Bottle from a Mitra in the Netherlands (I think), one of these Hommeles beers brewed at Sallands Landbier. Medium thick, irregular, off-white head quickly dissolving in the middle but leaving a steady, moussy rim around the edge; initially clear ’old gold’ colour with warm orange tinge, becoming more pronounced with sediment added, as the beer gets a bit hazy. Aroma of old dried orange peel, old apple, bread crumbs, dried apricot, Grand Marnier, bubblegum, honey, powder sugar, freshly ironed (and still warm) clothing, lots of ripe banana, lots of plastic, white pepper, young ’jenever’, hints of wet cardboard, grass, calvados, iron, overripe nectarine juice, old jute bags, overcooked Brussels sprouts, brandy. Sweetish onset, fruity in a relatively ’clean’ way, lots of banana, sweet pineapple slices and apricot, hint of red apple peel, some ’dull’ sourishness underneath but all subdued and not very lively, residual white candi sugar sweetness but quite subtly so, medium to sharp carbonation, minerally and a bit souring, metallic from the start - almost feeling like some cheap strong lager. Slick, supple mouthfeel due to a cereally and lightly caramelly middle with persisting honeyish sweetness though subtly so and much less subtle metallic effects, over which the limited, strictly restrained fruitiness tries to save itself, leading to a medium long finish in which the ’jenever’- or cheap brandy-like alcohol dominates along with ongoing caramelly flavours; hops remain restrained to an almost exclusively structural role, providing some herbal bitterishness but unfortunately not being fully adequate to halt the initial sweetness - though it is still the overt, even somewhat wry booziness as well as that unpleasantly metallic feel that bothers me in the end. The ’cooked’ and obnoxious ’wet cardboard’ smell in the aroma, the limited effect of fruity esters, the metallic aspect in the taste, the badly hidden alcohol and the general lack of depth all point in the same direction: either this is a very poor imitation of Belgian tripel, or this is not even a tripel, but a strong lager disguised as one. If this is top fermented, which I am doubting a bit, this is surely closer to an ’edelbier’ than to a real, bottle-refermented tripel; in all, this is way too boozy, too ’clean’ and too unbalanced to even qualify as an acceptable example of the classic tripel style. Did not like this at all, though technically there is not much wrong with it; in this particular case, I guess it’s the lack of ambition that probably bothers me more than anything else. Simply put: boring and unbalanced ’tripel’ trying to cash in on the general commercial success of the style. Not amused.

33cl Bottle at Kloek. Clear golden colour, white head. Aroma of fruits, some grain, sweet alcohol, typical Tripel. Flavour is medium sweet, light malty, fruity, light yeasty, decent bitterness. Light to medium bodied. Decent Tripel.

Haarlem Culinair Speciaalbierfestival Botermarkt. Boring zoet/gistig blondje. Backlog from 2015/08/09.

Tap at Haarlems bierfestival. Clear golden with creamy white head. Belgian yeast, sweet malts, yoghurt, quite some herbs and a bit of citrusy hops. Light to medium sweet with yeasty and citrus peel bitterness. Medium bodied with a bit creamy feel. Ok

33 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Plus, Culemborg. Hazy dark golden with a white head. Spicy fruity aroma, taste is sweet and a bit metallic. gets better, richer, when it’s a bit warmed up. Nice tripel.

Fonefan 241014. Golden colour with a white head. Aroma is malt, grass, alcohol, grain. Flavour is citrus, malt, hop, yeast, grass, alcohol, grain. Medium body. Ordinary beer.

Trübes goldenes Bier mit ordentlicher weißer Schaumkrone. Geruch süß malzig, fruchtig, hefig, leicht alkoholisch. Geschmack süß malzig, fruchtig, hefig, leicht würzig, etwas trocken, gering alkoholisch.

Bottle. Golden, white head. Strange aroma, fruity and foresty. Tastes quite sweet and spicey. Notes of malt, biscuit and juniper berries. More a spice beer than a tripel. Weird.

Bottle 300ml. [ As Hommeles Gluiperd ].Clear medium orange yellow color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, bread, cookie, pale malt, sweet malt, light to moderate yeasty, sweet yeast, dough notes. Flavour is moderate sweet and light moderate bitter with a long duration, sharp, sweet malt - bread. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20141024]