Tripel
Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV

Appearance: Cloudy gold, tight head.

Smell: Sweetness, clove, yeasty.

Taste: Mild sweetness, then a yeasty mix of cloves, black pepper, and citrus zest.

Overall: Finally revisiting and reviewing St,. Bernardus Tripel. I was big into tripels when I first got into craft beer in the early 2000's. It seemed a logical step up from wheats/wits. This is a classic example of a tripel, and still tastes great.

 

 

Golden with big white, mousse-like head, excellent retention, thick bands of lace
Honey, green bananas, slight spice aroma
Honeyish malt, green bananas, pepper, clove, underripe apricot
Medium bodied, highly carbonated, clean
Damn good tripel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light hazy gold with a nice head. Wheaty aroma and taste, maybe a bit of banana, I don't get the clove and spice that people pick up on. Still very good, fairly sweet with low bitterness. Thick and tasty mouthfeel.

 

poured from a 330mL bottle into a st. bernardus watou stemmed bulb glass. pours a foggy orange with a fluffy white foam cap of almost two fingers. big citrus on the nose as well as a musty ceramic or porcelain or something like that. either way i dig it. taste follows but is a little spicy and clove forward as it warms. thick, full mouthfeel that finishes extremely smooths. hidden abv for sure. very easy drinking for 8% and damn flavorful. love the aromas and most of the flavors.

a: slightly murky dark burnt orange color. a hint of yellow towards the bottom of the glass. pours a 2 finger frothy off-white head

s: banana, clove, coriander, and big fruity esthery yeast notes upfront. grass and a hint of barnyard funk. nice earthy sweetness and some sharp Belgian spices again. crusty bread, pear, and green apple. great aroma

t: band aid funk and pears right away. green apple skin and a bready dough follow that. slight alcohol tinge and huge hits of coriander and cardamom add a spicy sharpness to this. pepper and very mild banana close this out with more of that bready backbone

m: full mouthfeel with moderately strong carbonation

o: pretty solid Tripel. i think the appearance could use a touch more vibrance, but every other aspect of this beer leads it to be above-average

I like their dubbel more.

 

 

 

 

 

From a bottle, pours a very slightly hazy gold. Huge head of dense white foam leaves thick lacing. Smell and taste feature the requisite clove and light banana, along with some barnyard funk. Slightly sweet, with no hint of booze. Very little bitterness. Fine Belgian.

 

Enjoyed on tap at Dulle Griet in Ghent.

Superb Belgian tripel. Classic banana, clove and spice notes. We’ll balanced with a pleasant sweetness. Eminently drinkable. Highly recommended.

Slightly aged from a mix six pack.
Pours a hazy golden orange with finger of foamy white head.
Aroma slightly yeasty, bready malts, a bit fruity - green apple, banana, spice.
Malty and bready sweetness on the palate with Belgian yeast, banana, spices - limited bitterness.
Brightly carbonated, smooth and a bit sweet - medium mouthfeel - surprisingly light for 8%.
Stands the test as a legend.

 

Look: Straw color, I suck at pouring beers so i'm just rating off color

Smell: Smells alright, not amazing but not bad either.

Taste: This is where it shines, this beer tastes almost perfect to me, it's not bitter at all, it's very sweet, I am very surprised.

Feel: Super smooth, not chewy at all, almost water like which I like.

Overall: This is an amazing beer, I highly recommend this to anyone. I've never had another beer of this style but I feel like it would be hard to top.

Poured from a 75cL bottle best by July 20th 2023

On the pour into my belgian glass, a very nice billowy white 1.5 finger head that actually grows over the rim of the glass over time instead of dissipating until you start drinking. The body is a light gold with a very thick yeasty haze. Some decent lacing.

Aroma carries a very big dose of belgian pale ale yeast character with some light and tart barnyard notes. A light biscuity malt character is hiding behind all the yeast. Not a very hoppy beer.

Taste is very similar to the aroma but the malt shines through extremely nicely. Light malts and some bright fruity and spicy yeast notes. Not very bitter bit there is some bitterness present, but the yeast character balances the malts very nicely.

Feel is big and soft, but drinkable despite the big abv. This beer is pretty dangerously drinkable and smooth. Some warming in the chest from the alcohol but the brightness of it makes this almost refreshing. A nice sunny beer.

Overall this is a very nice tripel, and insanely drinkable for the style, but still carries true to style belgian yeast notes. Quite delicious and even with the big beer, beer beginners seem to enjoy this one as well.

Sampling a corked and caged 750 ml bottle poured into my chalice. Cage is date stamped best before 4-03-23.
Bottle is at cellar temp and has been in my cellar for a few months.
the beer pours a bright clear golden color with many very active streams of carbonation rising to the surface. A frothy bleached white head of 1 cm foams up on the pour but is a large island that slowly rotates on the surface in my glass.
Aroma is some cloves, green apple, pears, some banana, Belgian yeast bready notes, and hints of a general spiciness. Not really boozy anywhere on the aroma and no hop profile.
First sip reveals a light to medium body with very fine and prickly carbonation. Texture is smooth to a little thinner, not as sticky as I thought it may be.
Flavor is similar to what the nose advertises, with some light fruits: green apple and pear, hints of banana and clove and some general Belgian yeast doughy notes. I dont get any hops. There is some black peppery spiciness that comes through on the finish.
Overall this is a complex Tripel with a nice mix of flavors that all work well together. Glad to have tried this one, enjoying it quite a bit.

11.2 ounce bottle, poured at 50° into a Weihenstephaner Braupakt chalice - on St. Bernardus Day 2022. “Best by 05/02/24” on the bottle’s label.

Blonde, golden haze, rich foamy head, great lacing. But I had to ding the rating becuz the lace disappeared half way through the experience.
Belgian Ale = Belgian Lace, right?
Smell is sweet and flowery, little bit of spicey corriander, bread, familiar Belgian yeast.
Taste is smooth; fruit, earthy field flowers, slight bitter bite blends well with the sweetness.
Feel is silky, medium carbonation, creamy. Drinks bigger than its 8% ABV, but flattened out toward the end.
Overall, damn nice Tripel that falls short of Trappiste Rochefort’s Tripel, in comparison.

A great example of the style.
An easy drinking Tripel.

 

 

 

Citrus and then Belgian malty goodness

BBE 6/11/23. 33cl bottle to wine glass.

Look: Pours a slightly opaque golden orange with a pillowy, long-lasting head that leaves a good amount of lacing. Some floaters visible.

Smell: Sweet, malty and grassy. Banana and green apple. A bit citrusy.

Taste: Notes of banana, green apple and almond. Malty and sweet. Minimal bitterness.

Feel: Crisp and smooth. Fresh with a medium carbonation.

Overall: Doesn't stick out as much as the Abt 12, but it's still a very good beer. Typical Belgian tripel. Highly drinkable and less alcoholic than many other examples of the style.

I'm writing a new review of this because I don't think my August 2020 one did it justice.

The appearance is quite hazy but translucent burnt orange, with a soapy white head that condenses down into a small white head with good retention.

The aroma is tart orange peel, orange candy, and hay. Sour, sweet, and citrusy!

Flavors upfront and throughout are heavily orange/citrus-dominant. There's a prevalent barnyard funk and tart sourness that puts this akinly toward lambics. Banana, bubblegum, and doughy malt make are the undercurrent here but they are subtle. Finishes out dry with notes of hay. The tartness lingers.

Fluffy carbonation and pillowy mouthfeel. Feels ample upfront but nothing really lingers; it's clean and dry with effortless drinkability.

A fantastic and unique take on the tripel that moves it more in line with the lambic. Excellent.

Pours a cloudy, but not completely opaque ange color. Two to three finger sudsy white head forms on the beer. The head settles in and dissipates somewhat, but never fully disappears. A half inch layer of velvety foam remains on the beer and shows excellent retention. Aroma has notes of malt, clove, pepper, spice and some belgian yeast notes. It is not really fruity at all on the nose leaning on the malt and spice notes.

Taste follows the nose with notes of malt, belgian yeast, clove, with subtle notes of apple and banana. Much like the nose, it leans heavily on the spiced notes. There is a certain alcohol warmth to the beer that is more felt than tasted. Feel is light to medium bodied. Smooth and bright. Heavily carbonated.

Overall this is a very nice tripel - I like that it leans more into the spiced notes which seems somewhat unique based on the ones I have had this weekend.