Tripel Van De Garre - Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.

EPICAC

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this on tap at De Garre in Brugge.

Appearance: Pours a lightly hazy golden-orange with a three-finger, off-white head with excellent retention that leaves intact sheets of lace as it fades.

Smell: Has a nice fruity smell with a blend of bananas and sour apple with a bit of pepper.

Taste: Light, but fruity with sweet bananas and sour apples. The fruitiness is balanced nicely with some spiciness and bitterness.

Mouthfeel: Light to medium-bodied, creamy, moderate carbonation.

Drinkability: Very well balanced, but watch out for the alcohol.

Serving type: on-tap

12-14-2006 02:56:27 | More by EPICAC

GCBrewingCo

North Carolina

4.2/5  rDev -3.7%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

(11% ABV so tread lightly.)

The beer was crystal clear with a white frothy head which lasted very well to coat the glass.

The aroma was fruity and nicely spicy with strong pepper and an estery fruit chracter and a caramel malt.

The flavor was lightly spicy with a low caramel and light malt presnece. The flavor almost had a pineapple characteristic.

The finish was dry with a strong peppery character long into the aftertaste. The body was meidum and the moderate carbonation lent a creamy mouthfeel. The beer gave a nice warming presence after consumption. Actually a very good tripel. Be careful with this one at 11%.

Served in a Garre glass, at Garre in Brugge of course, on 9/13/06 and 9/14/06.

Serving type: on-tap

09-19-2006 23:13:52 | More by GCBrewingCo

baiser

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I stopped in at De Garre in Brugge on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It took a few tries before we got the address right. It was served on a tray with some cheese and this was the perfect afternoon snack. Brewed by Van steenberge for De Garre as their house beer, this is a delightful tripel. A creamy, rich, lasting head with tonnes of lacing on their unique glass. This isn't a first class tripel, but it hit the spot that day. It was fruity, with lots of malt character and finished very sweet. Alcohol is well hidden. Body is cloudy, golden yellow in colour. Recommended if you're in Brugge.

Serving type: on-tap

08-11-2006 21:06:08 | More by baiser

JulieRFoster

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -22%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

This beer is made for the bar de garre in Bruges - a great little place to visit if you can find it! It is a well rounded beer, and you should certainly try it while here, but not the greatest trippel by any means.
It has a lovely light blonde color and slightly cloudy, served in its own unique chalice. It has fantastic head retention and thick, intricate Belgium lacing. The head retention gives it a delightful little puff when finishing the glass.
The medium mouthfeel was appropriate to the style. The nose is slightly floral and dry with some malty notes. The taste was a little less pronounced than the scent, but basically the same.

Serving type: on-tap

03-20-2006 16:47:58 | More by JulieRFoster

JohnfromDublin

Ireland

3.73/5  rDev -14.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Tasted in Staminee de Garre, Brugge on tap 22nd May 2005.

Served in unique glass that has a thick stem to it. This makes it look very good, but is slightly awkward. Anyway, appearence is quite light in colour, more straw than amber with very nice head.

Smell is good, hoppy and fresh but more floral than I expected.
It is the beer of the house, and is quite strong (at 8%) and tastes like that (strong, I mean). No disguising the alcohol, but this is a quite drinkable tripel with a good mouthfeel.

I quite liked this, even if it is not the best tripel ever. If drinking this upstairs in de Garre (as I was), beware the almost vertical stairs when exiting!

Serving type: on-tap

06-30-2005 09:55:28 | More by JohnfromDublin

Popsinc

Ontario (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -26.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

This is one of the house beers on tap at Staminee De Garre in Bruges.

Appearance: A golden pour with a medium and very rich looking white head.

Smell: Medium nose with a very lemony and malty kick to it. Somewhat flowery and herbal.

Taste: Again, a vert floral taste with a slight bitterness and herbal character. Some nice maltiness here that helps turn the corner to a semi-sweet finish. A pinch of sweet-bread in there somehwere as well.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied beer w/good maltiness and fullness. Grainy and floarl mouthfeel.

Drinkability: Ahhhh, it was worth a try. Half decent beer, worth trying once.

Serving type: on-tap

11-03-2003 21:40:48 | More by Popsinc

beerpirates

Belgium

4.03/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From a magnum bottle ( 1.5 L ) into a white wine glass

Cloudy orange yellow beer, enormous white creamy head, stable and adhesive. Aroma: malts, yeast, hops, candi sugar, and good deal of alcohol (not surprising).
MF: soft carbon, full body.
Taste: sweet malts and alcohol sweetness, countered by a fair amount of hop bitters, somewhat fruity. Numbing alcohol in the back of the throat.
Aftertaste: hops, some fruityness, grapefruit and exotic fruits. A very hoppy and tasty beer!

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2012 18:32:57 | More by beerpirates

emerge077

Illinois

4.3/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Never thought i'd get to try this stateside, thanks Alex for sharing this rare bottling. Review from notes.

Served from a magnum into a mini pint glass. Managed a couple pours before the bottle was emptied.

Soft hazy orange, almost a pastel tone, with energetic trails of champagne carbonation. The fluffy foam settles, leaving a ring of lacing to decorate the edges. A steady pour generated two fingers of stiff, dense foam.

Dreamy aroma of tangerine, tropical fruit, banana creme pie, vanilla wafers, marzipan, and spun sugar.

Dominating fruit flavors, sweet but not cloying. Some mild clove/spice phenolics in the back, estery Belgian yeast throwing off some banana esters. Soft and very creamy feel, this is a dream to drink. A slight bite initially, but it quickly yields to the creamy confection qualities. As it warms, the alcohol becomes slightly perceptible, versus being invisible when served chilled.

Overall very smooth and balanced, this makes me want to seek out other Tripels, which isn't a style i'm usually into. Thanks again Alex!

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2010 02:46:38 | More by emerge077

MasterSki

Illinois

4.43/5  rDev +1.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Thanks to Nanoslug for carrying this magnum all the way back from Brugge. This is the 25th anniversary bottling (unlike the 20th in the picture). Served in my Westvleteren chalice.

A - Pours with a few fingers of eggshell foam that dissipates to a think cap and leaves spotty lacing behind. The body is a hazy peaches & cream color.

S - Light booze, grapes, starfruit(!), banana, cloves, malted wheat. Very rich & complex.

T - The booze is better hidden here, and the flavor profile is more smoothed out. There's more wheat and caramel malt and a little less spice. The fruit flavors mingle with some nice estery character from the alcohol. The taste is more of a 4.25 for me, but I rounded up and bumped down the appearance (which was borderline 4.5).

M - Light tingly carbonation, a touch of heat after half a glass. The body is medium-light and seems a little thin for a 10.5% beer.

D - This will get you wrecked. It's a delicious quick-drinking high ABV beer. I was worried that a few of us wouldn't be up for killing the magnum, but it actually ran out quite quickly. I'd love to try it on-tap at the source - I somehow missed this place when I was in Brugge last summer.

Serving type: bottle

03-27-2010 18:14:50 | More by MasterSki

ViveLaChouffe

Georgia

4.78/5  rDev +9.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Drank a couple of these at Staminee de Garre in Brugge - October 2008

Hazy gold topped with a dense, creamy white head in a goblet. Fruity and spicy in the nose. Sweet.

Big, sweet maltiness but plenty of spicy hop character to offset it. Big and bold but smooth and well balanced. It's lively and just a bit warming but the considerable alcohol is masked. Dryish finish. Very, very nice tripel.

It may be worth it to go to Brugge for this beer alone.

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2009 19:07:18 | More by ViveLaChouffe

IPAcraig

Tennessee

4.68/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This was a bottle I received from almalkin after his trip to Brugge. I would have brought a few bottles of this on my trip, but I didnt know De Garre sold their tripel in bottles until after I left Brugge.

This was opened on my wife and I's one year anniversary and poured into over-sized wine glasses.

Best before date of December 15, 2008

A bulbous head rises to the top of the glass, sitting atop a hazy medium gold body. Big lacing. Very nice.

Smells of slightly sweet light fruit with a bready finish.

Starts sweet and finishes slightly spicy with bits of alcohol. It has a bit of a staleness, that shows up as a somewhat biscuity flavor. This is best consumed fresh at De Garre.

Smooth and not as prickly as the head would suggest

The best tripel i have had. An absolute beauty. I tried my best to review this beer subjectively, its hard when you have it at De Garre or on your 1 year anniversary.

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2008 13:33:27 | More by IPAcraig