New Holland Black Tulip Trippel Ale

Brewed by New Holland Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Holland, Michigan USA

(03.12.06) Sampling at DiCarlo’s, compliments of Tony C, Beer Manager. One pint, 6 oz brown bottle from DiCarlo’s, Mundelein, IL. Pours clear golden yellow with small white head. Soft carbonation. Fruity esters in the nose. Medium bodied Belgium style tripel ale that starts with moderate malt sweetness and spicy/fruity flavors. Finishes dry with fruity aftertaste. No discernable hop presence. Very good tasty Belgium-style ale. Thanks Tony!

Served with a hint of irony in a very bulbous St. Bernardus Watou tulip glass, this fermented beverage offers a deceptive appearance of American macro inferiority, giving way to an experience of taste and sophistication reassuring to the palate of the discerning fermented beverage conniosseur (affectionately albeit indelicately appended the designation "snob" in the vernacular). This fermented beverage features little head atop its urinary-appearing body, though redeems itself via a lasting layer of fine bubbles which in itself raises the esteem of this fermented beverage along the (loosely phrased) "eye-appeal" dimension of fermented beverage appreciation, The flavor is that of a rather light and diluted Tripel, which nevertheless makes it a cut above the average in virtue of the Tripel’s inherent stylistic superiority. Nevertheless, one cannot help but note the slightly syrupy character, which would go down as an unfortunate attempt to overcome the aforenoted shortcomings. And with that, I disembark, secure once again in my sophisticated and superior beverage-appreciation perceptive modalities, and rejoin my perceptibly Kahlua-spiked major-store-brand Dr. Pepper equivalent on the rocks.

Barrel Draught from the jug at the GABF, Colorado Convention Center 30/09/2005 Golden coloured and strong in alcohol with banana fruit aroma and flavour. Slightly bitter finish.

Pours a translucent yellow orange with a white fizzy head that quickly dissloves to a small film. Raisins, cherries, yeast and alcohol. The flavor holds similar qualities, quite fruity and a bit floral with a presence of alcohol that tends to be a bit too present. It’s pretty juicy over the tounge, a bit of maltiness...but not a whole lot...at least not as much as I thougt there would be. The finish is fairly dry with a small alcohol burn accompained with a short bitter fruitiness. Not bad, though it feels a bit confined.

A quarter of a century beers in and my notes are so fragmented and illegible to be almost useless. *sigh* Focusing on things hurts my brain. One tripel to follow-up a previous one. The styles are weaving together much like my double vision (Foreigner ROCKS! [well maybe not]). Better than the previous one [Final Absolution]? Nope. But still well worth a try if you’re looking for that sweet, yeasty flavor of a tripel.

Pours a light golden color with a medium white head. A light citrus aroma with some malts. Wasn’t too excited to start drinking this one from the look and aroma. A sweet flavor with floral hints and ends with a little bitterness and a little alcohol warming. Tastes better then it looks, but that’s not saying much.

Deep orange pour with little head. Poured totally opaque. Some sweet citurs scent mixed with flowers. Warm in the mouth with a strong alcoholic burn. Very complex and hard to describe. Flavour varies in the mouth and the aftertaste hits in definate layers. Slightly bitter at first then sweet with a bit of citrus then mellow bitter with an alcohol finish. Not the best tripple but still good.

Bottle poured a light-hazed amber without much of a head. Aroma of bananas, smoke and Belgian yeast, clove, wine & alcohol. Flavor of alcohol & spice. This performs adequately as a Tripel although the flavors don’t come across as well as the aromas do.

<font size=-4>Single bottle from <a href=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=1 cellar.<font size=-1>