La Trappe Tripel

Brewed by De Koningshoeven (Bavaria - Netherlands)
Style: Abbey Tripel
Tilburg, Netherlands

Orangy, spicey and fruity nose; hazy amber-gold color and a low tight head. "Big ass malt" - Joe V (Arnoud). Yeasty tastes hide behind a n apple juice-like body. Dry end and a medium body. The alcohol frames the main taste: it’s present in the nose and in the swallow. Warms the soul. A little on the light side for a tripel, but quite good.

Cloudy orange colour with a small, quickly disappearing head. Yeasty aroma with strong alcohol notes and some caramel and fruitness on the edges. Not as much alcohol in the flavour as the aroma suggests, but lots of musty fruit (apple, apricot) and yeast. Body is thinner than I would prefer, but it's otherwise decent.

The mushroom cork on this beast was a pain to remove, it broke off as I was trying to remove it and I had to push the half inch nub down into the beer to get anything into my glass. A dark Tripel, this beer pours with a fairly clear, reddish hue and is topped by a frothy, barely half-finger thick, amber tinged tan head. The aroma is a mix of malt and fruit: notes of raisins and apples round out the fruit component, while caramelized malt sugars and lightly browned bread crust are on the malt side. The aroma is fairly dull though, I was expecting a bit more character here.

The taste is lightly sweet, and pretty light on the palate as well. It is not very heavy at all, especially for a brew of this strength. The flavors are a bit dull; notes of apple cider, raisins and some flabby malt are noticeable. This is probably showing some age as it seems to have picked up the beginnings of wet cardboard. Some spicy notes round out the finish with notes of clove, ginger and perhaps something like allspice giving this a complexity boost. Just not a very great beer; I expected quite a bit more complexity here, even with the light notes of age.

Purchased: Park Lane Liquors, Lancaster CA

Great beer both in appearance and flavor. Pours nice and dark, drinks light and fruity with subtle yeast undertones. Don’t let the alcohol creep up on you, as it is very well hidden.

Bottle (from Bitter Virtue, BB Jul 08). Deep coppery orange colour. Fruity yeast and coriander on the nose. Well rounded mouthfeel slightly creamy but not overly sweet. Some hints of bitter zest in the mouth with more summer stoned fruits. A full and tasty tripel perhaps more suited to drinking incolder weather than many but I would prefer it to feel just a touch more bright and breezy.

Fiery Orange Glow With Sandy Head. Rich Syrupy Sweet Malt, Yeast, Bread and Spices, Particularly Cloves on the Nose. Heavy Creamy Mouthfeel with Spicy Notes Dropping Continuously Through. Nice Malty Underlay. Spice Notes, Breaded and Yeasty. Some Noticeable Warming. The Konings are Far More Simplistic Than Other Trappist Beers, But then Perhaps A Very Good Example of what a Great Session Beer Can Be All About.

Bottle (33 cl) from Systembolaget. Hazy - almost cloudy - amber colour (unusual for a tripel) with a large off-white head. Yeasty, spicy slightly fruity aroma. Nice flavour with some discrete sweetness and a dry finish.

Old Bottle, with the old name. Apple, yeast, banana, papaya nose. Fizzy Carbonation. Orange with a little head. Brussels lace. Bready taste, applejuice like at the end. Warm but initial alcohol finish. "It’s like a muld sandwich" (arnoud)