Bottle at the 2008 pre-Brewers’ Jam Warmup. Pours gold with large off-white head and vigorous bubbles. The aroma is coriander, honey, rose, and sweetish bread. The flavor is fruity and floral with banana esters and some high alcohols. The finish is a touch sugary, but leaves a spicy, somewhat alcoholic aftertaste. Good stuff.

Bottle shared by lithy at the Pre-Brewer’s Jam Tasting. Poured a light orange with a fizzy white head that settle to a ring. Aromas of clove, wheat, and citrus. The flavor found spices and some fruitiness. Medium body, lively carbonation, dry. Nice!

Pours gold with a 3 finger off white head that fades to .5 finger then sustains with carbonate from the beer. Aroma is belgian yeastiness with banana, bubble gum, and that tangy fresh sourdough bread note. Also in the nose is a notable coriander and nutmeg spice, plenty of citrus, soap, and malts are not absent with a wheat sweet bread note that is quite inviting. Flavor is spicy at first, coriander, black pepper, cloves. Then the fruitiness rolls in sweet orange glaze, lemon zest, raisins, candy spiced plums. The yeast is notable coming in with the fruits with a bready banana, nutty, clove bite. FInish is spicy, with some honey, oat and wheat sweetness that comes to a very clean and crisp end for a Tripel. Palate is thick but not so much so for a tripel. Oily, then astringent on the palate, then sticky on the lips. Overall a pretty decent tripel. It may trade a little heft and complexity for ease of drinkability but is really very enjoyable despite that fact.

Clear gold, loose foamy white head. Very yeasty aroma, with banana and bubble gum notes. Very "Belgian" flavor, musty and fruity, and a crisp, white winey finish. Tasty stuff.

Bottle from Regional. Pours slightly cloudy golden with a thick smooth white head. A sweet nose on this one, smells like a tripel should! Aromas of clove, citrus, corriander and sweet wheat beer character. Aroma is dominated by clovey citrus. Flavour is full of citrus and clove, with a sprinkling of corriander, spice, and a sweet malt flavour. Spice lingers with the sweetness. No alcohol detected at all, this drinks so easily and at 8% you’re feeling quite nice at the end of the glass. This is the closest thing to the original Westmalle Tripel I’ve found yet. A simply first-rate beer. When tasted next to a Westmalle Tripel the flavours are much more pronounced with a far longer aftertaste in the Westmalle. Tripel Karmeliet is the perfect introduction to the Tripel style of beer.