St. Barbara Tripel
New Limburg Brewing Company

500 mL Bottle. ABV 9%.
Appearance: Slightly veiled light orange/gold, Soft carbonation, Under half a finger of off-white head.
Aroma: Mushy banana, Weird/Gross/Funky yeast (reminds me of a terrible cheese... or feet), Orange, Slight pear.
Mouthfeel:
Flavour:
Overall:

Review: 206

 

500 mL bottle bought at the LCBO earlier this year; best before Oct 9 2018 and served barely chilled. Got a minor gusher this time - more of an oozer, really - but I'll accept responsibility for not rolling it (the label does recommend this) and also for sitting on it so long in the first place.

Very cloudy, bordering on muddy; its body is a golden-apricot hue, and it's crowned with an inch of puffy, sparkling white head that casually erodes within five minutes' time. A fat, foamy collar and frothy cap stick around well into the session, helping to maintain the generous coat of lace that is initially deposited. On the nose I am getting fruity notes of mushy banana, sweet apple flesh and orange peel, along with a pronounced bready, grainy maltiness. There's also a bit of yeastiness to the aroma, and some clove spiciness; I am impressed so far, emulating the look and smell of a true tripel is no easy task.

Not bad at all; it's tasty, with only one or two aspects that bug me (more on that later). It tastes of grainy pale malts and bready, sugary sweetness, with an array of orchard fruit notes playing supportive roles - orange peel is the one that sticks out to me, but there's also hints of banana, pear, apple and stone fruit. Yeasty phenolics come to dominate on the back end; suggestions of clove and anise come through together with an earthy bitterness that lingers on into a slightly boozy aftertaste that eventually leaves the palate feeling dry. That lingering note is my first peeve - it just loiters too long. Medium in body - except the carbonation is actually quite ridiculous early on, in that it froths and foams up in the mouth. It feels kinda neat at first I guess, but gets to be annoying very quickly. Oh well; that's the risk of sitting on bottle conditioned beers. I finished off my serving easily enough, as the texture gradually smoothed (and flattened) out.

Final Grade: 3.79, a B+. New Limburg's St. Barbara Tripel probably won't be mistaken for the authentic Belgian article, but they've still managed to create a better tripel than any number of other Ontario brewers. The flavours are very nearly there - if it weren't for that aftertaste, I probably would've given this a much higher grade. I'll need to pick up a fresh bottle and update this review to see how it compares to this one (which I would guess to be 10-12 months old).

Appearance: As with many Belgian beers, a very high carbonation is present, requiring a delicate pour that still produced two fingers worth of frothy head. The body is a slightly cloudy golden color boasting intense carbonation. The rention on the head is exceptional, staying around for some time, but the lacing is minimal.

Smell: This one certainly needs some warming for it to come out, however once it comes out of it's shell and dry yeast and straw note dominates the nose with an strong earthy pear like scent in the background with slight touches of banana. The potency takes quite a while for it too come out, and when it does it's strong enough I suppose.

Taste: There is an odd funk throughout the beer that I'm not a fan of. It starts with some mild straw malt with a pear cider kind of taste too it, only that the pears seem to be really unnaturally earthy bosc pears. It calms down the more the beer warms up, but never entirely departs. That note underscores the yeast induced plum and orange touches as the pear and earthy note builds and rounds out the beer with a slight boozy hint.

Mouthfeel: The carbonation in the middle of the beer is really aggressive. To the point that the froth seems to overwhelm and dull the flavor of the beer up until the end of it. The aftertaste is a nice mild pear and malt note that also comes off as a bit dry.

Drinkability: Medium bodied, and while it does have a dry end it does kinda work, given the style. I mean, I don't drink this style for mowing my lawn, I drink it to savour it. Still, that slight boozy note and that pear seems to be the dominant theme for me, has me questioning why I'd want this over a can of Perry.

Final Thoughts: This beer has quite a few faults, but none of them are so overwhelming as to write off the beer itself. I just think that it's missed the mark for me. I like that it doesn't come across as an excessive beer, but the dry and pear aspects of the beer don't really do it for me. Give it a shot, hopefully your experience is better then mine.

Sampled a 500 mL BB Nov 27/18
Pours straw murky begium blonde. incredible collar here requiring a slow and skilled pour, Lasts forever and ton of effervesence. Nose is very much as a complex tripel should be: straw with yeast and fruity aftertones. Tastes incredibly light for such a strong beer very good flavour and minimal aftertaste. Finishes very well. What was most impressive was the price. at under $5 this seems like a steal for such a complex beer. A delightful find!

 

 

Hazy dark straw color with moderate activity. Thick foamy and frothy white 3 finger head, lasting around 10 minutes, with poor legs but decent lacing and swirl reaction. Flavors of clove, apples, green grapes, sweet grains, coriander, Belgian yeast, and floral hops. Slick and fizzy full body with extra crispy carbonation. Medium to strong strength finish, mildly spicy with delicate fruits and a bit flowery. Nice intensity from the well hidden alcohol. Good balance and attenuation with not too much caramel feel. Overall high quality craft.

500ml from LCBO - pours cloudy golden blond with a huge frothy head. I had to move to a Different glass to contain it. A bit of a gusher. Aroma: yeasty, citrusy, a bit grainy. Flavour: Complex, yeasty, spicy, banana, citrus, slightly bitter at the end, medium body.

Picked up a 500mL bottle at the brewery. Current batch is listed at 9% ABV. Slight change in the label: went from royalty to a peasant / farmer / saint: St. Barbara.
L: I let it warm up before pouring into a chalice and it foamed like crazy. As the head subsided (although it stays around forever) on this golden ale I could see bubbles rising up the liquid like champagne.
S: A yeasty, grainy smell.
T: Yeasty taste, herbal and spiciness. Alcohol taste does come through on the finish.
F: Good amounts of carbonation to a dry finish.
O: Impressed with the various Belgian style ales on offer from this brewery.

500 ml bottle shared with mom on Easter Sunday. Served fairly cold into an Innis and Gunn flute glass. This bottle was advertised as 8.6% ABV.

Appearance - Cloudy, dark blonde in color, with a decadent finger plus of white head with impressive staying power.

Smell - Plenty of powdery yeast, hints of bananas and oranges with some graininess. Complex like most tripels.

Taste - Much like the nose, powdery yeast, some bananas, hints of orange na dplenty of grain. Fairly complex and well executed. More bitter than many a tripel but it's a refreshing change.

Mouthfeel - Crazily carbonated and bone dry finish. Nailed this part too. Has an underlying nectarine like juiciness just before the big drying finish.

Overall - Excited to see another local brewery take the next step. Eagerly looking forward to trying the Dubbel as the brewers at New Limburg seem to have a good handle on Belgian styles (at least from this initial experience).