Affligem Triple

Brewed by Brouwerij Affligem / De Smedt (Heineken)
Style: Abbey Tripel
Opwijk, Belgium

(bottle) A small white-but-almost-yellow head, and a golden body, bubbling vigorously. The aroma is sweet and spicy with fruit such as lemon and peach, and corriander, clove, some sugar, yeast, and alcohol. Flavor is sweet but somewhat musty and spicy, and it becomes slightly drier on the way back. Alcohol is noticeable but not overpowering. Medium bodied.

750 ml cork and caged bottle from rebelbeerguy for my 35th BDay, thanks Tim. Pours a slightly thin looking bonzey/orange with a huge frothy white head that leaves some serious lacing after it’s long retention period finally expires. Aroma is sweet, candied sugar, apricot, sliced pears in artificial syrup, peaches, lots of yeast, cereal and grain. Aroma is nice but a little dry overall. Medium bodied with light carbonation and a smooth slightly dry finish. Flavor has a touch of metallic about it but other then that there is lots of grainy cereal notes, alcohol, and dried fruits. This is one solid beer but I prefer my triples slightly less dry and more sweet, pretty much the way I am.

A 0.33L bottle tasted at Vastarannan Kiiski. No head. Clear golden colour. Syrup and malt in the nose. Malty slightly sour taste.

Pours cloudy orange with a finger of white, rapidly dissipating head. Combination of some grass with sweet spice in the aroma. Some sweet plum in the taste with a hint of clove that fades into a sweet alcohol finish. Pretty good tripel.

Bottle. Saw this win a couple of tripel tastings so gave it a try. Some hop aroma, thin body with alcohol the dominant flavour. Almost no aftertaste. Far too clean, light and underwhelming. I think the award panels confused nothingness with subtlety.

330ml bottle (Vastarannan Kiiski, Helsinki, Belgian Weeks)
Clear orange, no head. Sweet sharp fruity aroma. Fruity and gluey taste, some alcohol too. Actually, there’s glue in the aroma too. Pleasant raw hops stay for a very long finish. The malt component is rather thin - simple soft light grains. Simple but pretty tasty. Their blond’s more interesting by far.

Poured from bomber bottle. Pours an orange-yellow with a medium sized fluffy white head. Aroma of orange, apricot, malt, spices and alcohol. Palate is dry, ad features moderate carbonation and above average viscosity. Flavor is sweetish, with candied fruit, yeast, bread, malt and alcohol dominating. Finish was a tad too alcoholic for me. The spice presence was more subdued than other triples I’ve tried. Overall, this beer is pretty solid, but I prefer Affligem’s lighter beers relative to their style.

Hazy gold appearance with a large, buttery white head and very good lacing. Yeasty, spicy aroma with soft citrus notes. Tart apple flavor unites with the yeast before giving way to the more spicy taste profile. Dry, full bodied, well carbonated mouthfeel that is lush and velvety on the tongue. Long lasting, very slightly sour, finish.