koningshoeven (AKA La Trappe) trappist glass. Hazy golden color. Aromas of citrus, apples, lemon peel, yeast and lots of goodness. Ever have a beer you knew would blow your mind just by the smell of it! (Sound like a OT-D topic!) Very oily texture. refreshing flavor. Tastes of sweet yeast rolls and bananas. A very good Tripel.