Gouden Carolus Tripel

Brewed by Brouwerij Het Anker
Style: Abbey Tripel
Mechelen, Belgium

on tap: This surprised me - wasn’t expecting such a great blend yeast and hops, both in the nose and flavor. Typical tripel spiciness in the middle. Complex with a great body and balance.

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry, blankboy, tupalev, Dave B. & R. - courtesy of blankboy. Pale gold with a medium white head. Aroma is a slightly funky and herbal, with notes of band-aid and lemon. Body is soft. Flavour is a bit tart, with notes of wheat, yeast, spice and fruit. Very nice stuff.

Cloudy dark yellow color with a huge small bubbled head that takes forever to settle. Spicy aroma with light fruits (apple). Full bodied and a bit fizzy on the tongue. Ends lightly sweet with an oak wood flavor. Long mellow ending.

Olney Beer & Fine Wine Tasting. Nice fluffy head with good retention, bananas and spice in the nose. Nice carbonation on the palette; crisp with lemons and bread - though slightly more malty than one might expect from a tripel. Still, quite enjoyable.

Pours with a clear, rich, concentrated gold color and is topped by an easily three-finger thick, frothy, light tan colored head that leaves some lacing on the sides of the glass. The aroma is quite herbal; perhaps a mix of fermentation character, hops and even a touch of grassy malt. Notes of vanilla peak through a base of dry weeds (which give this some sharp biting notes), . There is a nice aromatic note of both sweet and toasty malt here that has vague nuances of butterscotch, a just lightly malty caramel note, some dry soda cracker notes, and the aforementioned grassy grain character. There is a touch of higher alcohols in the nose, which only seem to accentuate that sharp, sort of weed-like herbal note that seems to be the most dominant note.

Sharp up front with a herbal astringent note, but the beer immediately softens up a bit with a sweet malt character. Notes of honey are certainly in evidence and mix quite well with the herbal notes; the combination makes me think of some sort of greenish wild flower nectar. This beer has a way of lightly sticking to the palate, letting one no that this is not a beer to take lightly, though it certainly drinks a bit lighter than its alcohol content might suggest. Back to that sharpness, it seems to be a combination of higher alcohols and some phenolic notes, neither of which are out of control and in fact add a touch of balance to the sweetness that might otherwise be dominating. Speaking of phenolics there is a definite note of clove here, which tends to accentuate the sweet malt. There are also some noticeable fruit notes here, predominantly pear, green apple, and tart plum.

This is an interesting beer; sweet yet astringently dry at times; palate sticking, yet light enough to be quaffable. There is definitely enough sharp rough edges here to balance the sweet malt and fruit notes. At times this beer is incredibly enjoyable, but at other times there is something (that I can’t quite put my finger on) that seems a bit off kilter. It is not enough to negate my enjoyments, but it certainly makes me ponder, and perhaps that is a good thing anyway. In the end not being able to fully grasp this beer makes it that much more intriguing.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Marmalade Coloring With White Head. Malty..with a Harsh Spice...Almost Peppery in the Very Beginning... Alcohol Barely Noticeable....Some Citurs..and Lighter Spice...Overall, One of the Smoothest and Easiest To Drink Tripel’s I’ve Ever Had...

Bootle (50 cl ) from Barley Wine, Copenhagem, Denmark. Cloudy yellow with a medium creamy white head. Fruity aroma with clear notes of marzipan, yeast, and spices. Alcohol well hidden. Medium bodied and smooth with soft but lively carbonation. Starts off sweet but ends up dry with a long bitter finish.

Frirst raiting: 4.4: Fruity orange hops nose. Orange body with a medium frothy head. Soft carbonation. Spicey - yumm; addings after the newley rating: grape nose. Tasted alos koriander, roses and yeast. Great one.