Watou Tripel

Brewed by St. Bernard Brouwerij
Style: Abbey Tripel
Watou, Belgium

Bottle @ Smokeless. Hazy amber with yeast floating amidst the honey thick liquid. Smells sweet with hints of caramels and maple syrup. Nice soft mouth not astringent compared to the westmalle. Nice and smooth with a bit of fizz to finish. Definitely a worthy tripel.

75 cl Bottle. Very nice fluffy white head. Golden in colour and hints of orange and yeast, a beutiful beer with good aroma and plenty of nice taste. The taste are little complex and a little warm in the aftertaste, but overall a good beer.

750 ml silk-print corked (champagne style) brown bottle, bought in Denmark. Golden colour, slightly hazy, pours with an enormous, fluffy and lingering white head. Very nice aroma of yeast, oak, brown candy sugar, horse stable and cigars. Slightly spicy and peppery flavour with tolerable maltiness and hops, and a slight alcoholic bite. Aftertaste is okay, but does not last "forever". Not a particularly complex flavour, but a good beer all the same.

Cloudy ornage with a snowwhite head. Fruity aroma with notes of fresh green apples, lemons. Flavor is less dominated by fruits, sweeter apples, some caramel. Alcoholbite at the end. Pretty sweet overall. Very decent tripel.

Gold with a white head. Mild spicy grainy aroma. Grainy malts, with a spicy finish. Some fruity citrus notes present too. Alcohol well disguised, but not a very complex tripel.

Corked painted 1 pt bottle. Poors cloudy orange with a small head. Much sweeter and fruitier than a typical tripel. But I like the cirtrus fruit and sweet honey even though it could use a little more punch from the other side with some hops or bitterness.

Very lively and straw colored with little chunkers and a fluffy head. Mineral, yeast and candi sugar aroma with some spicy hops and mandarin. Maybe a hint of hand soap. Light and effeverscent on the palate. Finishes quick but leaves a muddled flavor. I love a spritzy, dry Tripel. Too bad about the after taste though.

2002 vintage: Light gold. Thin but clingy film of large and small bubbles. Rockiness forms as the head settles. Yeasty, lightly musty on the nose with baked pears and candied peaches. Plentiful bread and wet straw notes, as well. Tolerably fuzzy with soft-bubbled pinpricks. Cleansing sweep of zingy alcohol momentarily rids the overly abundant starchy malt sweetness, giving way to a yeast-fueled banana anchor. Gritty pear and coarse mineral backdrop, but much more jellyish than it is dry, with slippery peach suggestions. Despite the fruitiness, it’s devoid of any acidity to offset the sweetness. Pervasive vanilla-accented yeast character prolongs the lush malt frame amid an array of candied peaches and baked pears. Musty yeast finish with peppery alcohol and herbal hop whispers. They should remove this from their portfolio, as it’s far too similar to St. Bernardus Tripel, but lacks much of the finesse. Hasn’t improved after three years of deep slumber, either. Tastes like an oversweet maibock fermented with a Belgian yeast strain.