Upland Infinite Wisdom Tripel

Bottle sample at Muckfest 2009 Day 2. Pours semi-opaque gold with a big white head. Tart and yeasty aroma with some citrus and malt. Sweet malt flavor up front with some tart fruit and a sweet finish.

Name: Triple
Date: April 25, 2009
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, DLD
Appearance: hazy gold, wispy white head
Aroma: sweet and spicy aroma
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, candy sweetness balanced by light spicyness
Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

On draft. Pours a complex orange with visable spices and a slightly frothy white head. Aroma is nice fruit, dominated by apple, but also with hints of figs, pears, clove, tobacco, and rinds. Flavor is all of this, but with a touch of candy sugar and grapefruit, and a ice yeast backbone. Flavor is dominated by the apple. Almost too much going on, but it works. Very nice, if a tad too sweet.

A surprise offering to Tom and I at the brewery, many thanks Mike for this: Very lazy amber hue with a great long lasting head and clingy lacework. Fruity nose of apple and pear with slight sugar, caramel, and honey notes. A get a touch of rose petals and white pepper around the edges too. The taste is very twangy and fruity with a noted banana and apple presence. The midsection is bready and soft grains. The finish displays some clove and pepper, a hint of classic hop too. The mouth feel is soft, slightly sticky and medium-bodied. Not too shabby but a tad to fruity for a Trippel, classifying it as a Strong Ale was a good call.

Dug up at the brew pub by brewer Mike. Pours a dirty hazy golden yellow with a pure white head that left some good lace. The nose has some apple character, with pilsner malt, coconut, and a candy/honey note. Flavor was full of banana with a mild clove/pepper spice note in the back ground that keep the banana from being overwhelming. Fuller body with high carbonation and a sweeter finish. Really pretty good, but I’d like to try it again in the future.

Looks darker than most Tripels I’ve had. Brownish yellow, nice thin little head. Served as a guest beer at The Shoreline brewery in Michigan City. The alcohol in this brew isn’t apparent, which is present in a lot of good tripels. You know it’s there, though. Biscuity and fruity in smell and taste.

On tap at the brewpub. Upland is getting better all the time, and this beer is no exception to that rule. Pours a yellowy light brown without much of a head, perhaps some haze. The nose is fruity and perhaps lightly sweet. A sharper peppery note pops out from those belgian esters. Alcohol is well hidden, but pops up a little bit. The sweetness isn’t cloying like a lot of tripels, and theres a little of that house flavor to the nose. The body is subdued. Lower carbonation, not watery, not creamy, not syrupy, about where a tripel should be. The flavor is rather good. In line with nose. A stronger peppery hop presence. Fruity belgian esters. That alcohol, still well hidden. A bit of that slightly grain, slightly fruity house character, but I think it actually works well in this beer. Lingering pepper and some tighter fruit. Not a bad beer by any stretch and one I hope they make again. (And I generally dislike tripels!)

Draught at the pub (they’re not selling growlers of the stuff). Absolutely nailed it! Vanilla, cream, honey, light sugar and fruitiness, and very dry! Well, at least initially, because the sharp notes tend to fade after three or four ounces. A little pepper. Deep amber pour, fullish body and smooth, thick feel. High alcohol content, warming, but not hot. Aftertaste is dry and riven with this awesome crackery, bready taste. Yeast has some restrained Duvel character. Delicious!