Westmalle Trappist Tripel - Brouwerij Westmalle

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4.05/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

330ml bottle. I always like it when I find an old-school beer with no English marketing on the label - leave it to those monks to not pander to the outside world - French and Dutch it is.

This beer pours a hazy pale golden orange hue, with a sizable amount of puffy, foamy white head, which leaves big swaths of sudsy lace as it genially recedes. There is also a fine, grainy sediment swirling throughout the glass.

It smells of yeasty rising white bread, dried banana chips, biscuity malt, a touch of bittersweet vinegar, spicy clove, orange cream, white pear, and a subtle musty, ethereally funky note. The taste is big fruity malt - lemon, orange, banana, overripe pear, and stewed white grapes - moderately tangy black pepper and clove spice, a touch of wine-friendly yeast, and a subtle warming alcohol edge.

The carbonation is big, frothy, and quite noticeable throughout, the body medium-full in weight and solid in other somewhat less tangible ways, including a crazily unassailed smoothness. It finishes generally off-dry, the fruity malt sweetness persisting and the booze coming round to bear.

A pretty heady affair, this one is - the fruit character being pleasant enough, and the big ABV doing well to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. Overall, this is rather enjoyable, and a well balanced example of this usually heat-skewed style. Those monks tend to have such a deftly mollifying effect, it would seem.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2009 23:09:11 | More by biboergosum

akorsak

Pennsylvania

4.3/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

I am drinking a 750 mL C&C bottle poured into a Westmalle Trappist chalice. The ale is slightly cool, most likely within the recommended range of 45-50 degrees.

Appearance: The ale is hay-coloured, almost resembling a weizen. The ale is carbonated giving a decent head on each pour, but that head soon dissapates, leaving no lace around the glass.

Smell: The ale has a fruity nose, with hints of honey and peppercorn dominating.

Taste: As I let the ale sit in my mouth, the first sensation that I note is that of honey, giving the ale a sweet taste. There is also a hop character that adds a good amount of bitterness to the ale. There is also a definite alcohol presence that gives a warming sensation to the ale.

Mouthfeel: The ale sits well on the palate, with the honey and hop characters providing a revolving sweet-bitter sensation.

Drinkability: The ale is limited, as most Belgians are, by the high abv. Despite that, this beer is very good and I certainly recommend it.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2006 23:25:02 | More by akorsak

tempest

Pennsylvania

3.7/5  rDev -14.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 750ml corked bottle with a tall, soft head. The aroma is a little sour at first, but soon turns to a milder, Duvel-like aroma of creamy pale malts. The flavor is sweeter and maltier than the other big Trappist tripel, Chimay White. There's a bit of farmhouse funk in the malt, and drop of candy and caramel. It finishes with an obscured hops flavor that's grapefruit-y, but buried under the malt. Overall, I don't think the flavor is that amazing. Yes, it is quite nice, but not my favorite tripel. The carbonation is spot on, but a hint of alcohol detracts from it.

Serving type: bottle

11-22-2007 21:37:12 | More by tempest

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Slightly hazed golden sunshine tone with a large two finger sized head leaves nice evenly dispersed rings of lacing around my chalice. Aroma: Rich fruit undertones slight spiciness touch of pineapple/tropical fruit notes, not bad candi sugar sweetness bready yeast tones. Taste: Alcohol presence is strong in the forefront, rich syrupy malt profile candi sugar subtle spicy flavors with a touch of herbal hops. Seems a bit brash and one dimensional right now with aging I think this beer will be the classic it once was, but the new Merchant du Vin importers get this one to the US fresher than ever, however I think it will only improve with some aging maybe three months or so to come together as a classic triple. Mouthfeel: Alcohol tickles the nose and back of the throat, fine carbonation very effervescent medium bodied triple ale. Drinkability: Excellent the great sipping brew, complex but still a tad green the bottle says it's good to age well into 2005.

Serving type: bottle

05-19-2004 20:19:06 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.03/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours cloudy gold with a monstrous head that lingers for a very long time. Lacing quite present. The nose is extremely sweet with strong citric tones. Even and smooth on the mouth with malty sweetness and a bit of a bitter edge that follows on the trail end. Mouthfeel is typical. You could drink a lot of this in a sitting...if you could tolerate the 9.5% alcohol. This is a great brew whose best feature and contribution to beer world is that it is so readily available and has probably helped enlighten a lot of people as to what the possibilities for beer are.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2007 05:19:39 | More by RblWthACoz

barleywinefiend

Washington

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Poured a sexy golden yellow color with a littlew bit of haze and a nice white cap

S: Fruity esters, whiff of light spice and light banana, hint at spice, pears perhaps

T: A nice little spiciness balanced out with some lighter pears, aples, booze and even a banana.

M: Medium body, crisp and clean

O: Tasty and a pleasure to drink!

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2011 02:01:23 | More by barleywinefiend

smcolw

Massachusetts

4.35/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Lots of chunkies floating around; straw yellow in color with a pleasant head that recedes to a thin layer of bubbles. Excellent sticky lace.

Strong pineapples in the aroma. There's also an earthiness to this, a mixture of pine needles and barnstalls.

Very rich, malty full flavors. There's the strong warmth of alcohol. This is wonderfully balanced--I'm used to trappist ales being all coyingly sweet malt. This beer is drier than those. The hop is much more pronounced, but this brew is far from being bitter. Interestingly, unlike other great beers that have the flavors fade in and out, this one is consistent yet complex blend of malt/hop.

This may be one the most drinkable trappist ales I've ever had. Other than the powerful alcohol warmth and the rich, rich body, this could be an excellent pale ale. With those differences, herein lies something special.

Serving type: bottle

11-13-2004 02:27:18 | More by smcolw

Wasatch

Utah

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Dated 11/07/07

A - Pours a cloudy yellowish color, nice carbonation which produces a nice small foamy white head, some lacing afterwards.

S - Scents of malts, spices, grapes, bannanas, and yeast.

T - The taste is kinda sweet and malty, carbonated, nice clean finish.

M - Medium body, pretty complex brew.

D - Drinkable. This is a nice tripel, but I like the dubbel much better.

Serving type: bottle

09-04-2006 20:20:04 | More by Wasatch

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.2/5  rDev -25.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

From my notes 5/28/07 - Pours a one-finger white head that fades slowly leaving a good lace. Cloudy, pale amber color. Slight malty nose. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Flavor is balanced to slightly sour. Finish has some alcohol and sourness. Not nearly as good as bottle. On-tap at Summertime Restaurant Scheveningen, NL. €5 ($6.85) for a 330ml glass.

Serving type: on-tap

06-22-2007 19:11:12 | More by jdhilt

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.35/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

(Served in a chalice)

A- This beer has a hazy pale yellow body with strong carbonation of tiny bubbles. The head is a big cloud of off-white foam that last and last. It has nice lacing with each sip.

S- This beer has a nice soft aroma of floral and light fruit notes with a hint of banana. There is a very soft note of cloves that is a bit orangey.

T- This beer has a nice smooth taste of fruit like oranges and pears with some pale malt flavors that blend into a peppery finish with some soft alcohol note. There is a faint carbonic bite that enhances the peppery finish. The finish is dry with a nice bitterness after the alcohol and pepper. As it warms the orange pepper flavor taste a bit more like grapefruit.

M- This is a medium-light beer with a slight fizz to the texture and some alcohol warmth.

D- This beer is very soft and smooth but it has lots of complexity. It's hard to describe all the distinct taste as they all blend from one to the other.

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2006 02:35:54 | More by rhoadsrage

Jason

Massachusetts

4.93/5  rDev +14.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

You can find this one just as much as the Double in Belgium and everywhere in Brussels. Sweet nectar of the gods I could not get enough of it ... it was so damn fresh even the bottles that I drank at 1:00 am in my hotel room to put me asleep were obviously ten times fresher than what we get in the states.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2001 15:37:58 | More by Jason

Billolick

New York

4.72/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I sampled a small bottle of this sublime nectar of the gods @ the Petite Abeille in NYC. Pours light straw, lemony and cloudy. Puffy white head, leaving the anticipated world class lacing. Nose is musty,nutty and yeasty. Spice, yeast and more nuttyness up front. Very pleasant soft mouthfeel. My kind of beer, spice, fruit, complexity. Intoxicating blend of flavors, smells, and textures. I'll take this to that desserted island and be satisfied beer wise for a long time.

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2005 11:53:48 | More by Billolick

mdfb79

New York

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from an 11.2 oz. bottle into a snifter. Best by date of 28/07/12 on the bottle.

a - Pours a murky golden color with one finger of fluffy white head and moderate carbonation evident. Head lasts for several minutes and leaves no lacing.

s - Smells of Belgian yeast, spices, light citrus, light bananas, and light bready malts. Very pleasant.

t - Tastes of bananas, Belgian yeast, spice, bready malts, light citrus, and very light alcohol. Again, very enjoyable.

m - Light body and moderate to high carbonation. Dry, crisp body.

d - A very good, enjoyable Belgian tripel. While nothing blew me away in the smell or taste it had all the classic Belgian tripel characteristics and was quite enjoyable. Considering how cheap and accessible this one is, I would definitely buy it again.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2010 00:33:13 | More by mdfb79

weeare138

Pennsylvania

4.15/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Appears a light golden with a small head. Little lacing left behind. There seems to be an awful lot of sediment in the bottom of my glass, making this a tad questonable with the appearance.
Smell is of soothing vanilla, cream, spice, pepper, warm alcohol and ripe pear.
Taste is of all the aforementioned aromas, blended into a warm and inviting concoction.
Mouthfeel is slightly stinging and dry due to the alcohol. A bit of a bitterness and sourness fizzes towards the back and sides of the mouth. Lacks the sweetness desired to become worldclass IMHO.
Drinkability is good for a triple. Not great, or overly appealing. ABV makes it slightly awkward but expected.

Finger licking good.

Serving type: bottle

07-11-2005 00:46:55 | More by weeare138

Zorro

California

4/5  rDev -7.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a hazy golden ale with a minimal head.

Smell is sweet pineapple and guava fruit with requisite dose of coriander. Spicy black pepper and spearmint are the next scents I can detect. Sweet honey and flowers make up the malt part of the scent. Hops make themselves know only as a little woodiness. Noticeable alcohol but it doesn't detract from the scent and serves as a carrier for other scents.

Taste is malty and slightly sweet. Honey and fruit are the first flavors to come out, then coriander and flowers. Spice is subdued here except for black pepper.

Mouthfeel is not bad.

An OK triple but I had expected more from this one compared to its little brother the Dubbel. Worth a try. This is a beer I will try again from another source and see if it has a bit more wow factor to it.

Serving type: bottle

10-13-2005 02:31:07 | More by Zorro

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a slightly hazy golden, although very bright, nice white head forms, tons of lace. Smell is sweet and clean, very crisp honey, crisp hops, wheat, citrus, lots of malty goodness, very rich. Taste is Sweet malt, some banana, honey, alcohol, crisp finish. Mouthfeel is medium, carbonation is medium, slight alcohol burn, nice and smooth. Good trappist but there are better.

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2005 17:10:35 | More by Viggo

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Lightly hazed golden with streams of carbonation rising rapidly. A big and full rocky white head adorns the surface. Retention is as good as it gets. Aroma is musty and fruity (as in pineapple and mango). A little breadiness as well on the nose. There's a real nice intermingle of hops and fruit on the palate. Apricot and tangerine. Some yellow pepper. A slight sting of alcohol, but nothing that is out of context. Dry finish. A little hebal. A little earthy. Clean maltiness. Body is light and refreshing. This one's good. I like it.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2004 04:43:37 | More by Bighuge

corby112

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Serving type: bottle.

Pours a clody golden orange with a thick, foamy white head. Pleasant aroma of grape, pear and floral alcohol. Dry fruity taste with hints of apple, grape and pear as well as a slightly sour yet crisp alcohol finish. Very tasty.

Serving type: on-tap

11-28-2008 09:07:33 | More by corby112

BlackHaddock

United Kingdom (England)

4.45/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Normal brown 33cl bottle. This one has been hanging around my garage for a couple of years or so. It had been left with a few other goodies boxed up waiting for me to break open when my regular beer stock began to shrink a bit. Best before 30th Oct 2008, so fairly old I guess and ready to go!

Poured into my Westmalle Trappist Challice (what else would you use, if you had one?).

I tried to pour it without getting any sediment into the glass, but I got excited and the whole bottle ended up within the challice. A few bits floated around in a golden hazy cloud of beer. On top sat a thin covering of white bubbles, which were forever being replenished by a rising torrent of other bubbles.

The aroma is all about degrees of sourness and how your nose picks it out. Fruit smells range from Gooseberries to Grapefruit through the spectrum of fruity colours available to man.

The taste is a explosion of flavours, fizzy and different. A bitter sweet mix of the best Belgium has to offer in a glass of Tripel.

The alcohol is evident throughout, but it doesn't detract from the overal complexity and pleasure this beer seems to exude.

A very, very good beer. I have loved it for years and forgot about my little pack of Belgian beers stashed away, some more crackers to come!

Serving type: bottle

08-13-2008 18:09:37 | More by BlackHaddock

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

4.63/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

First had: bottle at Eulogy, Philly, PA

Easily one of my favorite beers. Pours properly into a signature chalice, a golden-brown with tints of apricot, cloudy with a fluffy off-white head that sinks to about a quarter to half inch and retains as such just about to the end, leaving some attractive lacing behind. Complex aroma of yeast, fruit salad, alcohol-soaked wood, caramel and candi sugar. Good to let it warm up before tasting...don't want it ice cold. Nice cavalcade of flavors on the palate, with notes of caramel, toffee, bready yeast, bananas, pears, apricots, raisins, grape skins, lightly roasted nuts. Subtly hopped. Medium body, very distinguished and highly drinkable. You feel like royalty drinking from the chalice too.

Serving type: bottle

09-11-2011 16:31:36 | More by Rifugium

glid02

Georgia

4.4/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked this up at Green's on Ponce in Atlanta.

Pours a hazy yellow-orange color with small floaties that serve as nucleation points keeping the one-finger white head at a thin pancake the life of the beer. The head leaves thick lacing on the glass.

Smells of spices and bananas with a good amount of grassiness. There's also a bit of alcohol there, but not enough to be obtrusive.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Equal parts spices and bananas with a light amount of grassy flavors joining in midsip. The ending is more dry than an average trippel with a bit of alcohol warming.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is good. I had no problem finishing the bottle and could sip on this beer all day.

Overall this isn't as fruity as many other trippels, but everything is in very nice balance. Well worth a shot.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2009 22:29:21 | More by glid02

lacqueredmouse

Australia

3.55/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Pours a very light, but very hazed yellow colour, with an extremely voluminous head of crackling whit bubbles. Some dissipation as the head collapses, but the lacing is reasonably good, sticking in the same patterns as the large bubbles cracked. Lots of streaming carbonation, but that gives it rather a refined look. Looks very decent overall.

Nose is rather bready, but with a good, slightly funky crushed citrus leaf character. Plenty of Belgian yeas, but a lot of refreshment to be had throughout, and a little bit of classic spice and phenolics to remind you of the style. Very decent.

Taste is sharp and peppery, and extremely phenolic on the finish, with a big bitterness that wells up throughout. Front is thin with a slight yeast overtone, before the phenolic spice comes through with a vengeance. Feel is very light, but gets cut with the astringency on the back.

Wow, compared to the St Bernardus I had earlier in the evening, this is a far more raw and far harsher beer, and it suffers for it. Not a huge amount of complexity, and a ragingly raw back palate that truly hurts drinkability. As much as I'm reviewing it, I know it's not my place to tell the Trappist monks what to do, but this was not my cup of tea. There are other examples I've enjoyed a whole lot more.

It's not a bad beer by any means, but it's below the baseline for the style in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

10-31-2010 02:28:54 | More by lacqueredmouse

DoubleJ

California

4.83/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

My family just bought a new HDTV and XBOX360, and soon we'll be getting surround sound installed! I'm going to celebrate with a beer I have high expectations for: Westmalle Tripel. Purchased at the Wine Exchange for $4.99 (330 ml bottle), on to the beer:

This is a very heady and carbonated brew. It pours hazy straw yellow into a chalice, leaving on top a head that shows resistence to fading. Aroma is mellow and sweet. Mixture of phenols, spice, grass, and candy sugar. I like it so far.

The taste of this tripel is what gives Trappist beers a good name. Not too intense and full of different flavors. Some peppermint-like sweetness, medicinal, grassy, light brush of pepper, and spice. Balance is drop-dead beautiful and lighter than one might think given the 9.5% ABV, which helps make this brew dangerously drinkable.

I may not sound all that excited in this review about Westmalle Tripel, but this is one beer that's worthy of the hype. Without question, a highly recommended pick by me, and one beer I'm going to share with my buddies in the future.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2008 07:38:30 | More by DoubleJ

Gusler

Arizona

4.15/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Orange and nebulous on the pour, the head mastodonic in size, frothy in its texture with the color a bright white, the residual lace forms a thin and sealing sheet upon the glass. The aroma of "Bubble Gum" up front and some lemon like tones also present, quite crisp and fresh. Stingingly acidic, beautifully hopped, droughty long lasting aftertaste, and one quaffable beer and one I drink quite often.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2002 12:00:27 | More by Gusler

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

4.03/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

BBE 26/05/07. Served at about 10°C in a broad-rimmed goblet.

A: pours a hazy, dark orangey+honeyish yellow hue; the thick white cap comes effervescent, tight and foamy, a bit like meringue~~ sustaining superbly and leaving very tight lacing as it sl...owly settles; very fizzy body.
S: sweet, candyish maltiness mixed with sweet lemony+orangey edge with a hint of passion-fruits, floating aroma of vanilla powder, lightly spicy/cinnamon yeastiness... overall surprisingly straight forward, albeit pleasant all the same. I doubt if the lower serving temp. has trapped more aroma inside the glass...
T: fiercely bubbly-textured palate with rough and warmish alcoholic attack~~ as my palate gets used to the texture, I could sense semi-sweetish bready malts followed by light touches of tropical fruits--mainly bananas, oranges and drops of lemonade, while an immense flow of intensifyingly dry spiciness and chewy bitterness quickly ensues, gradually decreasing in intensity but leading to a lingering, dryish, spicy-hoppy aftertone.
M: the initial sharply bubbly mouthfeel plus the simultaneous alcohol attack is not very impressive, showing signs that yeasts might have been badly disturbed or else. But it does soften sip by sip and settles to fine, creamy yet lively texture. The finishing touch is rather soothing, with good depth of spices and bitterness caressing the deep end of the throat, making this a glass of constantly-improving enjoyment.
D: a med-full bodied, dryish-bitter Tripel it is. Not as approachable as my last bottle, maybe due to the fact that before serving the beer was slightly over-chilled, hence the farely cloudy body from the very beginning. One can't deny that it's an uncompromising beer though, and in my opinion this is a more complex and fuller elder brother of the Westmalle Dubbel.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2006 02:58:23 | More by wl0307