Dominion Belgian Tripel
Fordham & Dominion Brewing Company

 

 

This beer won gold at the beer awards in 2014. It was a hard sell for me because of its uniqueness. It was surprisingly light looking and deceiving regarding the high ABV. the beer was sweet with a taste I could not distinguish. I was underwhelmed overall but now I know Belgian triples are not my cup of tea.

 

 

 

Served from a growler in a Corsendonk glass. Growler was purchased the night before. I also had a glass at the brewery the night of purchase and another a few weeks later.

Appearance: Hazy straw yellow gold topped by a healthy but short-lived white head. Carbonation not as visibly apparently as would be expected for the style. A film of foam is all that is left of the head after a minute or so. Specks and small blobs of foam stick to the glass.

Smell: A smattering of fruitiness. Green apples, faint bananas, honey, peaches, and tropicalia (Tom Ze, not Bebel Giberto). Grainy malts and white pepper show up.

Taste: Sweet, slightly tart flavor of pale malts, lemon, sugar, golden raisins, pear, and apple. Peppery aftertastes. Booze is kept in check, but can be tasted.

Mouthfeel: Not quite carbonated enough for the style, to my experience, but nothing completely damaging. Makes it just a little too heavy, but nothing a few weeks of laying off the cookies wouldn't solve.

Drinkability: Wow, this is smoooth! Tripel? I dunno, but it's good for one of them strong gold/pale ale types. Maybe a little too grainy for perfection. Worthy of getting again as it is pretty damn tasty.

vHad this on tap at the brewpub. This came out a hazy golden yellow with a slight white head. Small traces of lacing were left around the glass as it was consumed. The nose was spicy, fruity and a bit of sweetness in there as well. Slightly spiciness up front is joined by a fruity sweetness as well as mild earthy hop notes. Aftertaste leaves a bit of spice lingering on the tongue. The mouthfeel is clean and crisp with a body that is a bit lighter than I would have expected. Drinkability was good as I had three of these and wanted more. This is a good example of the style but not my favorite, I will probably go back and pick up a growler before it is gone though.

As I understand it, this is Dominion's 10,000th batch Specialty brew only made once and only available on draft at the brewpub. Server mentioned that ABV was 9%.

One word to describe this brew -- Fabulous ! A great Belgian Tripel that I hope they can add to their regular line-up.

Slightly cloudy bright yellow-ish gold with a creamy white head. Leaves a nice lace. A nice classic Belgian Tripel aroma - a bit spicy in different ways but not sweet.

Extremely SMOOTH and creamy in mouthfeel - Almost chewy. Body is full, but not heavy. A nice sweet Belgian Triple taste from the candi sugar but again not too sweet. Very deceptive - there is very little to hint at the alcohol level - hard to believe the strength (until you stand up after a few of them).

Lightly hazy golden hue topped by a thin head that leaves decent lace. Clove dominates the aroma, but black pepper and honey notes are there as well. The flavor is comprised of licorice sweetness, pepper and mild bubblegum-- quite clean for a tripel. Crisp, and spritzy due to the high carbonation. The body is bit thin, probably due to the prodigious use of candi sugar. The finish is crisp and clean w/ a sneaky alcohol warmth. A flavorful, clean (perhaps overly so) example of the style. Tremendously fresh, of course. Perhaps a bit of age would add complexity. Too bad it isn't bottled!