La Trappe Tripel

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

Light color. Tastes like a toned down, slightly more malty blonde ale. Quite nice.

Quite good dutch triple. Actually very weird why the La Trappe brewery isn't entitled to the label of Trappists, because the monks decide everything according to beer brewing and even commercials on tv. The only thing is that the brewery is a part of Interbrew. I hope it's more a religious issue than a beer issue, because their beers are certainly Trappist quality!

1st pour from a 750 ml corked and caged bottle produced a very clear bright dark orange into my snifter. It had about a half of an inch worth of head which lasted a bit and settled down into a thin layer of foam. Nice carbonation can be seen and felt. It smells lightly of banana and other fruits. The taste is of sweet banana and the finish is somewhat dry. Finishes real clean for the initial flavor. 2nd pour from same bottle yielded a cloudy orange class full of particulates. The yeast got out. The aroma is more intense, but the flavor remains about the same.

Bottle. Golden amber with large white head. Fruit in the aroma, apple and some notes of alcohol. Sweet, almost some honey. Caramel and some spices? A nice tripel :-)

Vegassssss....
Poured out a hazy amber brew with super fine sediment and a below average sized white cap that hasn’t the power to remain for long. Cool aroma! toffee, candy, wet bark, dark dried fruits, sweet and very interesting spices, dried bananas (faint), pink bubble gum of lower quality. The taste is pretty good but quite sweet, plums, sweet malts which hold up the body of flavour, yummy soft candies, something resembling lemon meringue - no crust, soft, acceptable spice with hints of weak pepper, sour apple on the finish. There is a shit load of carbonation here that is perfect, medium bodied, leaves a bit of a pasty coating - I finally noticed the alcohol on the taste and in my head. Finishes with a nice spice and fading bitterness which never totally disappears. I’ve noticed vanilla on one of my last sniffs before I drained the bottom into my gut and a touch of banana in the taste. Normally I don’t enjoy triples too much but I’ll have to say that I rather enjoyed this in under 5 minutes.

Beer pours deep gold/orange with a thick, uneven, gorgeous off-white head. The aroma is very malty, yeasty, and bready - hints of spice. The taste begins very sweet. The middle of the flavor asserts some mild hop flavor and some fruit (hints of prune). The finish has a little more hops, lots of malty sweetness, yeasty goodness, some spice (nutmeg, cinnamon), and alcohol. The beer is a bit heavy, but the mouthfeel is lightened by the carbonation (not syrupy). The finish is long, sweet, and warming.

Pours a slightly hazed amber brown with a tan head. Nose is the typical Belgian yeast with a touch of sweetness, but seems to be pretty weak. Flavor is smooth with a sweet start. On the end I got a bit of a metallic edge, which I can’t say I appreciated too much. Feel is standard. Typical stuff. It’s definitely drinkable. I consider this more of the type of brew that neither tries to stand out far ahead of the crowd or is too immature to be crap. Smooth and even. It’s a balanced brew. It won’t blow your socks off, but it is even enough to keep you satisfied.

Dark hazy orange with a large off white sustained head. Floral peachy aroma. Soft fruity flavour, peach and lemon, caramel and a lot of esters. Soft full body with a very gentle carbonation. A complex and interesting tripel, nicer than some of the other trappist versions.