La Trappe Tripel

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

K24J2 bottle code. 750ml bottle that has been in my cellar for at about 2 years. Served in a small chalice. Aroma is yeast, vanilla, lemon, honey, light caramel, with hints of apple. Copper colored with a small and fluffy head. Well carbonated. Huge mouthfeel at first. The initial taste is honey, fruit, yeast, floral followed by a rush of alcohol and black pepper that cleans up the beer. Overall a really nice beer. On a side note, I got a good dose of what I can only describe as their "house" taste, which is redolent of cobwebs, mold, and dust, but not in a bad way.

Sweet smelling, nice amber/orange color, very hoppy/sweet flavor with slightly bitter aftertaste. A fine beer from an excellent beer producing country.

750 ml corked bottle: Hazy light amber w/a lasting off white head. Woody, musty "cork" aroma at first. A light sugary sweet & dried apricot fruit aroma as it warms...cork aroma still there. Some bready malt and yeasty aromas beyond that. Hints of spicy yeast, herbal hop, & leather as well. Flavor is well balanced, but to the sweet side. Musty, earthy flavor, light hop bitterness @ the finish. Toasted malt w/ some green caramel apple flavors as well. Aftertaste is toasted malt, lightly sugary, and a little dried apricot fruit. Higher carbonation, medium body, and well hidden alchol although there is a little warmth; smooth. A very interesting beer. Not a great "tripel" but it’s got some nice complexities that make it enjoyable, but IMHO not a true classic even devoid of any style parameters.

750 ml. big 'ole brown Belgian bottle, although this is not a Belgian beer. Corked and caged. No freshness date, but mine is clearly over the hill. Poured out good enough, with a bright-orange copper color. Has a decent enough head, but faded quickly to a thin layer of foam on top of the beer itself. Aromas are of estery fruits, even to the point of rotting apples, and oranges. This beer should NOT taste this way. I'll rerate it when I can find a fresher bottle.

Take the dubbel and apply the turbo chargers. Big sweet malts across the bouquet and palate. Nose is very complete and shows good penetration. Very smooth to drink and underpinned with an appropriate level of fizz that keeps the flavours moving along. This is a polished effort that shows a lot of appeal. (e3.30 @ Café Arendnest)

first trappist ale I’v ever had. It’s pretty good. very smooth and fruity. It has a nice color as well as alot of sediment that seems ’hang’ in the beer. Very nice brew.

750 mL corked bottle: Decants a hazy roiled honey-copper ale with Billowy white cap that reduces after a few sips to a lace-making ring. Soft carbonation. Aroma of succulent fruits, treacle, spices and sweet bread with some resinous undertones and some fusil alcohol. Wonderful rounded mouth feel to this with abundant complexity in the flavour profile; raisin bread, caramel, orange rind, earthy tones, sharp resinous hopping, all mingling in balance. Finish is lingering and warming with a fruity-cake dominance. A nice abbey triple done by a commercial brewer, I look forward to seeing how the 2 bottles I cellared will taste in a year or two.

33cl bottle. Amber, fluffy but thin white head. Nose is alcohol, rust, mild herbs and dried pear. Flavor is more of the same, huge booziness, metal, stuffy herbs, slightly ashy bitterness, low on fruits. Loads of alcohol warmth in the finish. Medium bodied, average soft palate. Here’s a prime example off a bad bad tripel.