Monteith's Abbey Style Tripel
Monteith's Brewing Co.

A - Pours a clear Golden colour witha white fluffy head. Not exactly a Tripel in appearnace.
Smell is very faint. T

S - No aromas of note maybe a little malt.

T - A little syrupy on the foinish but starts out ok with some grapefruit type flavours.

M - Light to medium body and carbonation.

D - Buy a Westmalle and its that simple

Until yesterday, I didn't realise Monteith's even made a beer of this style. I had assumed all of their beers were mainstream commercial, with the exception of their funky Radler (lime flavoured, no less!). However, a trip to the local supermarket to get some catfood revealed all was not as I had thought down in Greymouth.

I had to race back this afternoon to grab a 4-pack and give it a try.

I am not overly familiar with the tripel style, so please bear that in mind as you read this review.

Appearance is a clear, rich gold that for some reason made me feel that the beer would be much weaker than it turned out to be.

Smell is very faint. There is a background of hops and malt, but it really is hard to detect.

Taste however is great! Aftertaste is a tad harsh, but the main event is very good indeed. This is a rich, warming beer, and the flavours are very complex - honey, fruit, malt, even a hint of very light chocolate.

Mouthfeel is... interesting to say the least. You can taste this beer all the way down your throat! What I mean by this is you can taste it in your mouth, obviously, but as you swallow, interesting sensations drift up and keep the flavour alive far longer than I thought would be possible.

Overall, I find this a very accomplished beer, which may indicate that it is a good beer, or it may simply indicate that I should have experimented with tripels years ago.

Try it. I think you will like it.

Incidentally, I tried this beer out on my wife, who normally doesn't like beer very much at all. She was impressed.

I will upload a photo of the bottle as soon as I have one.