Val-Dieu Triple

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

(330 ml bottle from 1828 Vintage House) Pours cloudy gold/amber with about a finger and a half of whitish head. Aroma of caramel nougat, fruit and vanilla - very nice. Mouthfeel medium-full, soft, lightly sticky - very nice. Full, webby sheets of lacing. Flavor is sweet and fruity with notes of caramel, nut and vanilla. Light-medium bittter hop presence. A subtle spice/pepper note builds as it warms and carries through to a lingering peppery aftertaste. ABV well-integrated providing a nice warming effect. Nice tripel from Belgium.

Pours a cloudy yellow with a small head and very nice lacing. I had this in a tulip glass and let it warm a bit which brought out the aroma much better. It smells fruity (especially citrus like). It is thin, as triples can be, but a bit too thin. It is slightly dry and bitter but no over whelming. It is also sweet and that sticks on your tongue a bit just like honey wood. This beer is a tough one. Just when I want to bury it I find a redeeming quality.

A pretty good triple. My notes didnt list the color or the size of the hed. Aromas are strong, fruity and yeasty. Flavor is a tad hot with dried fruits, vanilla, and yeast. Maybe some banana bread too. Mouthfeel was nice on this one. Good, but not the best ever...for sure.

33cl, from De Hopduvel Gent, complex brew, balanced, cloudy, good head, good brew

Fresh triple with a certain sourness. I was expecting something heavier, but it turned out to be in the light end of the spectrum whan talking abbey styled beers - nothing special really.

The Val-Dieu Tripel is one of those beers whose label is so classy it looks like a wine. We beer drinkers know there are many problems with confusing a beer with a wine, either in anatomy or luxury, both being luxurious, but I could still see an adventurous wine seeker picking a bottle of this Tripel as a brief dip into the beer world. The Val-Dieu Tripel’s color is like sparkling cider, with a thin, vaporous head and a light brass glow. Apple juice and lilac give a brief sensation of the Garden of Eden in the aroma, followed by heartier/less pure aromas of roasted chicken skin, a metal tinge and the soft and pleasing smell of fabric softener. Sugar invades in the flavor, with the Val-Dieu Tripel showing off the fully developed tastes of apple, brown sugar, roast pumpkin, crushed autumn leaves and a biting, heavy palate that gives the brew an overall character of cough medicine. This is a solid brew and very drinkable with a list of good qualities, but it pales in comparison to Val-Dieu’s Grand Cru. The break between the nose and palate, two totally different worlds of flavor, is unsettling, and the sweet flavors are all buit ruined by the medicinal density of the beer. Val-Dieu makes better beers, so save your money and enjoy a different glass from the same house.

No 246
Rated: 07.11.2007
Bottle brown, 330 ml
Appearance: Head is frothy to creamy, almost fully lasting, though not big, regular in structure, in snowy white colour, lacing is very thick, body is completely full, body is murky with a sediments that are the most dense from all the three types of Val - Dieu and carbonation is very intense and lively with bubbles building up the head and creating a nice walls.
Aroma: Rather no strong sa Brune, milk, cream, yeast, banana, grains, dough, wheat, vanilla, honey, white wine grapes, strawberries, malted barley, wheat, some hoppyness at the background, very well hidden alcohol content as for 9% vol, over a nice balanced and rounded blend and thich head, alcohol is only slightly felt. pinapple and hops are noticable.
Flavour: Grainy, wheaty, barley malts, dough, powder sugar, slight and gently alcoholic warmth, bready (white bread), grainy, a bit hoppy, creamy, banana, very well balanced, accidic sa an effect of great balance between lively carbonation and high alcohol content, flour, whole meal bread, impresive, pineapple, cogniac. Finish duration is long.
Palate: Texture is smooth, body is full, finish feel is slightly alcoholic, accidic and slightly chalky from hops content.

75cl bottle from Total Wine (Tampa, FL). Rated on 3/20/08. Pours a golden yellow with thick frothy white head that settles slowly and laces the glass. Aroma is orange peel, spice, faint sweet honey notes. Flavor is light sweetness, hints of honey, vanilla, nuttiness. Medium-bodied with a sharp finish.