Bornem Triple

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Abbey Tripel
Ertvelde, Belgium

Pours clear and pale yellow with a rocky, frothy head. Oops! Lots and lots of sediment made its way into the bottom of the glass with my overeager pour. Nose has that yeasty tang I associate with Abbey ales and lemongrass and... soapiness? Reminds me of Lemon Joy dishwashing liquid. The glass is clean and used for previous tasting with a rinse-out, so it must be the beer. In the mouth, smooth bitterness and a bread (rye? pumpernickel?) flavor appear. Crisp with mild astringency and only a mild lemony aftertaste. Very drinkable; at 9% alcohol, this could be the world’s most dangerous lawnmower beer! Still waiting for someone to beat Duvel in the Belgian beer wars, though.

Pours a clear yellow with a foamy and sizeable head. Incredibly sweet smell of pineapple, marzipan and dough. Pineapple dominates. The flavour holds sweet apples, yeast, nutmeg and a sour tang to it. Quite mild for a tripel. As with others I’ve tried from this brewer, I’m amazed at the lack of alcohol in the flavour for its percentage.

Light color. Big head. Slightly sweet subtle fruit taste.It very bubbly in my mouth.

Bottle from Whole Foods Hillcrest. Super fizzy pour - highly carbonated stuff. Trippy, funky flavor - like csbosox said, I picked up some earthy leather like flavors as well. Somehow, it seems to work pretty well. A little overcarbonated for my liking, but still pretty darn good.

When the hell will I learn not to open Belgians above my keyboard? Aroma of citrus, yeast, vanilla. Flavor is candi sugar, citrus (lemon), yeast, alcohol (beer is likely too warm), and some very earthy, leathery notes that are reminiscent of brettanomyces. The finish is hoppy, but with some residual sweetness. This one seems both highly hopped, for the style, and very sweet, I wish the beer was a little tighter, more lean.

Bottle. "Old Buccaneer Reserve". The cap popped off with a loud bang and the beer came out as champagne. Pours a very lively hazy golden colour with a huge rather short lasting white head. Aroma of yeast, malt and fruits. Good champagne mouthfeel. The flavour is sweet with a good maltiness, yeast, lots of fruits, hops and alcohol. Dry fruity yeasty finish. A good and very lively tripel.

I feel some other raters are a bit harsh on this one. Hazy gold with a hugh head. Big malty aroma,. More restrained flavour wise than most tripels, peach and citrus, some subtile background floral notes. I would never have put this at 9%. An okay if underwhelming beer.

On tap, from old notes. Hazy golden color with stark white foam, initial flavors of candy sugar and malt give way to a lingering hoppy finish.