Kasteelbier Tripel Blonde 11%

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Style: Abbey Tripel
Ingelmunster, Belgium

Bottle: light-colored and clear. Nose is quite sweet, with apple and banana. Flavor is fruity with loads of apples and quite strong, but doesn’t have the particular bite I expect from tripels, just not as distinctive and explosively flavored as normal. A bit too tart.

Poured from 750ml bottle into a Kasteel bier glass. The apperance was a hazy pineapple yellow with small white head. Nice lacing. This Kasteel glass is one of my favorites to drink Belgiums out of. The aroma was spicy, musty, and yeasty. The taste is stong on the yeasty esters, tangy and slightly burning in the back. The alcohol is apparent. The belgium sweetness manages to pop its head once the lingering spice fades. A slow sipper. This Tripel is well-rounded, but not really a knock out.

Poured to a hazy golden orange, with medium white head that lingered through mid-glass, and decent lacing. Aroma was a tart, spicy fruit, almost a green apple smell. Taste was very spicy and fruity and at the beginning, the 11% alcohol was well hidden. As beer warmed at mid-glass, alcohol became more evident, but blended well with the spices. Finish was very long and warming, as alcohol made its presence known. I sipped on this for over 40 minutes, and am glad I did, as I got to expereience the beer changing as it warmed. A good to very good beer.

Golden amber with bubbly white head. Sweet spicy malt aroma. Sour spicy flavor.

Hazy yellow gold hue, with a frothy white head, leaving nice laces, yeasty, sweet corn nose, hint of sweet warming alcoholic notes, pale malt, bready dough, and a honeyish accent in the aroma follows through on medium-bodied palate with a yeasty, sweet honeyish alcoholic character, bready note, corny accent, hint of graininess, leading towards a warming alcoholic finish.

On tap. Opaque gold with delicate white head. Aroms is musty/cheesy, fruity, and spicy. Flavor is the same with a touch oif malt to finish.

Pours a beautiful golden yellow with a large head that lasts for a good 5 minutes. Good carbonation and great lacing. I actually thought the 11% was masked very well. A sharp tartish taste. This was very good.

Bottle from Utobeer. Golden crystal clear with a sparse, sparse head. But don’t be fooled by the colour, at 11% this blond packs a wallop. Spicy apple aroma with a strong taste of alcohol, the whole experience reminicent of organic apple cider, even down to the subtle carbonation. Pleasant if you have the pallate for such things otherwise leave this one to the ol’ country boys.