Southern Tier Tripel

Brewed by Southern Tier Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Lakewood, New York USA

Bottle shared with GregClow, Hogtown Harry, Jerc, and Blankboy, my bottle. Deep dark yellow, small white head. Nice spicy orange citrus / peel taste. Spicy, peppery taste, some alcohol, yeast. Not a bad triple! Does become a little harsh as it warms. Hoppy. Not too bad, but just a little bland.

Bottle (650ml). Shared with blankboy, GregClow, jerc and tupalev - tupalev’s bottle. Poured pale gold, nicely bubbly, with an average off-white head. Pleasant aroma of alcohol, light yeast and spices (quite peppery), noticeable hop bitterness. Taste ... starts okay, strong alcohol with black pepper and yeast sharpness, but there’s an unusual grain character for the style, and the hop bitterness ultimately merges with the alcohol to dominate - warming, but a little too much, off-balance and off-style. Mouthfeel is lively and a bit harsh, a long bitter finish. Needs more malt and yeast character - starts okay, I don’t like where it ends up.

Bottle. Golden body with a small white head that fades. Spicy peppery aroma. Similar flavour, alcohol is moderately prominent. Less malt than I like in my triples. Average palate could be more full for the style.

Bottle shared with blankboy, jerc, HogTownHarry & tupalev - courtesy of tupalev. Bright, clear golden with a small white head. Floral hop aroma - nice, but not really what I expect from a tripel. Flavour is warm, fruity, with a bit of spice and vanilla. Finish is short and a bit on the sweet side. OK, but a bit of a let down from these guys.

WTF. A filtered, non-bottle conditioned tripel, and a pretty dark one to boot. Bad start. The aroma is floral and unassuming, though slightly lagery and chocolately. Pours with no head. Flavor is high in alcohol, a little coriander, sweetish malts (munich?), and more booze. Light european hops.

This was a pretty strong Tripel, even if it isn’t an out-and-out sock-knocker-offer. Clear medium pale gold with a large, off-white, frothy, mostly diminishing head.<P>Aroma overall is spicy, vinous, hoppy/dry and warm: malty with moderate notes of toasted grain, cookie; hoppy with moderate notes of resin/pine, herb; yeasty with moderate notes of bread dough and a trace note of soap; miscellaneous notes of moderate coriander, orange zest, brown sugar, spicy alcohol, light notes of pear and banana, clove. <P>The flavor is moderately-to-heavily bitter, moderately sweet with a very long, moderately-to-heavily bitter, slightly hot finish.<P>The body was medium, the texture was velvety and the carbonation was lively.

Head is initially small, frothy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is clear medium to dark yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), lightly hoppy (herbs, flowers), lightly yeasty (cobwebs, wet cement), with light notes of pepper, clove, and bubble gum. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, velvety/watery texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Surprisingly uninspiring; can’t believe it’s not bottle conditioned either. Too simple and easy-going. Pleasant in what *is* there, but missing too much to score well from me. Just a Belgian strong ale, not a tripel in how I see it.

This tripel poured an ultra clear gold with a fastly disappearing head. Aroma was extremely spicey malt, pepper, and a bit of hops too. Flavor is similar...surprisingly spicey and hoppy for a tripel. Not very sweet or yeasty. Well balanced and interesting, but not the flavor I was hoping for. Mouthfeel was extremely crisp, but not as dry as the flavor would have suggested.