Bottle from Dranken Geers, Oostakker, Gent, Belgium June 2013 consumed at home 08.07.13 in company of Casey, Traci & Loz I hadn’t realised that this was a Tripel until I poured it, seems rather strange to age a Tripel in this way. Pours nice, slight haze but golden with large billowing white head. Aroma is a bit boozy with some vanilla and yeast showing. Taste for me just isn’t right at all, I guess that there is a decent Tripel before this experiment but it just comes across as a boozy confusing mess. You can certainly pick up the barrel ageing in the mouth but I’m not a fan. Nice packaging, poor beer. A6 A4 T6 P3 Ov11 3.0

Bottle split at Craft Clerko, many thanks to Kenny, 26/06/13. #6561/9000. Hazed blonde/yellow with a good sized white head. Nose is apple skins, pear, booze, musty lemon, yeast. Taste comprises tarte apples, woody notes, Beglian yeast esters, tarte fruits, grass, light soap, oak soaked boozey tones. Full bodied, fine carbonation, boozey finish. Ok affair but the alcohol is a little harsh and indiscernible ie - I couldn’t pick out cognac.

Bottle shared at CBC Clerkenwell - big thanks to Ken for busting out the boozy Belgian beers! Pours clearish, yellow-gold with a light, white cream head. Nose of pale and bready malts, light honey, ripe fruits. Medium sweet flavor with moderate alcohol, light dry wood, some citrus, bread, yeast. Full bodied with average carbonation. Warming finish with more yeasty and doughy pale malts, some lemony citrus. Not altogether bad.

Fluffy snowwhite head, fast gone over hazy, very lively carbonated yellow-golden beer. Alcoholic nose, brandy aroma unmistakable. Meaty aroma, as (suggestion?) from foie gras; but also fresh salad with oil. In fact, the nose definitely showing some very alluring aspects. Unrefined alcoholflavour; sweet and dull, ripe bananaflavour. Sweet bread, some (brandy)wood. Alcoholheat backthroat; fizzy, overcarbonated, yet an oily or buttery MF. The nose made me believe for an instant VH had it right, this time. Fat chance. Instead of jumping head over heels into niches, try to experiment and hone your skills, for pete’s sake! Le ramage ne valant pas le plumage , pardon my French...

Bottle courtesy of Tderoek @ Post Toer de Geuze tasting. After the total fail of the Hoppy version, we now have the wood-immitation carton box with the new wave of Belgian BA beers. Guess, it’s a second failure. So yeah, lesson of the day, aging any beer in a barrel, and selling it with a nice fancy story does not make it a good beer. BB 03/05/2015. Dorée/paille, col fin blanc. Arôme est léger, présentant un bouquet cognac quasi à la ramasse et faiblard. Sinon, rien à sentir ici, on retrouve les notes d’une belge triple typique de la levure et dans le bouquet malté et houblonné. Palais donne un léger côté boisé et barrique avec un cognac faible. Le tout reste belge dans l’approche pour un abv qui se fait ressentir. Au final, le profil de la bière de base se retrouve perdu pour une fin de bouche un peu médicinale tout en gardant ce côté ester levure et fruité de la version de base. Malheureusement cela s’arrête là. Le Cognac ne donne en rien une complexité supplémentaire. Oui, ce dernier est là, mais faiblard. Le seul qui au final en prend un coup, c’est le portefeuille. Pas grave, mais ici, on a l’impression que on se fout des gens.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Trignac XII (by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 8/20, MyTotalScore: 2.4/5

22/IV/13 - 75cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent) @ Rampkrot (Deurne) - BB: 3/V/15 (2013-355)

Clear orange beer, small fuzzy aery off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: sweet, cognac all right, apples, very boozy, bit chemical, hint of banana. MF: way too much carbon, light to medium body despite all the booziness. Taste: citrus, quite some cognac, banana, alcohol, more cognac. Aftertaste: chemical bitterness, very boozy, citrus, alcohol, some hops, some banana. A failed experiment. And what's with the price, seriously? The HTDs are just half the price of this one.

75 cl. bottle sampled courtesy of tderoeck. Overpriced, Cava-looking bottle, in a big wooden style cardboard box. Packaging doesn’t seem to be aimed at beer drinkers. Bright lightly hazy golden wih creamy white head. Very sweet white sugar nose, alcohol, light cognac, booze, very sweet yeast, sweet,… Taste is sweet, sticky malty, thick white sugar, strong grain alcohol, boozy, light grain, burns in the back, applesauce. Very high carb. The price is ridiculous for this and even small sips are hard to do if the taste is manageable.

Bottle at Rampkrot. Hazy yellow color, huge thick white head. Aroma of medicinal straw. Taste is sweet and sour straw. Very hi carbonation.

Sampled from bottle @ tasting session at Bruin Cafe Oud Brabant, Oirschot. Hazy yellow orange color, small white head. Nice aroma of white wine, grapes, clearly barrel aged. Taste slightly sweet, alcohol, white wine, slight cognac influence. Medium body, a bit fizzy carbonation.