Sint Bernardus Tripel (8%)

So, onto my second Sint Bernardus beer, and looking forward to trying a style of beer i have become fond of early in my belgium beer appreciation. it pours a slightly cloudy orange with a nice foamy head. can definitely smell citrus on first whiff with the tell-tale spice that seems to be commonly present in this style of beer. the alcohol is quite present in the flavour but letting it warm on the tongue the caramel flavour with the citrus does come through. it leaves the mouth slightly dry but there is a lingering of the alcohol and citrus which isn't displeasing. the alcohol does sting a little as there is not a heavier flavour to mask it, and like the Abt 12, can't help think a slightly less alcoholic version may allow more complex flavouring to come through. the taste pattern seems to follow as spice, alcohol, warming into caramel and then citrus before running down the throat. i did leave this beer out for a bit before opening, so the temp is pretty close to right at 8 degrees. maybe this is because this is just after having already had the malt runner, but their is a warmth in this beer that has made it an appealing autumn style beer. easy drinking enough and not too heavy on the stomach, but rich and warming to take the edge off cooler weather.

I have a feeling the Sint Bernardus do a fairly standard job at their beers. luckily enough the standard of beers in belgium seem to be quite high through competition that many of them have a blockbuster quality. quite strong in flavour just to make you take notice and appreciate the simple act of putting beer-alcohol in your system. there is a bit of a deeper flavour in this particular beer that i think correlates with the slightly darker look of the beer, and helps mix in the complexity of flavours, almost like the foundation of a building, where the stronger the base/footings, the more you can build on top of it. yes...i think i do like this style of beer. i probabaly tend to talk more shit like this when i just want to keep talking about a beer. anyway, for those that like a leffe triple, i think you will also find this appealing. and while it isn't as caramel as the leffe karmeliet, it is still very good. it is funny, the only tripel that i think has let me down slightly is the Westmalle, which is an authorised trappist brewery. i hope this isn't a sign that the imitators of trappist beers tend to do a better job than the trappist brewers themselves.

time will tell.

Cheers,

-Beefy