Val-Dieu Triple

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu
Style: Abbey Tripel
Aubel, Belgium

Foams out of the bottle, pours cloudy orange with a huge white head. Clean, French bread aroma. Nicely fruity, with flavors of pineapple and banana, then a toasty, bready note. Messy, peppery finish.

#300. 750ml. This pours a light hazy yellow with a big frothy off white head. The carbonation is pretty lively, as I expected. Aroma is tart citrus, and nice and spicy. Get some alcohol in the aroma also, but not in an overbearing way. Taste is spicy, and tart citrus, sweeter fruits like apple, and more spices. Dry tangy finish. Everything a tripel should be without being exceptional.

Into a chalice at just on cool. Super chunky yellow gold body with a bad case of the floaties (pureed fruit). Couldn’t make out the carbonation inside the body. Head was solid and snow-white in colour, managing some very fine lacing. Eggy, sulphury and reeking of balsa wood was the aroma. Underneath were soft hints of pear and grapefruit. Not the best, nor the cleanest. Big alcoholic kick hits hard in the mouth. It’s slightly metallic, tinged by oxidation yet there is no necessary signs of this occurring naturally. Carbonation is subtle, almost flabby and its lifeless on the tongue. Dull malts pester some off phenolics and yeasty notes that make it a bit wishy-washy. Light trace of peanuts come to the rescue, as does some pear and apple. Finish is like solvent and gun-powder, a bit harsh, and strongly alcoholic. Nothing much else shows, this didn’t work too well at all. Not a very good Tripel, but maybe it’s worth a re-rate. Maybe!!! (33cL, 19/10/07, International Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

Sticky elephant tranquilizer swimming with bits. Headily alcoholic, possibly barrel-like aroma. Kasteel? Sweet, smooth and caramel-apricot fruity from what I remembeer. Which isn’t much. But those bits are really something.

Best before Nov. 05. Pours chunks into a tulip. Bright white head does not recede. Chunks dance in the glass -- huge. Apricot, earth and yeasty tripel notes. Upfront sweet caramel with a slightly bitter lingering finish. The chunks are almost un-noticeable, but do detract from the appearance and palate.

Aroma: hoppy wiht some stone fruit and an almost tomato sharpness. Apperance: orange/brown and hazy with a smallish head. Flavour: malty sweet with some hop and lots of spiritousness. Palate: thick and gently carbonated finishes slightly sharp.

Hazy bright straw coloured body with a large frothy white head that went above the rim of my glass and stayed there. Smooth taste that is not very full flavoured, lemon, wheat, and a touch of spice. I dont really notice the alcohol and the aroma was more promising than the taste.

Not the most impressive triple. Okay flavor and aroma. Average palate. Nothing stands out on this one. From what my buddy tells me most Val-Dieu products are nothing spectacular and some of them are down right lame. So far the triple is the only one I’ve tried. Would like to sample their quad. Beyond that I’ll stick to trying new things.