The Trinity
Monkless Belgian Ales - The Brasserie

8.1 abv slides down so easily. Sweet (but not yech!). Malty, yeasty, and perfectly enjoyable. Appreciate the restrained flavor notes (i.e. the typical clove / banana flavors) which then allows this to be enjoyed for its grassy character, as a BEER, rather than..???

 

Poured from 500mL bottle into my BeerAdvocate teku. Looks like this is my 168th tripel, and this one’s currently in the top 100 on BeerAdvocate (#75).

Appearance: darkish golden hue with a little big of haze and three big fingers of frothy ivory foam. Seems legit!

Smell: aroma is nicely subtle; malty, with a bit of sweetness, and an interesting floral character. It lacks the cloying element of a lot of American tripels (hooray!) but also lacks much in the way of pear-like character that I tend to really like in the style. Nevertheless — solid.

Taste: sweet, and there’s definitely some alcohol heat here, along with a dash of spiciness either from the booze or the hops. A little of that floral character comes through, along with a bit of that pear character I’m always looking for. It’s not perfect — the booze is a bit hot — but it’s a pretty decent tripel overall.

Mouthfeel: medium body with great big carbonation and a big fluffy creaminess. That’s the ticket! Very well done.

Overall: without question one of the better American takes on a tripel. They don’t have the benefit of 100 years of practice, like the Belgians, and with that knowledge I only expect this beer to get better and better over the years.

 

Beautiful golden color. Healthy white head. Sharpish dry hop smell. Potpourri-like malt and dry hop. Minimal spice, but good balance of other Belgian flavors. More like a Belgian Pale Ale. Strong effervescence.

500ml bottle from Boise Co-op. Opens with a small pop, pours out a cloudy golden with a nice robust white foamy head. Aroma is grassy, Belgian yeast, lemon. Taste is a delight, full of Belgian yeast, bread dough, grassy notes. Light citrus and savory flavors, too. Monkless continues to amaze me with their solid lineup.

 

Finally a fine foam from Monkless. (And this tripel is made soft; uncommon.)
My 7th from Monkless, I have criticized them harshly on several ales ... but mostly because as a fellow Belgo-phile, I want them to get better. (They still have a few years of experience to catch the monks.)

Trinity Looks yummy, solid foam and tight lace; both last. Smells are not as good or tropical as advertised, but decent. Tastes are balanced. (Too often tripels have some hop abundance, or some sugar to amp the alcohol or some herb to prove itself unique.) Instead of trying too hard, tripels are better simple. Trinity is simple enough for me to want it again.

7/7/25 Had on tap on a hot day in Ashland Oregon. Refreshing. Seemed less spicy and more fruity and refreshing than I remember from my canned review above. But Trinity did its job.

bottle into glass
IBU: 36
Very thick, creamy and rocky, off-white head. Translucent, medium amber, with a slight orange tint. Moderate levels of fruit, clove tinged, medium toasted malt aroma, with seemingly a promise of a touch of sweetness during the taste, we'll see. There is a touch of sweet malt in the taste, along with a slightly sharp clove/allspice tinged caramel malt flavor, with a tiny banana like fruitiness. Medium bright mouthfeel.

 

 

 

 

2021-03-12
Sample glass at the brewery.

Pours with a small, very fine head. Very hazy, and a pretty golden. Smell is banana, banana, and also some banana.

Taste is lots of banana, tempered with some brett and spicy grain, and a surprising bitterness.

Mouthfeel is thick, dry, chalky. Overall, pretty good.

500 ml corked bottle . Purchased from Capital Market in Salem OR.
$9.80
Pours an ever so slightly hazed gold colour..with a huge, thick and frothy off white head.
Aromas of cereal, coriander ( small amount) and bready malts..weird.
Taste is better..more like the style..peppery, medicinal with a good dose of honey.
Mouth feel is great..medium body smooth carbonation and a great black pepper finish!
Nice Tripel..but the nose was strange

 

I enjoy a STOUT (especially the Belgian dark beers) since I first became VERY fond of local beers produced in Oregon. I LOVE this lighter variation.

I enjoy this a bit more than capitulation.

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a hazy, medium, dull, golden amber with a four finger white head that dissipates slowly to a big rocky cap with thick lacing. Aroma of grainy malt, wheat, clove and saison yeast. Flavor is husky grainy malt, clove, lemon, mild light stone fruit. Medium bodied with light creaminess and sharp carbonation. A nice tasting triple, a bit heavy on the clove spicing, which gives it some spice bitterness in the finish that is almost like hops. Nice rustic malt body that leans more towards a saison dryness than fruit. Bold and flavorful. This one really grew on me as I drank it.

A little less ABV and you could almost call this a session tripel, and I don’t believe there is such a thing.
Also, thanks Monkless for putting “ENJOY IN A SNIFTER” on the label, it really helps me deal with people who think I’m a beer snob for wanting to drink my beer in an appropriate glass.....keep up the Belgian tradition, appreciate it.