St. Bernadus Tripel (8% ABV)

A solid amber-orange in colour, with a well-formed head. Crisp, green fruit and freshly-baked bread on the nose. The flavour profile isn't as fully developed as the nose might suggest, but sappy, grass-like tastes with hints of spice and malt dominate with just a grind or two of that typical Tripel peppery nose.

Not so much a finish as a disappearance, and whilst the ABV is a point off Trappist-style Tripels, the alcohol is nowhere to be seen, which would make this a naughty brew to spend the evening with.Definite potential to lead you astray, I'd say.

86

Triple Tripel vs. Asparagus Face-Off

A soul-witheringly bad day necessitated some midweek revels in the form of a Tripel taste-off paired with some smoky, griddled asparagus, inspired by a Zak Avery video along the same lines I watched a while back (link pending ;) lots of links pending on this blog now as I compose all these posts on my phone, and links seem a bit much like hard work, to be honest. Soz).

My notes are laughable, frankly, so make of this what you will:

Tripel Moine (ABV 7.3%)

The garish and rather crude label defacing this bottle does this delightful, subtle beer no favours, and I was genuinely surprised at the sophistication of the bottle's contents in view of its gaudy exterior.

Tripel Moine evokes a sunny yet crisp and blustery day flaneuring in a bar by the beach on the Belgian riviera. Salty, intensely floral, and the aroma of warm, grass-topped sand dunes.

A wonderful surprise, and an out-of-the-ordinary Tripel.

95

Trappist Achel Blond (8% ABV)

I love the complex Achel Brune, so it was something of a disappointment to discover how run-of-the-mill this Trappist brewery's Tripel is, at least on this showing.

The aroma and flavor profile of autumn fruits eaten on a dry summer's day (hmm... time machine required there, then) but empty, somehow.

The nose became disturbingly agricultural as it warmed.

83

St. Idesbald Tripel (9% ABV)

A by-the-numbers Tripel I won't be returning to, and that you really don't need either to taste, nor to hear any more about from me.

69

The asparagus worked really well with all of these. Thanks for the idea, Zak :)

Brugge Tripel (8.7% ABV)

To cut to the chase, this is a really rather non-descript beer. It has the bare bones of a Tripel's characteristics, but contributes nothing of its own to the style.

Really, there's little in the glass in terms of outstanding aromas and tastes that merits commenting upon. I'd be making it up for the purposes of having something to write about if I claimed otherwise.

I drank this at the cold end of the Tripel tasting temperature profile, around 6 degrees Celsius probably. I left it to warm a little, but it still failed to develop anything resembling a personality. Unimpressed.

40

Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor (8% ABV)

I should say up front that with four types of hop, and being unfiltered and bottle-conditioned, I could have predicted that this beer was going to score highly on the R&A Likeometer before it even got out of the bottle.

I wasn't to be disappointed.

An appealingly full head from a straight pour reveals a golden haze with a full, enduring head and persistent lacing. As the lemon pith and apple storeroom nose subsides, the riotous hops begin their revels. There is so much going on in the glass for hop lovers by this point, it's hard to know where one's taste buds should turn next. Many more tastings will be required before I get any further than that, frankly.

The mouth-wateringly dry finish leaves you ready for another sip. A lovely brew.

93

Satan Gold (8% ABV)

This golden ale delivers a billowing, pillowy head from a straight pour into the centre of a tulip tasting glass.

An intensely floral, geranium-scented nose develops into a sweet, lightly toasted nut-and-fruit flavor with a pronounced sour-sharp finish.

Ale Satan!

73

Delirium Nocturnum (8.4% ABV)

There is a dark ruby hue to this triple-fermented beer which pours with a seemingly dense head that nevertheless disappears without a trace almost immediately.

A black treacle and prune nose gives way to a hoppy, fruity strawberry jam flavour which finishes surprisingly dryly.

Delerium Nocturnum tries hard, and whilst the three yeasts and five malts make for a brew that is interesting in each of its parts, it's not a relaxing experience. Rather, this is a beer that clanks and crashes through its gears and gives the palate something of a rough ride.

76

Pauwel Kwak (8.4% ABV)

For my money, which I am more than happy to impart upon this venerable Belgian family-run brewery, Kwak has one of the greatest noses in the world.

On raising the quirky 'yard of ale'-style stirrup cup glass to one's nose (which I do not currently possess, hence the chalice in the photo), relentless waves of boiled sweets and glacé cherry break over one's twice-blessed organ of olfaction.

The cherry morphs to tangy, sour-sweet Morello and prune on the palate, with a confusing and pleasingly dry finish, but the tackiness the brew leaves around the corners of the mouth remind us of the sweet barley malt that gives it its denseness and complexity.

At the currently recommended 5-6 degrees Celsius, this beer would have been even easier to quaff, which would both do its interesting qualities a disservice, and perhaps precipitate a swift encounter with the horizontal plane. I prefer this somewhere in the middle of the 8-14 degrees Celsius range, and suspect that leaving the beer to warm too long would exaggerate its barley wine characteristics. That's not necessarily a bad thing if that's how the fancy takes you - Kwak has some chameleon-like qualities in this regard - but I enjoy Kwak and Belgian beers in general for their alterity as much as anything else, and like to let it speak to me in its own voice rather than re-imagining it as a British barley wine.

That said, it would be a great choice to introduce a hardened barley wine lover to whose preferences seldom extended to the continent.

94

Tripel Karmeliet (8.4% ABV)

An amber-gold beer in the Tripel style brewed from barley, wheat and oats, the latter ancient grain as it appears in this brew is a vast improvement on the oats I had for breakfast.

A bright, Alpine nose of pine and lemon balm yields to clean spice and a balanced bitter-sweet finish. This beer is very similar in approach to Duvel, but displays a greater complexity.

Repeat tastes made me crave tandoori or grilled meat. This could just be because I haven't had lunch yet, but I think this would pair very well with a small plate or starter of that genus, perhaps also oily (but not smoked) fish.

At a hefty 8.4% ABV, however, you may want to encourage your guests to split a bottle between two unless you want them passing out over their entrees.

89

Achel Bruin (8% ABV)

We're back on track with this tasty Trappist offering.

There is a touch of cough candy and coal on the nose, with a hint of freshly turned sods of grass-topped heavy clay soil to boot.

A hefty shovel of sweet malt is delivered on the palate with a surprising, mouth-wateringly dry departure.

The finish is just delightful, and again surprising in its purity and poise, with your mouth feeling as if you've just had a glass of something cool and cleansing from the Abbey well.

I definitely need to get another couple of these to see if the complexity grows in the glass, because to be honest I drank it in about 5 minutes.

89