6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

33cl bottle from Delhaize in St. Vith, Belgium.
F: big, white, long lasting.
C: gold, hazy.
A: banana, peach, coriander, spicy, honey, bit dusty.
T: full malty base, peach, honey, banana, apples, spicy, high disturbing carbonation, bit herbal, dry on the palate, nice balanced bitterness, ok for the style that’s all.

5.1

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

Starke Karbonisierung. Hellmalziger alkoholischer Beginn, trocken hefig, leichte Herbe. Geringe Süße, milde Bitterkeit, langer Abgang. Ok. 8/7/8/7/5/7

6

33cl bottle. A clear deep golden beer with a white head. Aroma of mid sweet strong pale malt, some yeast. Taste of belgian yeast, strong pale malt, straw.

7.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Tripel in a small series of very small-scale new Belgian beers, found near its home in the southern end of the German-speaking part of Belgium, in a café named The Big Easy located in the town of Sankt-Vith. Egg-white, thick and frothy, large-bubbled but dense and only slowly opening head, misty ‘old gold’ robe with warm peachy hue. Aroma of unripe peach, coriander powder, minerals, grass, dried apricot, orange peel, crackers, old abbey cheese rind, ‘jenever’, potato peel. Crisp onset with very sharp and numbing (over)carbonation even for a tripel, then slowly unveiling fruity aspects of dried peach and apple peel but very little banana ester; sweetish continuation but not overly so, slick cereally and cracker-like maltiness with very light caramelly accent. Coriander seed and some old dried orange peel spiciness in the end, overruled by a long, leafy, earthy hop bitterness, managing to dominate the spice, earthiness and warming ‘jenever’-like alcohol playing at the sides. Stereotypical tripel, typically ‘Walloon’ (though this is technically not Wallonia) in being drier and hoppier than most Flemish examples; likeable as such, and by far the best of the three Nova Villa beers sampled that day.