at the redoak brewpub taster hazy pale amber coloured body with an off white head and with a spicy malt hop aroma a spicy malt hop fruity bitter taste with a bitter finish

This one is a bit of a monster. Dark coppery color with very little head. Strong, sweet caramel & malt aromas, something fruity perhaps but cant pick it. Sweet burnt sugar, very low carbonation, perhaps to heavy, sryupy? Big (hard) alcohol warmth in the finish. Not a big fan of this one but may be my lack of familiarity with the style.

Bottle at Redoak, Sydney (Vintage 2006). Pours dark ruby with a small, laced beige head. Initial aroma of rich toffee and barnyard aromas, with light spicy notes. As this one warmed up it appeared to take on a different character each time I stuck my nose in the glass. As it warmed the alcohol was more pronounced in the aroma but couldn’t taste it whatsoever. Complex flavours of dark fruit, spice, caramel and nuts. At one point I was picking up Acetaldehyde...a little strange but perhaps my palate was just playing funny buggers given I had the IPA before hand. The mouthfeel was very smooth and had that pleasant warming from the alcohol. Overall a delicious Tripel and one to enjoy on a cold winter day.

(2006) Tried from a 250 ml bottle at Redoak. Subtle aroma of caramel then when it opened up maybe passionfruit. Sweet in the taste but don’t notice the alcohol, starts too get a little heavy but finished it easy enough.

Deep amber golden color. A thick, syrupy brew with candy sugar, caramel, hazelnuts, milk chocolate strawberries all over. An absolute splendid Christmas warmer!

UPDATED: SEP 14, 2008 RE-RATE: Bottle (250ml) Vintage 2 years. Poured burnt copper with a small, off-white collar of foam and some large slugs of yeast which quickly settled to the bottom of the glass - creating an intriguing looking bed of jelly. A very complex and malty aroma with great notes of whisky, rich/slightly burnt sticky toffee, dried pineapple, caramelized dates, raisins and some cedar-like notes. A decent hop bitterness upon tasting with a very well hidden alcohol (slide down the throat), sticky toffee malts, burnt sugar, rich stewed fruits (prunes, plums), dried cranberries, very light herby notes and a lightly warming finish. Medium to full bodied with very soft carbonation, a syrupy texture and a great finish. An all time favorite of mine from the Redoak.

Cloudy red colour with small toffee coloured head. Big malty alcohol on nose. Soft mouth feel and hides alcohol really well. Big malts.

Very low carbonation, deep amber colour which is fairly dark for a tripel. Barely a whisper of head. Toasty malt and custard and stewed apple Unibroue-type esters mixed with Leffe-style clean phenolics. Quite a dry, toasty, biscuity malt flavour with a touch of herbal hop and a little bit boozy. Seems to lack the freshness and vibrancy that the best examples have - flavours are fairly dull and muted. Not too bad though, but the low carbonation really hurts the mouthfeel. It’s definitely way better than the gluey train wreck it was last time I had it. Ta Linc.

bottle @ redoak. the guy behind the bar, in typically breathless redoak style, congratulated me for choosing this beer, telling me that it was a magnificent tribute to trappist breweries (combining the best features of four of them, apparently) and that it had, and i quote, an "almost baked beans aftertaste". i blinked. the beer was taken straight out of the 1C fridge and dumped straight into one of their wineglasses-in-disguise, where the lack of carbonation and freezing temp combined to cause chill haze and the barest white rim of a head. he informed me that because of "health regulations" they were obliged to keep their unpasteurised beers heavily refrigerated. i asked whether their beers had bacteria in them. anyway. once i had warmed this beer up in my hands it still failed to let loose any carbonation or head. the aroma was heavy caramel, peaches and coriander - free of fusels at least. in the mouth this was a joke. syruppy, cloying, one dimensional caramel. about the only trappist like this is la trappe tripel. quick finish with slight phenol. no sign of any bitterness at all. and yes it tastes like baked beans!! i couldn’t finish it. i told the guy behind the bar that it was too sweet and he informed me that it was "typical belgium (SIC!!!) style" and i said he should try it side by side with a westmalle. he said he had tried it next to a leffe - case closed buddy. this place does make some good beers but geez they need to get some humility into them. and lose the sweet tooth.

Bottle. Fairly decent rendition of a tripel, but not close to some of the Belgian examples. This shows some citric fruit qualities, with and estery, yeasty alcoholic finish. Quite fruity and fairly sweet.