Boudelo Tripel

The tripel in this 'threesome' of new abbey beers honouring the old Boudelo abbey in Stekene, bottle from De Wilde in Zele. Egg-white, thick, plastery lacing, even-bubbled, frothy head on a misty, warm orangey peach blonde beer with lots of visible sparkling. Aroma of dried peach, green garden weeds, honey, coriander seed, straw, white bread, sweetclover, camomile, fresh croissants, banana peel. Fruity onset, sweetish with clear banana ester, hints of apricot and red apple, lively carbonated - bit stinging even; full and rounded mouthfeel, some sweetish honey over a bready and very lightly caramelized maltiness, bringing forward a soapy coriander touch at the end (luckily kept subtle) and a grassy, floral and bit weedy hop bitterness, combining with a calvados-like alcohol warmth. The hop bitterness is confident enough, but still less so than in the blonde in this series - alas, because this is exactly what could have set this tripel a bit apart. The malt, residual sugar and ester sweetness gets the last word, along with the booze, though this latter aspect never becomes overly wry or annoying. Technically, this is a very well made tripel - it shows all those years of experience these guys have - but what I already stated for the blonde, is even more true for this one: this Boudelo range is deliberately cliché and accessible to the masses, a trio of crowd pleasers far removed from the very interesting things Musketeers did until just a few years ago. I guess I am, in a way, helping to pay the price of opening their own, state-of-the-art brewery...

Bright blond colour with thin head. It's a full bodied malty beer with a pleasant bitterness in the aftertaste.

Clear golden colour, white foam. nose of sweet malts, some fruity notes, coreander. Taste is sweet, light bitter. Well balanced. Good tripel.

17/II/21 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ Thieu’s place, BB: 25/XI/23 (2021-146)

Clear blond to orange gold beer, small creamy white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: lots and lots of ripe banana, bit of a sweet impression, spicy, peppery touch, bit herbal, malty. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: spicy, lots and lots of yeast, soft bitterness, lots of overripe banana, pretty sweet, coriander. Aftertaste: bit spicy, dry, hoppy touch, more overripe banana, yeasty, quite some coriander, soapy finish.