Brasserie Des Rocs Triple Impériale - Brasserie de l'Abbaye des Rocs s.a.

Philousa

California

4.23/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a dark chestnut with two finger head that settles to thinly cover the glass. Light carbonation hits the nose first. Dark fruit, plum, raisin, rich caramel, nuts. Full body is evident. Some smoke comes as it warms. Raisin, plum, and red grapes hit the tongue first. The full body lingers with a tinge of bitterness. Rich caramel stays with you as well. Silky chocolate comes as it warms, with multiple sips. Spices also come out well, cinnamon and allspice mostly. Medium to thick mouthfeel. Drinkable, but you know a lot went into this beer. The alcohol is hidden very well, never would have guessed this at 10%.

I warmed up to this beer as it warmed to ambient temperature. The label of a dark Tripel really threw me off. This is a Belgian Strong Dark in my opinion, and it should flaunt this fact, as it is a great showcase for the style. All the good qualities are there: high ABV that's well hidden, stone fruit prominent in the nose and flavor, great body, and rich flavors that are offset by the barely there hops, used only for bittering purposes. The only complaint or word of wisdom would be to watch out for the temperature for this beer, because I let it sit out too much and it started tasting like grape juice a little too much. Grape juice with spices and bitterness, that is.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2012 04:29:39 | More by Philousa

tastymug

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev -10.7%

05-17-2013 03:09:29 | More by tastymug

jkermitj

Mississippi

4/5  rDev -4.8%

05-04-2013 03:06:28 | More by jkermitj

Noelito76

New York

4/5  rDev -4.8%

03-24-2013 18:40:08 | More by Noelito76

kingslotty

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%

03-20-2013 23:00:44 | More by kingslotty

OriolesFan1008

Maryland

4.5/5  rDev +7.1%

03-20-2013 01:21:56 | More by OriolesFan1008

dokupe

Maryland

4/5  rDev -4.8%

03-18-2013 02:00:17 | More by dokupe

coreyfmcdonald

Georgia

3.49/5  rDev -16.9%
look: 1 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25

750ml bottle into a snifter, best before 05/08/2013

A: Pours a hazy light amber with a finger of off white head. The head quickly recedes to a ring. The first pour brought a beer full of flakey sediment. It was a bit odd and really gross. The flakes originally dispersed through the bee from a slight gusher, but a couple of hours recapped with a carb saver let the sediment settle.

S: Quite musty with orange zest, figs, and a bit of anise.

T: Similar to the aroma, except a bit more spicy and sweet. I get nutmeg, cinnamon, orange zest, and figs. A tad astringent.

M: Medium thickness for the style with creamy carbonation.

O: This was the ugliest beer I've ever seen on the first pour, and every pour dispersed the sediment. That alone brought the score down a lot. Other than that, there is a decent balance between fruity sweetness and spices.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2013 01:27:28 | More by coreyfmcdonald

Pegasus

Texas

4.11/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Hazy deep mahogany to a strong light, crowned by a small, dense tan head, which exhibits fine-beaded, glass-coating lacing.

Aroma: Dense, sweet aroma of dark fruit, coriander, cloves, brown sugar, and sweet, vinous alcohol.

Taste: Opens with quite sweet warming alcohol, followed by a melange of sweet flavors: brown sugar, cloves, figs, plums, and raisins. Bitter apple rind is present as well. These carry throughout the taste, supported by warm, lingering alcohol. Towards the end of the taste, some earthy, moderately bitter hop note appear, but are not at all overwhelming, complimenting the sweet and spicy flavors. Finishes with a mild, lingering hop bitterness.

Mouth feel: Smooth, soft, and quite full.

Drinkability/notes: Really excellent, a worthy effort.

Presentation: Packaged in an eleven point two ounce Euro-style brown glass longneck bottle, served in a New Belgium chalice.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2013 00:19:59 | More by Pegasus

allbrigs

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -22.6%

03-08-2013 04:58:15 | More by allbrigs

Proteios7

Indiana

4.75/5  rDev +13.1%

03-03-2013 22:14:45 | More by Proteios7

deac83

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%

03-02-2013 03:36:44 | More by deac83

Thomas_Picton

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +7.1%

02-22-2013 01:25:54 | More by Thomas_Picton

gr0g

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev -16.7%

01-27-2013 20:02:09 | More by gr0g

Peyton5410

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%

01-26-2013 02:43:09 | More by Peyton5410

thestem

California

4.5/5  rDev +7.1%

01-19-2013 22:14:48 | More by thestem

spycow

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -16.7%

01-14-2013 00:59:15 | More by spycow

bacasnax

Florida

5/5  rDev +19%

01-06-2013 00:02:50 | More by bacasnax

davelag

California

4/5  rDev -4.8%

01-05-2013 07:12:45 | More by davelag

cowboy83

New York

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%

12-18-2012 04:45:28 | More by cowboy83

stereosforgeeks

Virginia

4.25/5  rDev +1.2%

12-17-2012 17:44:16 | More by stereosforgeeks

n2185

North Carolina

2.88/5  rDev -31.4%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

A: Pours a murky brown with barely any khaki head that quickly vanishes with no lacing.

S: Belgian spice notes up front followed by a lot of sweet bread aromas. Sweet fruit and caramel notes come through with a slightly boozy finish.

T: Spices here as well before a big kick of caramely, fruity, and bready sweetness. The finish has a decent alcohol presence.

M: Medium-thick body with low carbonation, this beer is definitely underattenuated and could use a lot more carbonation and a lighter body.

O: A pretty unimpressive beer overall. Too sweet and boozy and lacking depth and finesse found in the best examples of the style. Not undrinkable, but nowhere near good.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2012 20:22:22 | More by n2185

Ryan011235

Ohio

1.95/5  rDev -53.6%
look: 1 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Poured into a La Trappe chalice on 10/8/12

Best before: 05/08/2013

Ok, this ain't right. Early on into the pour, large chunks and clumps of stuff start dumping into the glass. This crud leaves small, large and in-between sized floaties throughout the glass. That, coupled with a murky, muddy brown, makes this look like high liquid content vomit. The head is the most sinister foam I've ever seen. A thin layer is fed by bubbles rising consistently. Lace starts to form at the thicker collar and there is a festering eye in the center of the beer; seriously, the foam is multi-colored in such a way it looks like a gray pupil and a parchment yellow retina. The eye pulses, like it's being eaten by maggots from the inside. Several small brown specks have made their way to the top and are suspended in the foam.

The aroma, on the other hand, is pretty good. Heavy on malts and moderate on fruits. Loads of dark bread, brown sugar, butter toffee, banana, cinnamon, figs, molasses and maybe a faint suggestion of cocoa. Overall, the aromatics can be summed up as largely that of banana nut bread. Notions of caramel squares. Apples, as it warms.

Whatever is left in the bottles smells like burned cinnamon raisin bread.

Ooh, something is amiss indeed. The taste is vapidly dry. Burnt cocoa dust comes to mind. It also has dead fruits; apple, pear and banana are dulled beyond all hope. Paper, cardboard, oxidation. Moving past these unpleasantries are notes of bread and toasted sugars, but hardly enough to salvage this beer.

There's so much shit floating around in the glass that I can't bring myself to take more than a tiny sip at a time; even tiny sips bring forth fizzy, effervescent carbonation.

Whatever bubbled up and caused that eye to form has continued to do. Now that part of the head has peeled back, I can see a steady stream of flakes and such being pushed out from the middle. This is starting to look like fish food in a filthy tank being flushed about by a water pump.

What the hell is going on with this beer? Please, oh please, let this be a bad bottle. The aroma makes me think this beer had promise somewhere along the way. As is, it's down right bad. The appearance alone has me close to squeamish.

Serving type: bottle

10-11-2012 00:13:40 | More by Ryan011235

tln13

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -28.6%

09-10-2012 20:05:36 | More by tln13

gleemonger

California

5/5  rDev +19%

09-07-2012 19:59:27 | More by gleemonger