Ottos Abbey Tripel

Brewed by Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Abbey Tripel
State College, Pennsylvania USA

(growler, thanks mj) Beige head atop hazy apple juice body. Taste is moderately sweet, orange peel, some coriander, light candi sugar. Taste is moderately sweet, orange, wheat, light clove, banana. Medium body that misses the dryness/mouthfeel of a Tripel.

On tap at the brewpub on 5/16/07: Pours a transparent dark golden bronze with a nicely-lacing white head. Aroma of rich, sweet caramel and biscuity Belgian malt with a hint of honey and clove along with some doughy Belgian yeast. Body starts very sweet and caramely sugary with some light fruity tartness and bready toffee complexity toward an authentic finish. A very nice tripel.

Listed as Otto’s Trippel Ale at the brewery, I picked up a growler. Lightly murky golden orange body, white head, moderately thick lacing. Floral, perfumy, almost vegetal in a small sense, yeasty nose, reminds me a lot of the soapy anise qualities found in La Chouffe (more so when it’s draft La Chouffe vs bottle). Crisp and sweet and perfumy, yeastiness and spices are quite soapy... sticky and medium to moderately thick body, sweet and sugary, getting cloying near the end of the glass. Decent attempt, but Belgian beer is not Otto’s strong suit. Too much of a potpourri floral character when warm... and also too sweet.

Pours hazy deep gold with minimal white head. Aroma of Brett, candi sugar, fruit, apricots. Tastes very Bretty, with finishing fruit, spices, and a dry, fruity finish. Stellar!

HBF 2005. Slightly deeper in color than most tripels. Decent head but fades. Aroma is fruity, spicy and yeasty with some banana and ripe apple. Moderately sweet throughout but not too much as to make it cloying . All flavors blend well together. Nice dry finish makes it easy to drink.

In short: A perfumed Strong Belgian Blonde Ale
How: Tap at brewpub
The look: Clear blonde body with a short-lived white head
In long: Another tasty beer at Otto’s with a shy nose. Lots of honey. An unexpected perfume flavour although nothing suggested so in the aroma. Some (but not enough) dry grassy hops in the finish. That perfume thing just didn’t go away was there all the way through the after-taste. Alcohol apparent. Carbonation was anything but Belgian style, just some bubbles here and there. I really didn’t like both Belgian ales at Otto’s. I hope they just had a momentary brewing problem because both the Dubbel and Tripel were wong, they only made sense mathematically with the Tripel being about 1.5 times better than the Dubbel.

Wonderful esters off this one. Banana, bubblegum, some cloves, Belgian yeast and a bit of dull barnyard. Light citrus and some musky melon sweetness. Hazy orange amber, very warming color, with thin off-white lacing head. Medium watery body, silky with light medium carbonation. Starts sweet with banana and bubblegum, a good amount of salty orange notes, too. Good sweet malty caramel and honey character with sour banana tang that mellows as the tasting goes on. Hops are very fruity but give nice drying bitter hit to knock down potentially cloying sweetness at the finish. After is pleasantly sweet and musky, with smooth yeasty notes to round out the beer. This is a really nice tripel, and even though you can tell it’s a higher ABV, it’s hidden very well and goes down smoooth.

On draft at brewpub. Pours a cloudy yellow gold with a finger sized fluffy white head. Good retention on the head. Aroma is of the usual fruity esters, banana and bubblegum most prominant. Flavor is very fruity with lots of banana, a definate alcohol presence and a lot of yeasty character. Fairly sweet but with enough hops to cut through the underlying cloying base. Mouthfeel is a little sticky with moderate carbonation. Overall, a decently made Triple.