Style: Tripel
ABV: 9.5%
The only difference between this bottle and and the bottle of the Westmalle Dubbel is the colour. The border on the label is a light beige, with a brown pinstripe further in. The label itself is a custard yellow colour, as is the cap on the bottle. The simple red roundel featuring the letters A and W takes pride of place on the cap, surrounded by the words “Trappist Westmalle Tripel”.
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Visual: Bright golden in colour with a tight white head, retained very well for a good few minutes before thinning out nearly completely, save for the thin lacing left up the glass. The beer is slightly hazy around the hundreds of clearly visible particles suspended throughout the body of the liquid.
Nose: Malty first, with floral and citrus notes. A pungent champagne note breaks through, the sour dry white wine scent filling the nose before being broken a little by a subtle smell of spices – clove and a hint of coriander mainly. Gives it a cut grass smell. Faint traces of caramel, but any sweetness is paired with a bitterness and a sourness that at least matches it.
Taste: Big champagne flavours followed by a crisp malt note with really nice fresh hop flavours. The hop bitterness combines well with the lingering vinous sourness giving it a dry, green, slightly floral/herbal finish, with a tiny hint of menthol.
Mouthfeel: Pleasingly light, slightly thin maybe, but with decent carbonation to give the body some substance. A dry finish leaving a fresh, airy sensation in the mouth.
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First impressions were not great with this beer. It has a rather unassuming colour, with the typical white head and golden hue that looks very much like a fizzy supermarket lager, but instead of many streams of bubble, there is an abundance of suspended particles.
The aromas aren’t terribly complex – champagne and malt mainly, making the beer smell like a half and half of crisp pilsner and semi-sweet Cava. Hints of spice but nothing over the top.The notes found in the aroma continue into the flavour. The champagne comes through first, in a big way, before the malt and hops take over. It tastes like a pilsner chaser of a dry champagne.
It’s light and refreshing, and there are nice flavours, but it just doesn’t rock my boat. As an alternative to lager or even Czech pilsners, this is a beer that could certainly compete. It’s wonderfully simple yet has that extra layer of flavour which sets it apart from the rest. I’m not sure that extra layer is worth the extra price though – a bottle will set you back over £3. But I guess the price is there due to the ABV of the beer – 9.5%!
Apart from the champagne flavour, there’s very little to suggest that this beer would be coming up to double figures. You may be forgiven for thinking part of this beer is actually just champagne added to the bottle, like a 70/30 split between a pilsner and an average sparkling wine. But other than that, nothing – no burn from the alcohol, certainly no viscosity in terms of mouthfeel coming from it. It’s very well balanced in that sense, accommodating the high alcohol well.
If my other options were good quality pilsners, then this would certainly be in contention, though it depends on the price. This would naturally be far pricier than the 4-6% lagers, especially in a bar, so it’s a question of how much more you’re willing to spend for a slightly more complex and stronger beer. That said, there are lagers that can rival the complexity of this beer.
I would buy this beer again, but I won’t be heading out to search for it. If I’m going to look for a Trappist Tripel, this would come after the Achel and the Chimay, but before the La Trappe Tripel.
Related articles
- Chimay White (Cinq Cents) (morebeerforme.wordpress.com)
- De Koninck & Westmalle Tripel (mstefek.wordpress.com)
- Westmalle Dubbel (morebeerforme.wordpress.com)
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