6.5

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

The second beer from this new brewing company in Hasselt, capital of the province of Limburg (and the first brewing company there in modern times). Thanks to the brewer! Slow gusher, but manageable. Mousy, quite large-bubbled and coarse, off-white, regular, medium thick, slowly opening head on a misty, deep peach blonde beer with 'rusty' orange tinge and a suspension of dead yeast bits throughout. Aroma of indeed some faint yeast autolysis (sulfur), but luckily remaining largely covered under more flattering impressions of ripe peach, Brussels waffles, coriander seed, cinnamon apples and 'appeljenever' (an unintentional reference to Hasselt's reputation as a 'jenever city', perhaps), cloves, stewed turnip, banana, sugar bread, ripe pear, pineapple, apple sauce, allspice, honey, old dry ginger. Sweet onset, banana ester mingled with peach, pineapple and (over)ripe pear accents, fizzy carbonation (stinging a bit, but acceptable for a tripel), softish, fluffy body, bready malt sweetness covered in residual, very honeyish sweetness with the fruity aspects lingering; outspoken spicy phenols (4-vinyl-guaiacol) as well, clove- and a tad anise-like, supported by clearly added coriander-, allspice- and vaguely cinnamon-like spiciness, almost Christmas beer-like 'the blonde way'. Bready, earthy, bit 'dirty' ending (not surprising seen the load of dead yeast cells), warming brandy-ish alcohol (quite outspoken and even a bit burning in the very end - should have been better hidden!) mixed with lingering sweet banana ester and residual sugars, but balanced out - to a certain extent - by and earthy, slightly floral hop bitterishness. Typical sweet, spicy, boozy tripel, too sweet and not nearly hoppy enough for me personally, but acceptable for what it is: a commercially intended, traditionally Belgian-profiled sipper. If the yeast can be controlled a bit more and the beer gets a bit cleaned up, this will surely appeal to the Karmeliet- and other sweet tripel drinkers, at least from a local perspective.