Bottleworks Tripel Krullekop

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Abbey Tripel
Lochristi, Belgium

sampled blind at "Better Know a Style: Abbey Tripel".pours clear dark golden with dense white head. nose is malty, musty, fruity, yeasty. flavor is boozy, dried fruit and red fruit, yeast, and grainy. full body.

Hazy gold body with a small white head. The nose is cookie dough, apricots, herbal hops, cotton candy and pears. The flavor is moderately sweet with brown sugar, apples, honey and cookie dough. Medium/full body is soft with light carbonation and a warm finish.

Poured from a 12 oz. Hazy, apricot orange appearance. Aroma suggests toffee, orange, chocolate dusted biscuit cookies and tropical fruits. Fresh and vibrant; juicy, rich, and hugely malty. Thoroughly sweet and sophisticated interplay of melon, cookie dough, ginger and sharp pepper. Aged yeast predominance in dense cinnamon bread and spice-imbued caramelized sugars. Light hoppy flourishes of citrus fruits that are forceful but pleasantly restrained layer over the top. Texture is milky, medium in body, finishing with a wry sweetness that submerges itself beneath an unfolding citric bitterness. Finalizes with sweet butter and pancake batter, smacking rich and even decadent. Quite unique. Thanks for sharing, Ryan!

12oz bottle, courtesy of artusory. Thanks, Ryan! Pours a hazy golden-amber color with some particulates; thin off-white head with patchy lacing. Especially sweet nose for a tripel, showing cotton candy and apricot and some dried oranges; intense, pleasant. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: sticky orange and Belgian sugar upfront; the yeast character comes through at mid-palate, cutting through some of the sugar and showing the characteristic sharp yeast and white pepper notes, adding some dryness that still can’t quite balance out the honey and sticky sugar throughout; very generous, sweet tripel; slightly reminiscent of the Dulle Teve, without its ultimate balance and depth. Lengthy, Belgian sugar and dried oranges and apricot in the finish; sweet.

Date: 06/02/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

opaque yellow, fine white head, streaks of drippy lace, sweet yeasty spicy aroma, creamy body, lots of sweet creamy malt flavor, good yeasty spicyness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

2004 bottle drunk on 6/28/07
Tons of protein break on the bottom, but I manage a mostly clear pour with a very surprising, stark white head this is fantastically dense and well-retained, even lacing lightly. The copper body still shows plentiful carbonation.
Very minimal oxidation, far, far less than expected, producing light powdered sugar notes, is quickly quieted by a zesty yeast that throws pleasant peppery phenols very mild, yellow fruit-laden esters in to the mix. A touch of dough and vegetal notes somewhat strain the livliness, but at this age, in this tiny, uncorked bottle, it’s a wondrous thing. The malt is probably the main reason for its resilience (that and it’s bottle conditioned), being pleasantly grainy/flaky and full of honey and lemon notes. This matches the yeast character very well and produces a uniform, concentrated flavor of a well-malted, clean and interestingly-yeasted belgian golden ale. Alcohol and flaws are not apparent, aroma strength is medium-high.
Following closely from the aroma, the flavor shows no twists and turns and exhibits a fine carbonation, creating as creamy a texture as it does a head. Wonderfully extracted pils malt showers the palate with honey in the form of tight, tingly carbonation, while some grainier notes help keep the texture from swinging too far sweet and creamy. Yeast spiciness peppers the finish, while all the while, a light vanilla note is found (from the age of the beer).
Incredible stuff, taking in to consideration the age. It’s too bad most people either A) don’t know that this is old and thus rate it based on it being a fresh sample or B) know that it’s old, yet don’t give it any leeway. But then, that’s a huge problem on the site to begin with, so it’s not terribly surprising.

11.2 oz bottle 2004 vintage thanks to vyvvy. Poured a clear orange with a huge dense white head that lasted the entire beer and with slight agitation returned to a 1/2 inch thick head every time. Aroma is fruit heavy with lots of apples, some pear and a bit of pineapple as well. Also in the aroma were notes of yeast, slight sugar and wood. Mouth feel is great with a medium lightly carbonated body and a dry finish that complimented this beer perfectly. No noticable alcohol in the flavor or aroma which is suprising considering that this is 9.8%. Initial flavor of yeast and slight funkiness that finishes with a dry apple and wood taste. Different beer that I really enjoyed.

Bottle courtesy of bu11zeye. Pure caramel. Very nice. Light, yet full bodied. Much unlike any other tripel in that I don’t notice any other flavors other than caramel. Very nice.