Trappist Tripel
Brouwerij Westmalle

Trappist TripelTrappist Tripel
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Brouwerij Westmalle
 
Belgium
Style:
Tripel
Ranked #3
ABV:
9.5%
Score:
95
Ranked #1,257
Avg:
4.3 | pDev: 10%
Reviews:
1,893
Ratings:
4,985
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 19, 2024
Added:
Nov 06, 2000
Wants:
  496
Gots:
  1,010
Westmalle's Tripel is a clear, golden yellow Trappist beer of 9.5°. The slow brewing process and secondary fermentation in the bottle produce a complex beer, with a fruity scent of ripe banana and a beautiful, nuanced hop nose. The soft and creamy taste, with a bitter touch carried by the fruit aroma, has a lot of finesse and elegance. Enjoy the wonderfully long and dry aftertaste.

Beer connoisseurs sometimes call the Westmalle Tripel the “mother of all tripels”. That's because the first Tripel was ever brewed within our abbey walls in 1934.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Antilochus:
Photo of Antilochus
Reviewed by Antilochus from Canada (ON)

4.8/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5
Purchased at a Kingston, Ontario LCBO as part of the 2008 LCBO Spring Release. 9.50% abv, 33cl bottle. Best before 10/15/2009. Served at cellar temperature. Poured into Chimay chalice, and a little into a nosing glass.

Appearance is a slightly hazy orange, massive off-white rocky and foamy head with lots of large bubbles trapped in the mire. A little suspended lees. This is wonderful to behold. Leaves some marbled rocky foam, leaves a magnificent wall of lace.

Aromas of Belgian yeast, candy sugar, oranges, icing sugar, lots of spice!, banana, clove, apricot, some light resin - citrus? Lemony bubble gum. Apple. Compact nose, almost impenetrable. Subtly alcoholic.

Mouthfeel is medium-light, yet creamy and smooth, carbonation is excellent, not too aggressive as to sting but very refreshing, even for such a high abv beer.

Crystallized oranges, orange rind, bourbon, yeast, vanilla, cake mix, whipped cream, light grapefruit, super peppery (Talisker!), spicy in general too. Lime juice. Palate is sweeter than the finish but it still possesses a subtle sweetness to it that is utterly enjoyable. Alcohol complements all the flavours exceptionally well. Well balanced, not too sweet or yeasty, fruity tangerine apricot bready finish. Hoppy resins leave it lightly bitter (yes!). Warming too, alcohol is very well hidden but catches up with you. This is wonderfully easy to drink.

This is the PERFECT Tripel, better IMHO than even the great Fin Du Monde, and hands down the best beer I have ever had. It is leaving me speechless.

In short: This beer is absurdly good. No beverage has ever impressed me like Westmalle Tripel has. Bravo! (encore)

Second time around: still a wonder to me. Lots of tangerine on the palate this time.
Mar 09, 2008
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4.81 by MeIquiades from Illinois

Mar 19, 2024
Photo of moysauce
Rated by moysauce from Illinois

3.99/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Last had in 2022 I believe? Maybe 2023
Mar 06, 2024
Photo of walser
Reviewed by walser from New York

4.4/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5
From Wegmans in an 11.2oz bottle with expiry in 9 months. Poured hayzy hay colored into wine glass. Nose of banana w spritz of pineapple on top of hops and malt w crest of sugar. The alcohol is middle tongue and only shows if you go searching for it. Very gently made beer. Everything is very balanced and the ingredients seem fresh and unadulterated. Very very good. Hopefully a brewer in the US tripel craze copies the understatement of this. Thank you Trappists.
Mar 01, 2024
 
Rated: 4.4 by Miles_Nilges from New York

Feb 13, 2024
Photo of Mr_Brown
Reviewed by Mr_Brown from Pennsylvania

4.09/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
hazy gold, thin foam
smell of apples, cider, sugars, some pines.
starts very dry for 9.5% alc, finishes with lingering sweetness.
Feels similar to cider or natural wine, hazy and dry, but with sweetness
O: a great triple, starts dry and finishes sweet. Lacks some funkiness in taste compared to triple karmeliet from Bosteels. Natural-wine-like feeling is what I love about it.
Feb 04, 2024
 
Rated: 4.49 by gongfu from Connecticut

Jan 31, 2024
 
Rated: 4.4 by Supper1

Jan 30, 2024
 
Rated: 4.39 by modal from Pennsylvania

Jan 28, 2024
 
Rated: 4.21 by Rodya-CA from California

Jan 26, 2024
Photo of UWDAWG
Reviewed by UWDAWG from Washington

4.13/5  rDev -4%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Poured from a 330ml bottle with a bottled on date of 2-21-22 and a best by date of 2-21-24 into a teku glass at 52 degrees.

Look- Pale gold, moderately hazy, plentiful large visible particulate, white sudsy head, above average head retention, average lacing.

Smell- Ripe banana, floral, apple, medium strength of scent.

Taste- Ripe banana, apple, black pepper, clove, grassy malt character, mildly sweet, medium strength of flavor.

Feel- Medium body, average carbonation, moderately bitter, highly creamy, mildly sweet, moderately dry finish.

Overall- Not a style that I tend to drink, but this beer is regarded as one of the best of it’s kind. I like to be introduced to new styles in this fashion so I can be assured I’m giving myself the best possible chance of properly assessing the style. That being said, this beer provided a new and interesting drinking experience that was pleasant and enjoyable.
Jan 19, 2024
 
Rated: 2.9 by SeanP99 from North Carolina

Jan 11, 2024
 
Photo of nasal
Reviewed by nasal from Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Hot, high abv flavor. Love it, but would need to try it side by side with my other favorite tripels to know if I prefer this funkier tripel over a sweeter tripel like Fin du Monde.
Dec 30, 2023
 
Rated: 4.25 by TrueMetalJake from Oregon

Dec 11, 2023
 
Rated: 4.24 by bschmidt_37 from Illinois

Dec 10, 2023
 
Rated: 4.85 by KeithGreatNorth from Canada (BC)

Dec 02, 2023
 
Rated: 4.44 by Happyyb from New Hampshire

Dec 02, 2023
 
Rated: 3.75 by Nyoder

Nov 26, 2023
Trappist Tripel from Brouwerij Westmalle
Beer rating: 95 out of 100 with 4985 ratings