Maredsous 10

Brewed by Brouwerij Moortgat
Style: Abbey Tripel
Breendonk-Puurs, Belgium

With a swing and miss on Maredsous 8, I was slightly hesitant about giving this one a go but in the end it was really a damn good beer. It poured out of the stubby bottle a dark, cloudy orange body, a thick 2" creamy off-white head and beautiful lacing. The head had really impressive staying power too. Coming off the top of this thick head were huge wages of alcohol, flowers, honey, shortbread cookies, and light pitted fruit. Spicy bread notes, banana, alcohol, with a honey-like finish. The only thing negative to find was the overbearing carbonation found in many Belgian style beers and while some work well, this was manageable but it could have been worse. The beer really worked well over-all and is a nice beer to show someone the style of a tripel.

Pretty great tripel. Aroma is sweet and yeasty. Pours a golden amber. Taste is quite sweet with yeast and malt. I small bitterness in the aftertaste. Good beer.

Bottle. Pours yellow with large off-white head. Flavor is sugar sweetness with a big spice bite. Not my favorite Tripel.

750mL. Pours a clear yellow with a large, off-white head that has good retention and lacing. Aroma is macro-ish: grainy, sweet, a bit musty, corn., white sugar. Taste is earthy, lots of spice, some graininess, frosted corn flakes. Very different than I was expecting. Simple, clean, not too yeasty, sweet.

750 ml bottle. Clear copper pour with thin white head. Boozy yeasty aromas with a lot of grain and spice. Dry grainy taste with a nice warm spicy/peppery finale. Nice and warming.

Low on flavor. Dry aftertaste, some hoppines. Nice warming alcohol. Not a very special beer.

Pours a dark orange with a medium head. The aroma was fruits and malts with a hint of alcohol. The taste is almost the same as the smell but a little more bold. It has a very nice depth and just enough complexity... made me wish I had another. This is a Tripel but I thought it had that extra something dark beers have. Great beer.

Pours from the stubby 11.2 oz bottle a hazy orangeish gold color with the typical HUGE Belgian head that settles into very thick collar. The carbonation is also typical of a Belgian...what seems like millions of tiny bubbles race to the underside of the head of foam that remains. Wonderful aroma...peaches, apricot, and hone come to mind. The first sip has a dry, spicy, peppery note that belies the sweet, fruity aroma. Mouthfeel is light and tingly from the carbonation. There is an odd bitterness on the swallow, a somewhat "chemical" note that lingers after the swallow and takes a couple of points off of the total enjoyment. (Note: upon further review, that taste may be from the yeast sediment. In the interest of fairness, i’ll have to pour another one at another time, sans sediment, and see how it stacks up.) There really isn’t much hint of the 10% abv...no harshness or alcohol burn. That makes this a slightly dangerous brew in the sense that it could sneak up on you & bite you if you’re not careful. Overall, a good triple, but not quite good enough to call one of my favorites.