t IJ Zatte

Brewed by Brouwerij ’t IJ
Style: Abbey Tripel
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sampled from 12-oz bottle at Cellar’s Wine & Spirits in St Paul, MN. Pours a hazy brownish amber brew witha thin off-white head that quickly dissolves to a fine film and just barely any lacing. Aroma of sour malt, yeast, some coriander and earthy herbs. Taste is medium bodied, well carbonated with a dry sour character. Flavors include, sour oranges, yeast, some caramel malt and alcohol. Finish has a slight alcohol warmth and a spiced yeast aftertaste.

Pours a deep murky yellow-gold with 1.5 inches of white head and opaque speckled sediment on the glass. Enticing lace. Smells of spiced pie, mandarin oranges, and barnyard sour yeast. Tastes are reminiscent of Fantome with barnyard Brettanomyces, coriander, creamy rice goulash, and dark green herbs. Zesty spice finish follows the slightly acidic sour-apple finish. Medium-full carbonation and lighter body for a tripel. Still, good.

Bottle. Pours a hazy deep golden colour with a small but nice and creamy well lasting head. Mango fruit and wheat bit sweet aroma with a bit of sourness and spices. Good mouthfeel. The flavour is yeasty and fruity with a pleasant sweetness, some spices, hops, bit of caramel and alcohol. The finish is spiced and bit sweet with a soft bitterness.

Bottle. High white creamy and long lasting head. Hazy orange body. Spicy (coriander?) sweet and hoppy aroma. Pleasantly carbonated smooth and round, in spite of the high alcohol percentage, oranges and well a bit of alcohol. flavor. Fair amount of carbonattion and a long bitter aftertaste.

bottle dated march 06, so a little over a year old. pours a cloudy gold, moderate carbonation. aroma is yeast, fruity malt (peaches? orange?), and a hint of alcohol. medium body, flavor has a big caramel, fudge component, but there’s some grapes/raisins in there too. very strange for a tripel. good, but (as others have noted) i expected something lighter and drier. ends sweeter than i’d like.

Cloudy, amber/orange appearance with a large white head and very nice lacing. Yeasty, spicy aroma layered with tart fruit. Taste starts a little sweet, yeasty and malty, eases past some fruitiness, before turning hoppier, with more bitterness and spiciness. Full bodied, decently carbonated mouthfeel with a dry, bitter, long lasting finish.

Picked up at Beer World of Largo. The 330mL bottle has a date that looks to be March 2005. Is that the best by date? The beer poured out a slightly hazy light copper with off white head. A nice sediment cake was left behind. The aroma is sweet with grapes and apples along with hints of sweet caramel and yeast. The flavor is much like the aroma with fruitiness up front consisting of Concord grape jelly, Gala apples and plums followed by caramel candy. This is a nice mix of flavors. The finish includes hints of yeast and some light fruit tartness.

very interesting honey flavor with a golden appearance with lots of head. very sweet taste, perhaps too much one way for me.