Monteiths Tripel XXX

Sweet malt nose. Pours amber gold with a quickly dissipating head. Flavour is rich and lightly spiced with a long finish. Underpinning all of this is a somewhat amateurish approach to the abbey style (as you would expect), and so the lingering palate is cloying and a little astringent, and the sweetness lacks the expected spicy, raisiny notes. Still, points for effort.

A good take on this style of beer and I like the late hopping of this one. Eminently drinkable and a good one to finish off the night (you’ll either finish it, or it will finish you).

You just have to give it up for Montheiths having a crack at this style of ale. I learnt recently that Monthieths managed to fight off an aggressive bid to overtake its operations by a big NZ brewing company. I really rate this brewing company for its adventerous attitude and putting some relatively interesting beers on mainstream cellar shelves. I loved this beer for its flavour and price. Sure it’s a bit cheeky calling it a Tripel but I was remindeed of its european counterparts. Could have done with some more heat on the palate and better head retention. But seriously , 8% decent ale for 10$ aussie a 4 pack, thats the goods.

Strange!!! Tasted from the bottle into a Monteith’s tulip at just on cool. Though it took a bit of work pouring it, it did froth up a nice inch of foam before receding back to a white film that clung firmly to the glass. The body of beer a very bright, thinnish looking, ruddy gold with a single eddy of bubbles rising from the base of the glass. Very subtle, watery vapoured, lemon and lime cordial, sourdough, peppery alcohol and fresh mowed grass aroma. Nothing too enticing there. Nutty, earthy and very woody in the mouth, quite a nice dry feel of blended malts that harbour the alcohol with a little success. Light metallic tinge and a bite of raspy hops show both on the palate and in the aftertaste. Finish is very dry, warming and again assertively malty. The body fills out only slightly, so I’d imagine if it was chilled it would be very thin and overly charged. I wouldn’t call this a Tripel at all. More a strong ale, virtually classless on its own. I must say though, it tastes a lot better than Squire’s strong ale. Pleasant, but more England than Belgium. (33cL, BBE 03/07, International Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

Looks great, tastes average. Not bad for a lager dressed up as an ale. Tastes of banana and booze. Medium carbonation and a thin head. This might be the most exotic beer on the shelves of many supermarkets and corner stores in NZ so good on Monteiths for having a go.