St. Bernardus Tripel - Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV

PatrickJR

North Carolina

4.85/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Poured from an 11.2 oz bottle into red wine glass.

A - Dark golden and quite cloudy. About a finger of head rises with decent retention and falls to a persistent thick collar. Minimal lacing.

S - Lots of apples and pears upfront with splashes of white grape juice. Lemon zest, green tea, and sweet honeysuckle are all under the surface. Absolutely amazing.

T - This shit is blowing me away. Huge fruity taste of pears soaked in white grape juice and slathered with honey. Quite sweet early on. As the pear begins dying out the white grape persists and takes on a moderate vinous character. A phenolic flavor rises but combines with the sweetness and fruit in such a way that reminds me of some sort of vanilla flavored honey. Sweetness finally drops off and leaves a sort of pleasant medicinal flavor with tea-like and herbal overtones. Moderate bitterness follows with a slightly citric finish. Alcohol is COMPLETELY hidden.

M - I never thought I'd find a tripel with this lucious of a mouthfeel. Soft but tight carbonation with a velvety medium body. Liquid silk. This is probably the most amazing aspect of the beer overall; a quality that jumped out at me before I had any time to taste or smell.

D - I want to take in copious amounts of this brew with huge gulps. It's amazingly good, slides right down the throat, provides the perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness, and has absolutely no hint of alcohol. St. Bernardus Tripel has provided me with one of those few amazing moments along the great journey.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2009 08:56:38 | More by PatrickJR

daledeee

Iowa

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I always have trouble with these. I guess I haven't hung around with enough experts to identify what I taste. So here goes. All I know is that this is good stuff!!

This is the classuc Belgian taste. Very complex. I smell banana, butterscotch and bread or yeast. Lots of carbonation and bite. Hard to pour at first but head is soon under control. Clear unless you really stir up the bottom-a little cloudiness.

Tastes like the best wheat beer. Yeasty, fruity and rather tart. Very complex Not sure. I just know I like it.

This is top 5 beer for me. I could drink this all day- no I couldn't. Sorry moment of weakness 7.5% alchohol. Right behind the Apt 12. Just love it

Edit: Not quite a 5.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2003 19:19:07 | More by daledeee

ghurux86

Missouri

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

appearance: pours a dark cloudy orange with creamy head. there is some lacing but nothing too exceptionally great.
smell: hops, alcohol, maybe banana, apple, and some citrus. very complex. smells great.
taste: taste is very good compared to other brews of this style. goes down nice and smooth. there is a hint of hops in the flavor but it is not overly bitter. there is a hint of an alcohol taste but it's not overpowering. alcohol is more noticeble in the after taste. flavor is pretty complex. not the best i've tasted but the best in this style definitely.
mouthfeel: great, what else is there to say? lightly carbonated, not overdone, not completely flat, just about right. also has a nice smooth feel to it.
drinkibility: i'd definitely have another. the only thing that takes away from this getting 5 is the noticable alcohol, especially in the aftertaste. it is still very drinkable, though, just not the very best.
overall it's a very great brew, the best tripel i've had.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2004 02:09:47 | More by ghurux86

bceaglejoe

Massachusetts

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Presentation: Poured a translucent (cloudy) orange-amber color into a tulip glass. A rapidly rising head immediately sprang up, and retention was great throughout the drinking of this beer. It showed a rather high amount of carbonation right off the bat. The scent was one that blended grapes and red wine, with slight floral (rose) hints. There was a heavy malt presence in the scent, and it enveloped my nose. This could be one of the best beer aromas I've ever encountered.

Tasting: A slightly citric flavor came across on the front, followed by sweet malty characteristics, finally concluded by the warmth of alcohol. It was a sweet, sipping beer with a virtually nonexistent hop profile. There was a strong bread-y aftertaste as well that lingered in my mouth. The beer itself had a medium body. It was wonderfully complex in that every flavor that I had expected from the style came across. There are some beers that I've seen that use an overpowering hop presence to mask imperfections in the beer, but this beer blended all its elements extremely well. There was no harshness on the tongue, despite the high alcohol content. It rolled across very easily. This beer gets better as it gets a little warmer, too.

This beer is highly drinkable as a sipping beer, ideal for a wine and cheese hour or for dinner. The higher alcohol content may catch some by surprise, mainly because it is so well hidden by the flavors. At $3.99 per 11.2oz bottle (where I found it), this beer is meant for special occasions (or tastings at home, where I reviewed it). Definitely one of the best that I've ever tasted.

Serving type: bottle

07-24-2005 01:45:23 | More by bceaglejoe

TheBungyo

Washington

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Let me get this out of the way: I don't normally like tripels all that much. With that bitter business out of the way, let's get to my review.

Poured a fiery golden color with a down pillow like head. An inch thick and nappy creamy curls. There's a little bit of lacing.

My god, the nose is like heaven. Easily the yeastiest nost I've ever encountered. I also smell what I can only describe as crushed rose petals. If you've ever gone to a brewery or brewpub where you could smell the yeast, you have a pretty good idea of the nose of this beer. That smell dominates. If this was an air freshener I'd buy it without hesitation. With that said, there just weren't enough dimensions to the nose to warrant a 5. It was truly amazing, but not complex enough for a 5.

Taste is a lovely mix of floral notes, extremely mild grapefruit and pine, white grapes, lemon sans tartness, hushed caramel sweetness, floral notes ... far more than a schlep like me can do justice. Suffice to say that this is easily the best Tripel I've come across even though I don't usually care for them.

Mouth is densely carbonated yet somehow delicate and thick. Drinkability is sky high ... sure it has a high ABV, but I measure drinkability by my likelihood of purchasing again, not by how many I want to down in one sitting. This is beer, not a buffet for the gluttonous.

Serving type: bottle

10-07-2006 07:50:28 | More by TheBungyo

techdiver

Pennsylvania

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Pours a hazy golden yellow with a one finger foamy white head that dissipates slowly leaving a small cap and leaves modest lacing.

Sweet malt, spice, and hops to the nose.

Marvelous taste, echoes the smell. Very well balanced and totally enjoyable. One of the best, if not the best triple I've had.

Mouthfeel is excellent, nice carbonation, and just a joy to imbibe.

Drinkability is exceptional as well. ABV is well hidden, and at 8% not as devastating as the quadrupel.

Serving type: bottle

02-10-2007 23:38:52 | More by techdiver

ndolover

Minnesota

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Appearance: golden yellow color, with a few fingers of head that faded quickly leaving some good amount of lacing.

Aroma: The beer has a yeasty sourness with some malt, with alcohol in the background. Low hops present

Flavor: yeasty and sour with alcohol noticable but not overpowering. While I could taste hops, it was not the star. The delicate malt balance is what impressed me. How can so much alcohol be hidden behind the pale malt veil.

Mouthfeel: Full of tiny bubbles that di not overpower. medium mouthfeel.

Overall: This was an excellent example of a triple. I had a gusher with this one...as I have had in the past. That is really all that I can fault this beer. As it is a really great beer.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2007 02:04:24 | More by ndolover

Greggy

Minnesota

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A- 1 finger head that slowly recedes into a nice cap. Big sedimentation on the copper colored body.

S- Banana, yeast, fresh flour, alcohol, dates.

T- Nice malty sweetness of yeast, banana, clove, light date, dry finish with some spice. Initial pepper is large.

M- Light tingle of carb and pepper.

D- This is a great triple. Definitely a must have if you've never tried it.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2008 18:13:05 | More by Greggy

jstilwell

Massachusetts

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

One of my favorite of all the Belgians, thought I'd finally put my down my thoughts. Grabbed one out of my mix pack on Saturday night.

A: A cloudy golden pour into my duvel tulip. Bright white lasting, head with beautiful lacing.

S: Sugar Butter Cookies and Yeasty Banana Bread

T: Smooth but complex with the distinguishable belgian yeast overtones. Hints of vanilla and very creamy with a warm but mild alcohol finish.

M: Velvety and Frothy, a treat for the mouth, quite smooth.

D: Yeah I could do several of these even at 8 %. Too bad there's only one in this mixed sixer. Big thanks to the wife for the Christmas gift.

OVerall perhaps THE best representation of the style!

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2009 01:17:34 | More by jstilwell

KAVSE

California

4.88/5  rDev +14.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Poured from bottle into Chimay chalice.

This beer poured an almost champagne color out of the bottle, settling into a murky orange in the glass. The nose contained hints of apricot and orange with a hearty, wheat smell.

The taste was very light and crisp - incredibly drinkable. There are hints of apple, apricot, citrus fruits with a slight alcohol aftertaste. What really struck me was that this beer wants to "wrap" around the tongue instead of simply sliding down the throat.

It immediately struck me as the perfect summer day beer but this is one to be enjoyed all year round.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2009 20:42:28 | More by KAVSE

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.9/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

A hazed golden orange appearance. Volcanic streams of CO2 surface at extreme rates. A bigass crop of whipped white froth caps it off. After a few minutes, the head starts to look like a damn snocone. Beautiful appearance. Aroma hits home with some bready yeastiness, mint, candy, lemon pepper, must and earthy hops. On to the flavor, which can be summed up best as "subtlety to perfection." Cookie dough yeastiness, bready tones, mint leaves, soft candy tones, pepper, lemon, grass and yellow cakiness. This beer melts in the mouth like mother fucking cotton candy. Effin beautiful. And drinkable. Nothing alcoholic at all about this bitch. This one is a dandy. One of the best tripels I've had. Check that...THE best Tripel I've had.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2004 05:26:09 | More by Bighuge

Gump

Minnesota

4.9/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This green label caught my eye one day at Surdyk's. I have been on the lookout for this beer for about a year now after seeing it on a BA list of top Belgian Triples.

Light pale colored pour with plenty of white dense head. Starts very foamy and eventually calms to an inch of head with moderate wet lacing in the glass.

Amora is fruity, woodsy and dry with a chalky sweetness and natural earthiness.

Excellent mouthfeel. Leaves the tongue tingly and mouth feeling dry

A very crisp drink and excellent mouthfeel make this a beer that stands out from the rest.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2006 04:11:05 | More by Gump

dwren89

Virginia

4.9/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Appearance: hazy, golden amber, foamy persistent white head

Aroma: very aromatic,banana and clove with soft malt character, very yeasty with spicy hop additions

Taste: spicy with notes of banana and clove, malty depth

Mouthfeel: very smooth, rounded and balanced mouthfeel, little carbonation,

Overall Impression: A delicious and easy drinking Tripel, much easier to drink than Westmalle Tripel, and exhibits the spicey hops and yeast desired with strong malt background.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 21:47:52 | More by dwren89

marburg

Michigan

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Memories of this beer's greatness sucked me in while I was shopping for Thanksgiving brews at Putnam's shop. I ... just ... couldn't ... stop ... myself.

Ripening banana colors -- shifts from yellowish to off-brown. A little hazy. Big poofy styrafoam head spouts off a laundry list of aromatic delights: banana, dried orange peel, tropical fruit, yeast, pepper, sweet bread...

Sugary malt sweetness is heavily interwoven with a potent alcohol kick and all sorts of subtlties -- pineapple, cookies, banana, oak. Disturbingly light feeling as it goes down -- very easy to drink -- despite its almost creamy presence rolling around on the tongue. Shazam!

Serving type: bottle

12-03-2003 17:46:30 | More by marburg

santoslhalper

Pennsylvania

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Appearence: Pours a brilliant gold with a nice, thin white head. Tiny yeast particles float everywhere.

Smell: The smell of this beer is spectacular. I can't get over how the grain smell mixes with the fruityness. It's such a perfect combination.

Taste and Mouthfeel: I have to say this is without a doubt the best tasting tripel I've ever had. Smooth, sweet, creamy, fruity, malty, and so much more. The taste is so wonderful and complex yet perfectly balanced. Everything about the taste of this beer is perfect. One of the best beers I've tasted to date. The mouthfeel is full, creamy, and incredibly inviting.

Drinkability and Overall: About as close to Tripel perfection as a beer can get. My first true Belgian Tripel and I'm blown away. I can't say enough about this beer. It's so rich and flavorful, yet so smooth a easily drank. I will be getting more of this very, very soon.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2005 04:01:56 | More by santoslhalper

benmiliron

Ohio

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

From the 4 bottle & glass gift pack. Hazy autumn light brown, bit of gold. Smell is divine, sweet fruit, heavy malt, fancy belgian wheat, hint of orange. Taste is divine. What a beer should be. Spice, orange, sticky malt, caramel. Spice and alcohol both heavy but blend very well. Velvety texture with a microscopic bubble.

A lovely beer, highly recommended.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2005 20:31:08 | More by benmiliron

atsprings

North Carolina

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Pours a hazy straw yellow with an abundant head that is lasting and leaves spotty lacing on the glass. The aroma is a very strong blend of sweet fruits, spice, yeast and some earthy hops. The taste is a great balance of sweet malts, spice and earthy hops with an appropriate yeast bite. The beer is medium bodied and crisp with warming alcohol. This is an immensely enjoyable Tripel.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2007 00:48:49 | More by atsprings

korndog

California

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Beautiful Belgian pour into a tulip. Everlasting head.

Smells of light citrus macerated in spiced candi syrup. I can't get enough of this aroma; it's divine and easily worthy of a 5.

Again, the fruit and spice combine with perfect caarbonation and a honey note to make this one of the worlds best beers imo.

Mouthfeel is near perfect with a lingering bite that cleans the palate and begs for more of the nectar like aroma and front notes.

Near perfect beer experience.

Update: Just had this beer again. How amazing it is to get a beer of this quality at your local Bev-mo. I'm so glad to see the awesome reviews on this site. What a treat. More memorable than their Quad IMO.

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2008 05:10:22 | More by korndog

RonaldTheriot

Louisiana

4.93/5  rDev +16%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

St. Bernardus Tripel has a fizzy, ginger ale-type, white head and a hazy, golden-orange appearance, with lots of champagne fizziness and a plethora of suspended brownish-gray particles floating about. The aroma is of spicy bread, fruit, and sugar candy. Taste is of spicy fruit cake, bread, raisin, malt, and a lot of other stuff I can’t pinpoint. Bitterness is low with this one. The mouthfeel is tingly and medium, and St. Bernardus Tripel finishes mostly dry, tasty, and highly drinkable, which could get a drinker into trouble. Overall, it lives up to its reputation.

RJT

Serving type: bottle

08-23-2012 14:07:17 | More by RonaldTheriot

asabreed

New York

4.95/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

One of the best tripels out there for sure, and I know it as I keep drinking. Seek it out.

Appearance: Not as much lacing as I would've wanted. And the head isn't as huge and foamy as I wanted, but the head still tops it off as I drink it, and there's at least enough of the white head to cover it without dissipation. Maybe it's my glass, and I'll review this again, but appearance is hurting it a bit.

Smell: Wonderful. Cloves, cream, banana, pepper, cirtus zest, spice. The cream aspect seems to be extremely high for tripel, and it adds much to the aroma.

Taste: As with many tripels, banana comes through (at least for me) mostly. Some lemon or lemon grass, slight cream (though there's more in the aroma). The spice does nothing but enhance all the flavors, and is perfect. Pretty incredible for sure. The aftertaste is amazing, yeasty, full, creamy, and coating. Oh, and the slightest amount of hops is present with the aftertaste also.

Mouthfeel: Carbonation explosion at the very first, but it soon turns very creamy and full, though medium-bodied. Fantastic.

Drinkability: Not an insane amount of alcohol, and insanely drinkable without being cloying or too much in anyway.

I only have 3 bottles left from my 4-pack. Now it seems I need a case, though that probably won't happen. Pick this up if you can find it.

Serving type: bottle

09-20-2005 01:39:14 | More by asabreed

gotbeer

Massachusetts

4.95/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This one pours a darker shade of your typical Triple. Nice white head. The smell is outstanding. Tropical fruits, and a hint of alcohol.

The taste is also outstanding. There are tropical fruit flavors, lemon, apricots, and an incredible bready malt balance with some herbal spice to finish things off. Complex would be understating it.

The mouthfeel has an adequate amount of carbonation, and feels light for this ABV. The drinkability is only limited by how much I can get my hands on.

This is by far my favorite Belgian Triple. Superior in almost every way. If I could only drink one beer for the rest of my life- this one would be solid possibility. Incredible stuff.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2006 01:33:18 | More by gotbeer

cyrenaica

Ontario (Canada)

4.95/5  rDev +16.5%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

I tried this beer on August 10, 2007 at The Esplanade Biermarket in Toronto. The beer was a cloudy brown in colour with a short lasting off-white head. The aroma was very yeasty with some spicy tinges in the background. The mouthfeel was medium bodied with a fair amount of carbonation while the flavour was full of yeast and wet bread. Another damn fine product from St. Bernardus!

Serving type: bottle

08-11-2007 02:16:30 | More by cyrenaica

hyuga

North Carolina

4.97/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

An golden/orange-yellow hued haze of a liquid with a very nice white head that stays quite well without any help. Amazing aroma! In-your-face sweet and spicy with a doughy yeast background. Banana esters, juicy strawberries, and am I crazy, or do I detect some mango in there as well? Slight spicy alcohol tones as well. Great complexity. And now into my mouth it goes... The first thought that hits me with this beer is the amazingly thick and chewy mouthfeel. Not many beers have this, and for me, it's a highly sought-after quality. Like the aroma, very sweet doughy flavor from the yeast and malt, like a mix between cookie and bread dough. This is perfect with the mouthfeel the way it is. Clove shows up in the spice department, a welcome addition to the other flavors. There is a bit of fruitiness, mostly banana, but it's much more subdued than in the nose. Hop bitterness plays a slight role, balancing everything out well. Alcohol warms all the way through. More targeted hop bitterness in the finish. Overall, a wonderful, wonderful beer. This one goes on the "must buy in massive quantities" list. My favorite tripel, even above Unibroue 10 and New Belgium's "Trippel".

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2003 02:54:54 | More by hyuga

KarlHungus

Minnesota

4.97/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This brew pours a semi-cloudy orange color with a nice white head. The aroma is strong. Orange peel, and spices. The taste fantastic. Fruity and juicy with spicy undertones. The mouthfeel is juicy and well carbonated. Overall, this is a great brew. Very refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

09-15-2005 02:38:57 | More by KarlHungus

MAB

Alberta (Canada)

4.97/5  rDev +16.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

The only thing I was disappointed with was the label, which is kind of corny and cartoon-y. The beer transcends the label though, which is a good rule to remember: Just because the label looks bad (or good) that doesn't mean that the beer inside will also be bad (or good).

This Belgian trippel, to me, is exactly what I would expect and demand of the style. The pale color and thinner but longlasting head makes it look beautiful in a glass. It is not as highly carbonated as many other Belgians I've tried, and that is fine with me. It feels wonderful in your mouth and even better going down the throat.
It isn't particularly aromatic, with hops at least, although there is a nice malty sweetness that comes off of it.
I find it tastes a bit on the sweet side which means I like it just fine, thank-you, yet it is still very complex in flavoring. As it warms you can start to pick out more spicy notes and citrus (?) flavors.

If you like Belgian beers then a four pack won't be enough...

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2005 23:53:53 | More by MAB