Scratch Beer 3 - 2007 (Tripel)
Tröegs Brewing Company

 

*First and foremost, this review is for how this is drinking right now, not in the past. My scores reflect the last time I had it but didn't review it.*

Big thanks to John for bringing this one to Campground Brewdown this year.
Never thought I would have the chance to try it after so long.

A - Pours pale yellow with a nice one finger tall white head, slowly dissipating down to a light film, leaving small streaks of lace on the sides of the glass.

S - Smells pretty dull across the board. Hints of the past waft in quickly; mainly the dulled spicy belgian yeast, lightly toasted pale malt and candied sugar; quickly being joined by the now dominant wet cardboard and weird vegetal aroma.

T - Taste is nearly identical to how the smell plays out. A quick hint of the past quickly devolving into the preset state of affairs. There is plenty of oxidation and weird flavors going on now but not as much as in some of the other ones from this period.

M - Medium body with moderate to high carbonation. Sweet, prickly feel clings to the palate. Much like the other bottles from this time period this one opened with a loud pop.

O - Holding up ok but definitely past it's prime at this point. Like all of the other super old scratch's, this is nothing more than a novelty at this point but it was nice to try again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is enjoyed compliments of the Central PA tasting crew.

A: pours cloudy yellow, no head, lifeless appearance

S: nose starts with plenty of lemon with herbal undertones, this develops into a slightly vegetal character. This one seems to be past its peak judging by the aroma.

T: the taste is a mess, notes of earth, dirt, and green vegetable come through, woody finish, some tartness. Definitely has not stood up to age.

MF: low carbonation, syrupy body

O: not a fan. Perhaps I have experienced a shell of what this beer was, but @ 10% abv, you would think there would be some life left. Not the case.

Served in a flared pokal.

Thanks to the Central PA group from the Gang Bang BIF for this bottle!

And here beginneth the Troegs Scratch dash... This leg pours a cloudy straw topped by a half-finger of light off-white foam. The nose comprises wheat, honey, and butter. Hm... The taste holds notes of clove, black pepper, bad banana, light vanilla, something akin to grapefruit rind. The body is a light medium, with a very light moderate carbonation and a finish that comes pretty close to being dry. Overall, it's pretty clear this beer has not aged very gracefully. I'm sure it was pretty good back in its day, but right now it's a shadow of its former self.

Appearance: Pours a cloudy apricot color with a rocky top that drizzles a bit of lace here and there

Smell: Sweet fruit, mostly of the lighter variety, such as banana, pear, apricot and persimmon, all drizzled with honey (a lot of drizzling in this review, thus far)

Taste: Light, sweet malts, up front, with flavors of toffee and banana; by mid-palate, the fruit builds in intensity and yeasty complexity; after the swallow, the mellow, sweet fruit flavors balance nicely into the finish

Mouthfeel: Medium to full body with low carbonation

Overall: Drinking very nicely indeed for a well-aged tripel; the alcohol has settled in and is barely discernable

I cannot remember which kind BA tossed this in as an extra, but he did tape the cap which has prevented the oxidation and he obviously cellared it in optimal conditions

Poured into chalice.

Pours a light layer of beige head. Color is a clear bronze hued gold.

Aroma: Has a rather large malt profile for a tripel. A lot of cereal grains show. It has some dry spice, but in general there isn't a lot here. Maybe a hint of bananas and some cloves.

Taste: There is a slight more taste here. The taste is actually kind of fruity. Tropical fruit. Pina colada. Coconuts, bananas, and oranges all show. Some dry spices again with some cereal grains. Interesting.

Mouthfeel: Pretty dry, a little crisp. Medium bodied with a higher amount of carbonation. Ends fruity and dry.

Overall, this was in interesting tripel. The nose was cereal grains and the taste was tropical fruits with cereal grains. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting. Somewhat drinkable.

Big thanks goes out to t0rin0 for sharing this one upon my arrival into Cali. 2007 Vintage? This should be interesting... Served from bottle into a Firestone Walker sampler shaker. Poured a hazy yellow with a very minimal white head. Maintained decent lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, dark fruit, bananas, and alcohol. The flavor was of sweet malt, dark fruit, alcohol, bananas. It had a light feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a pretty decent brew for a going on 4 year old Tripel. Still had a pretty nice flavor and good aroma going on here. In my opinion it might be past its prime, but still drinking pretty well right now.

Thanks to Bobby for sharing this ancient Tripel.

A: The pour is a very turbid golden orange color with a thin white head forming a ring around the glass.

S: Lots of spice to it and intensely sweet. There's an almost meaty character to it, too. Fairly decent floral with lots of sugary notes and sort of oxidized.

T: This beer is pretty sweet. Caramel sauce, sugar, brown sugar, and fairly oxidized. There's some floral and maybe honey notes. Definitely old, but not bad.

M: The body is medium with a moderate level of carbonation.

D: Surprisingly decent for a three year old tripel. I probably wouldn't want to have this again, but good enough for the tick.

Poured a pale golden orange with pale yellow highlights that had a thin head and left a little lacing sticking to the glass. Citrus and boozy character pop out first on the nose with some mild pineapple fruit and slight grain notes. The taste was also pretty citrusy with mild pineapple flavor but had boozy grainy accents. The brew was medium in body with a moderate amount of carbonation which had a sweet, grainy, citrusy, and boozy finish. Definitely wasn't the best tripel I've had but did hold up somewhat. It drank good but a few ounce was enough for me.

A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a two finger thick, pale tan tinged, off-white colored head. The beer is a lightish gold hue that shows a brilliantly clear, bright, yellow-gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of ripe melons (more honeydew than cantaloupe, but a hint of that too), overly ripe tropical fruit as well as quite a bit of clove that I somehow at first missed. There is a touch of mustiness that mixes in with the spicy clove aromatics and there might even be a touch of oxidation, but that too seems to be well hidden by the other notes found in the nose. I think that the oxidation might be accentuating the noticed fruit aromatics.

Lightly sweet tasting, but quite light bodied for a beer of this strength. It does have some viscous heft to it as it clings just a bit to the palate. The beer finishes with spicy clove and a hint of woody pepper notes. Up front fruit flavors of pear and floral apple are more noticeable than the melon from the aroma, but there are some honeydew melon flavors here as well. The malt has notes of freshly crushed pale malt, a touch of cracker character, as well as some sweet grain character. A touch of oxidation seems to add a hint of almost caramelized character to the malt towards the finish; it boosts the complexity more than anything. A touch of higher alcohols accentuate some warmth towards the finish, but much of this is due to the 10.1% abv alone and this is actually fairly muted given this beer's strength.

This one is barely showing its age yet. There is a hint of oxidation around the edges, but it is so light still that it is only accentuating other components of this beer. This is still quite a nice Tripel and even tastes in better shape than many a "fresh" overseas example that sometimes shows up in stores here in the states.

Massive Mega Scratch Beer Tasting @ the Meat Meet, 8.21.2010. Thanks Unclejedi!

Scores reflect how the beer is drinking NOW, and not when released.

Not much head, no lace, some active carb. Big malty nose with some red apple and pear notes, not much spice... lots of sweet pale malt though. Sweet and not very yeast-interesting flavor, but nice and fruity with a hint of apricot and plenty of residual sugar left. Seems like it needed a better yeast. Crisp and easy to put down; wouldn't want a lot of it. Decent, not great. Drink it now if ya got it.

had this at a tasting a little while back. To me, it was rancid, but noone else seemed to get that.

a - lemon yellow color, white head

s - malts, yeast, faint sweetness

t - YUCK! smooth at first, but then a harsh moldy hay flavor dominates. I can't drink this.

m - syrupy feel

overall - Obviously this has some age on it, and IMO its gone bad or at least way past its prime. Again, others at the tasting didn't thing it was bad.