Brugge Tripel

Brewed by Brouwerij Palm
Style: Abbey Tripel
Steenhuffel, Belgium

Bottle. Pours golden in colour with a medium sized head. A bit fruity and sweet. Feels a bit alcoholic. Easy forgettable I’m affraid.

From the bottle at a café just off from the Markt, Brugges, Belgium.
Bright medium gold in body with a lot of obscurely large bubbles raising up a fifty-fifty mix of gaseous liquid and foam. In it’s own pilsner-style glass too. The head wouldn’t settle and continued to expand from the brim so off it went in a solid breath of ’damn I’m thirsty’ ignorance all over the lovely arched cobbled stone walkway. Oops, after all it is all about the beer!<!-- br --> Big warming, mellowing, toffee and sweetened liqueur nose like butterscotch schnapps with a nice blend of raw malts and grains, and just a touch of cinnamon. Kicks like a mule this one, alcohol is evident from the pop of the starters gun, but it slowly fades underneath flavours of sticky warmed toffee, fresh zesty citrus fruits and peppery spices with a touch of pear and vanilla to add a little delicacy and smoothness. As it was warm in the Markt it heated up quickly and the body became treacly and doughy. A little too heavy in other words. Finish is dry with a nice showing of barnyard malt and scruffy old hops before a heady amount of alcohol takes hold and heats up the stomach with vigour. Oddly it was refreshing, in a way a European strong lager is refreshing, but atleast this had flavour. Possibly good on a cold night, but with the heat of the day this resulted in just putting me over the legal blood alcohol limit quicker. A bit harsh, but palatable. Nice in a swift kick up the arse type of way. (33cL, 8.7% ABV, 02/05/09)

Malty aroma with sniffs of apple, pear and pepper. Much deeper, honeyish amber than I remember it. And fuller-bodied, too. Only that smooth, fruit-juice thickness hints at the ABV- the alcohol is devilishly well-concealed. Flavour-wise, a subtle balance of malty orange sweetness and gentle hop bitterness. Pleasantly numbing, fruitily smooth bog-standard Tripel. (Re-rate 24/06/07 Piney hop aroma. Strawberry, wholemeal, butterscotch and boredom. Thin and papery. Distant hops drenched with sugar. Lots of alcohol. Nothing worth returning to.

Dark golden colored, medium yellow head. Sweet, spicy and mildly fruity aroma, also some alcohol comes up. Slightly cloudy appearance. Flavor is also sweet with spices, fruits and medium alcohol. Too alcoholic flavor.

Orangish, amber color, hazy and with bubbles ascending from the bottom of the glass. Huge, frothy and long-lasting white head that leaves an excellent and beautiful lacing lingering in the walls. Strong aroma, mostly spicy and subtly alcoholic, with touches of orange, almonds, clove, cinammon, pepper, honey and flowers. It tastes sweet, midly alcoholic and devilish delicious with traces of honey, fruits and a pleasant aged cheese saltyness at the end. Light to medium body, mild carbonation, sticky aftertaste.

Drunk on 06.06.06: Pours a clear and sparkling orange/amber color with a big, white, frothy and stable head that lingers for a while and leaves a giant creamy lacing. Fresh floral and fruity aroma with some aromatic hops and a fine blend of malt and yeast. There are notes of peaches, vanilla, banana and some tree flowers with everything covered with a honey layer. Very subtle caramelly traces start to appear with warming. Flavor is sweet and very fruity with lots of esters and touches of fruit salad, palm syrup and tropical fruits. Rich and not so extremely complex. Alcohol doesn’t overpower the pompous character of this drink. Texture is a little light with a watery resemblance but there is a nice sticky and sugary finish. Carbonation is almost unnoticeable. A really good full flavored and not over-the-top Tripel. Underrated.

Bottled. A slightly hazy golden coloured beer with a decent short-lived off-white head. The aroma has some spicy peppery hops and a little lemon funk. The taste is also on the funky hoppy side. If I tasted this bottle blind I’d have called saison; it really has some good hoppiness with a dose of funk. I remember this as the second beer I had on my first visit to Brugs Beertje back in 1993, I believe (the first was Cantillon Kriek). I loved it then and even now with the differing brewery I still think it’s excellent.

Bottled(750ml). -creamy firm white head, fruity alcohol nose, sweet fruity flavor with too strong alcohol presence, bitter finish. Complex brew yes, but I didn’t liked it.