Transylvania Tripel - West Sixth Brewing Company

KYGunner

Kentucky

3.79/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Golden in color with some yellowing, there was a nice whitish head atop.

Scents of sugary sweet malts at the front I detected strong apple and pear in the body.

The taste is very sweet with strong malts at the end. Touches of apple and pear are on the tongue for some time. The end is bready and sweet but slightly thick.

Overall the complexities are simple but nicely presented. A very good opening salvo towards further Belgians.

Serving type: on-tap

02-23-2013 23:56:32 | More by KYGunner

BEERchitect

Kentucky

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

West Sixth continues their trek across the Belgian brewing scene. After their Bellair Saison and their Tall Dark & Belgium Quadrupel ale, they now give a stab to the tripel style...

Bright gold in color with straw highlights, the beer grows a creamy white froth that billows nicely for a Belgian, and holds its structure well into the session with mild random lacing. Mildly hazy, the beer shows off a diffused glow with its unfiltered appearance.

It's highly floral perfume is of honeysuckle, clove, pepper, coriander, and honey. Backed by a candied malt scent, an accompanying bread and dough scent keeps the beer grounded and supported.

Residing on the sweeter side, the ale's taste is decidedly malty. Floral notes extend into taste with a honey-like sweetness with subsidiary cookie dough and marmalade. Its fruit-spice balance leans heavy toward the fruit with apple, lemon, pear, apricot, and light banana. Its mild spice rebuttal exhibits clove, white pepper, and the faintest hop bitterness to finish.

Very creamy and only moderately carbonated, the beer has a semi-full texture on the early palate and only dries out moderately as the beer's carbonation recedes and the leaves light residual sweetness left to be felt. Its light acidity, modest hop dryness, and alcohol warmth only hints toward a clean and crisp closure but never fully achieves the dryness neccessary to do so.

I rather enjoy the floral-spicy nose as it exhibits a lot of true Belgian qualities. But the bouquet just needs better hop support in aroma and flavor, and it needs a much drier and zestier mouthfeel to genuinely compete with authentic Belgian varieties.

Serving type: on-tap

02-15-2013 05:37:27 | More by BEERchitect

illiniipa

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev -4.3%

02-03-2013 17:22:07 | More by illiniipa

DavidRose

Kentucky

4.65/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

On tap at Lexington BeerWorks 1/23/13. Made it's debut about a week earlier at West Sixth Tap Room.

Served in a snifter. Cloudy amber-yellow in color with dense but short cream colored head.

Smelled clean and sweet with mild spicing. Hard for my untrained nose to identify exactly what.

Crisp at first going to a good balance of bitterness and tartness which slowly fades to a sweetness that finished oh so smooth. Spices are well balanced through the middle stages of taste. This is one of those tripels your mother warned you about as it hides it's 9% ABV remarkably well. Very drinkable for the style.

Smooth mouthfeel with moderate carbonation

Overall, very, very good. My favorite beer from West Sixth. And to think that this was the first batch, I am very excited to see how the beer evolves over time.

Serving type: on-tap

01-28-2013 23:50:16 | More by DavidRose