Keyte Ostendse Tripel
Brouwerij Strubbe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiny golden, somewhat hazy, decent finger and a half white head that leaves a nice curtain as it subsides to a sticky lace and a small thin cap in the middle.
Big smell of lemon, sour green apple, pear, acidic and pungent. There's also sour bread dough, touch of Belgian sugars, herbs, alcohol and peppery prickly spices. Rather aggressive.
Taste is intense: acidic fruit up front, with a sweet note as the palate gets used to the roughness, lots of apple and pear, faint apricots, light citrus. Some light bready malts, trampled by big spicy yeasts, lots of peppercorn, some clove, faint coriander, anise. Decent hops in the finish, spicy, green, and bitter.
Medium body, prickly carbonation, perfect. It gets sweeter as it warms, mellows down with the roughness, gets a more pronounced candi sugar sweetness, with some faint rum notes, especially considering the warm alcohol (not boozy, maybe just if you have more in a row).
A great tripel, intense, complex, it actually puts to shame many Belgian tripels, should really get more love. Give this one a try if you can get it.

 

Drank from my Orval Chalice

A - Pours a nice cloudy straw colour with a two fingered white head that retains and laces for the length of the beer. Impressive given its a wide brim glass.

S - Big esters of peppery spice, malt and hop.

T - Quite intense spicyness followed by nicely balanced bread malts and citrus yeast. The finish is crisp but yet smooth. No sign of the ABV

M - Medium body and medium carbonation

O - One of those nice surprises that you get every once in a while. True to the style and plenty going on with this beer. Not too far away from the Tripel Karmeliet or Chimay White.

On-tap at Cafe Botteltje and served in its own branded goblet. On to the beer:

This tripel is just a little darker than straw yellow, topped with a rocky inch head and very good lace. The aroms brings grassy spiciness, some gum, clove, and vague breadiness. It tastes like a hoppy tripel; the sensation is more spicy and peppery than it is sweet. There is bubblegum and a slight sweetness tasted, which compliments the spicy and peppery character. Its airy body also offers a little crispness to the mouthfeel.

Keyte is a little different from the stereotypical tripel, and it's one that I like.

Smells fruity and alcoholic nose, with a little lemon dried as when the foam is creamy. A taste spicy enough to give the spotlight very quickly to alcohol without the fruity unfortunately not come to show off. We feel in the aftertaste granulated sugar and a floral perfume instead. The finish is slightly spicy but also warmly rounded with alcohol.