White Birch Tripel - White Birch Brewing

SickGnar

Pennsylvania

3.68/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Huge bright white head pops right up and quickly crackles down. Big, loose bubbles consistency. Between straw and golden, just barely shy of clear on first pour (second is a bit cloudy), with legions of bubbles. 3D lace at top of glass, but less further down. It keeps a thick skim that retains to the bottom.

S: Very floral, a good bit of honey, some candi sweetness, light fruits – white grapes, apples, & pears. Ghost hints of biscuit malt, spice, & a yeast note. A light, but pleasant & appealing nose. Floral / honey impression increases even more as this one warms.

T: Palate is in the same vein as the nose, but more bold. Opens floral and honey with a candi sweetness that is a bit more than a tad intense. Fruit is more white grape – emphasis on the skins – with just a touch of apple & pear & perhaps faint tropical hints. A touch vinous. Both suagar cookie pils and biscuity pale are there – just in the background – and a bit of cracker at the end. By the middle, the sweet / floral / fruit give way to phenolics, yeast notes and hops. Hops are a touch herbal but mostly provide fair background bitterness (1yr old). Phenolic & yeast notes have some spice – both clove and peppery – and an earthy, slightly funky, and even less slightly barnyard note. Hops get a hit woody in the finish. Good overall, but sweetness gets to be just too much.

M: On the light side of medium body with firm carbonation. Bright, expansive, & quenching. A dangerous thing for a beer this size. Despite sweetness on palate, very few sugars are found in the feel. Quite attenuated and dry to start with, and the drying grows stronger at the end from hops and alcohol. Surprisingly mild alcohol warmth.

D: A sort of streamlined version, but then it is a year old. Not a ton of complexity & not burly, nor bitter/hoppy. But what is there is very nice – it all blends well and has good depth. Amazingly hidden abv. At over a year of age, and tasted blind, I may have pegged this as a BGS. Oh well, it sure is nice.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2012 19:03:21 | More by SickGnar

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%

04-23-2013 05:35:37 | More by Kelp

t0rin0

California

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%

03-07-2013 03:29:19 | More by t0rin0

ububru

Pennsylvania

3.75/5  rDev +6.8%

12-29-2012 14:02:49 | More by ububru

merc7186

New York

3.1/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

WhiteId like to thank Fujii13 for sharing this whale.

I had this beer poured from a bomber into a tulip glass.

A: Hazy Golden Straw Hue, Passes Little Light, White Head Ring, No Lacing

S: Mild Black Pepper, Mild Yeast, Mild Belgian Sugar

T: Yeast, Mild Black Pepper, Mild Belgian Sugar

M: Average Carbonation, Light to Medium Bodied, Lightly Spicy

Overall, a pretty weak triple with some pretty sad taste.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2012 04:37:57 | More by merc7186

tfidler

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +6.8%

06-12-2012 20:28:52 | More by tfidler

HEADYdb

Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -0.3%

06-02-2012 13:28:47 | More by HEADYdb

morebeergood

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev +12%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

My bottle was labeled January 2011, batch two. Loud pop when I took off the cap. Poured into a Belgian-style chalice. Huge white head forms on top of a golden colored body. Very impressive look. Smell was spicy like lemon zest. Taste was impressively Belgian, with an American twist. It had a nice sweet sugar flavor, but finished with a hop bite at the end. Mouthfeel was crisp yet luscious. Really liked this beer. One of the best tripels from the US I have had in a while.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2012 04:06:54 | More by morebeergood

djrn2

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -14.5%

04-10-2012 01:20:24 | More by djrn2

Archemedies

Massachusetts

2.5/5  rDev -28.8%

02-29-2012 22:32:41 | More by Archemedies

ygtbsm94

Virginia

1/5  rDev -71.5%

01-31-2012 08:51:00 | More by ygtbsm94

mvanaskie13

Pennsylvania

2.88/5  rDev -17.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Poured into a chalice, presented with a very nice thick off white head, color is dense straw to gold with nice effervescence.

Smell is off yeast flavor, somewhat hot and spicy in a weird way; mild fruitiness.

Taste is very hot burning, flavors do not come through nicely; hints of all of the flavors are there, some spice, and yeast and fruitiness, but it seems out of wack and not pleasant or smooth.

Mouthfeel is very strong on the tongue, almost burning, must be the hot alcohol coming through, again not pleasant or smooth.

Overall, a subpar tripel, off flavors and very strong unpleasant mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2012 23:45:14 | More by mvanaskie13

BigCheese

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14%

01-21-2012 02:52:15 | More by BigCheese

sulldaddy

Connecticut

4.22/5  rDev +20.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pouring at cellar temp into a snifter. The beer is bottled on 12/10/2010.
The beer pours bright clear gold with bleached white head of about 4 cm foaming up even with a gentle pour. The head fades quickly to some wispy islands and a sturdy edge layer. Aroma is some light fruit with white grapes and pear. I also get some caramel and a bit of booze. Perhaps a little clove or some other sweet spice mixed in. I dont get a real hop presence.

First sip reveals an average body and fine yet tingly carbonation. The texture is smooth but a little sticky on my lips after each sip.

Flavor starts off sweet with some white grape and pear notes.
Rolls to a little sweet spice and some peppery booze, but no really any heat. The finish is slightly vinous with a little drying a grapeskin flavor.

Overall a well crafted and interesting beer, good example of a Tripel and possibly dangerously easy to drink at 10% ABV.

Glad I picked this up while in NH this past summer.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2012 04:28:20 | More by sulldaddy

InspectorBob

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +14%

01-02-2012 01:04:45 | More by InspectorBob

Rochefort10nh

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +14%

11-26-2011 18:27:28 | More by Rochefort10nh

GRG1313

California

2/5  rDev -43%

11-25-2011 20:39:56 | More by GRG1313

PEIhop

Massachusetts

3/5  rDev -14.5%

11-24-2011 01:37:21 | More by PEIhop

tempest

Pennsylvania

2.95/5  rDev -16%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Split a bomber with a friend at the Trapp Door in Emmaus PA. The menu said oak-aged, but the label did not. Thanks guys.

Anyways, I was struck by an undeniable ham aroma upon pouring the beer. Seriously, it smelled like sweet, cured ham from a butcher. There was also a sharp spice and citrus note, but the beer was also hot. I was surprised to see that this was bottled in January 2011 (10 months ago) and that it still needed time to smooth out. It reminded me a of a less balanced version of North Coast's Pranqster. Avoid unless you find a real old bottle.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 14:03:21 | More by tempest

ZacharyJ

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +14%

11-16-2011 01:35:20 | More by ZacharyJ

jdhilt

New Hampshire

4.05/5  rDev +15.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Will pour a five+ finger off-white head that fades slowly leaving some lace. Hazy straw color with a ton of yeast left in bottle. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Belgian yeast nose, flavor is fruity spice and Belgian yeast. Higher ABV is hidden. Much better than their Bohemian triple. Pricey at $11.00 for a 22oz bottle from Tully’s Beer & Wine Wells, Me. Bottled Jan 2011, batch one.

Serving type: bottle

10-01-2011 22:43:28 | More by jdhilt

tigg924

Massachusetts

2.85/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Appearance: 1 head, gold in color, hazy, high carbonation

Smell: Belgian spices and hay

Taste: Belgian spices, tropical fruit, hay, and an alcohol-medicinal finish

Mouthfeel: high carbonation, light bodied, sweet with a bitter middle and a sour end

Overall: This makes an excellent cooking beer, but I would probably pass on drinking it straight again. The beginning was a nice mix of bitter and tropical fruit, yet the end lost me. The finish was a bit high on sourness and alcohol. I could see myself wanting more if the end was not as harsh, but for now this is a pass.

Serving type: on-tap

09-23-2011 13:06:43 | More by tigg924

pmlondrigan

New York

3.4/5  rDev -3.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Kinda hazy looking for a triple, gold but opaque. Lacing it has, but a little over carbed. Could be more clear and rocky looking. Aromatically this beer has some nice citrusy esters and spice, lemon, but a strange hint of alcohol too. Pretty spicy and estery flavor. Coriander, black pepper, lemon. Basic malt biscuity malt. Hot from the alcohol.
This beer is dry, but also a tad hot from the alcohol. All in all there are many stronger examples of this style. That being said it is a hard style to brew and this is a fair attempt.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2011 01:06:15 | More by pmlondrigan

BobZ

Massachusetts

3.55/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22 Oz. Bottle poured into my Duvel Tulip.

Appearance: An interesting pinkish yellow, definitely pink, nice 1 " head initially that quickly receded to a ring. Decent lacing.

Smell: Very mild, a few hoppy notes, also a hint of spice.

Taste: Light but refreshing, had this beer outside at a cookout and generally found it pretty pleasant. Not really to the “sweet up front and bitter at the finish” tripel style. But this isn't a horrible thing. The beer was balanced nicely between sweet and bitter throughout. Frankly the flavors were not all that deep or complex, reminded me more of a summer ale. The alcohol was completely, and I mean completely masked.

Mouthfeel: Smooth on the palate, again refreshing.

Overall: Not exactly what I would expect in a Belgian Tripel, but a very enjoyable beer none-the -less.
Serving type: bottle

Serving type: bottle

07-31-2011 14:52:21 | More by BobZ

MetalHopHead6

Virginia

3.83/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

White Birch Tripel is beautiful, refreshing, and deceptively boozy.

It poured a very light cloudy straw with a massive pillowy white head. It left great rings of lace on the glass. The smell was non-descript with the slightest metallic hint. The flavor was awesome with several layers, including banana, lemon, pepper, clove, and yeast. The feel was very bubbly and refreshing, with a dry finish. The alcohol was non-dissernable ('til later, when it hit rather hard) and this was the lightest 9/10% ABV beer I've ever had.

I had White Birch Tripel was exceptionally refreshing and delicious outside on a 94 degree day. The flavors are complex and good, and the alcohol content is oddly subdued while drinking it. This is an awesome beer to have before napping on a hot day.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2011 20:55:45 | More by MetalHopHead6