Stokhove's winter beer (a term with more commercial value than the old 'kerstbier' or Christmas beer), basically the Waardamse Dubbel spiced with cinnamon, cloves and star anise. Gusher, but slowly so and therefore manageable enough. Medium thick but quickly thinning, pale yellowish beige, hardly lacing head settling as a creamy ring around the glass and a disparate greyish 'veil' over the middle of a cloudy, deep caramel brown beer with ochre-ish, 'muddy' edges, unsurprisingly becoming more obvious when the - already badly executed - yeast sediment is added. Aroma of very 'real' cloves, with the star anise and the (raw) cinnamon coming right behind, overpowering more basic impressions of soggy brown bread, stewed plum, pear, banana, chewing gum, nutmeg, damp earth, wet caramel candy, pecan nuts, tree leaves, glue, vague hint of old coffee grounds. Sweetish onset but not overly so, hints of banana (including some bubblegum), ripe pear and medlar, with 'dim' sourish edges; carbonation - especially for a Belgian ale - remains on the soft side. Smooth, bit resinous body, brown-bready and thinly caramelly malt base with a certain soapiness to it, lingering fruity esters soon pushed aside by this very 'Christmassy', indeed Glüwhein-coloured combination of strong cloves, slightly less strong star anise and still less strong but still very recognisable cinnamon, drenching the whole in an ethereal, perfumey, resiny 'old school' spice rack effect, but, as I expected, also adding a certain wryness to the finish, where only a dash of background earthy-herbal hoppiness is to be observed so that the underlying bready maltiness can flow through more or less unabated. Very spicy but also very malty beer, way overspiced for me personally, but admittedly it meets the standards set by old-fashioned, Scotch-based Belgian Christmas ales in the 20th century. Feels a tad 'dirty' and undercarbonated and would certainly benefit from a more generous hop dosage, but there is worse on the market during the darkest time of the year, I suppose. Not undrinkable if a bit amateurish, but I had my fair share of this kind of spicy clichés back in the day and it's about time Belgian brewers come up with more innovative recipes rather than spicing a dark ale with old Glühwein spices like this one.

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

Tried at '3de Algemene Quiz Heemkundige Kring Hertsberge ' - cheers to my teammates. Pours hazy yellow/ochre with a lasting, thin, frothy, off-white head; little, irregular lacing. Aroma of banana, white bread, yellow apple, hand soap, soapy coriander, wheat, lemon. Taste is light fruity sweet, bit estery, apple & banana, and light spicy bitter, basic soapy coriander with sourish wheat notes, not much else. Dryish, short, spicy finish, very faint grassy hops, lingering wheat. Light body, slick texture, soft to flat carbonation. Generic Witbier, easy drinker.

02/10/2018 @home - 33cl bottle from a trade with tderoeck. Clear blonde, pearly white head. Nose is honey, malts. Taste is malts, honey, sweetness, dry ending.

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

Bottle 330ml. @ [ after BBF - Hotel Room tasting ] - Room #183, Woerden, Netherlands. [ As Stokhove Waardamse Tripel ].Hazy - murky matt medium orange yellow colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, white head. Aroma is moderate malty, bread, pale malt, moderate yeasty, belgium yeast - tripel yeast. Flavor is moderate sweet with a long duration, sweet malt, tripel yeast, bread, sweet yeast. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20170923] 5-3-5-3-11

Bottle from a butcher's in Waardamme - thanks dad! Pours hazy yellow/ochre with a small, lasting, frothy, off-white head. The aroma contains yeast, spices, 'wort', overripe (almost mouldy) orange & banana, bitter hops, bready malt. It tastes medium fruity sweet and light to medium spicy bitter, notes of yeast and sweet wort; dry, spicy, bit hoppy finish. Medium body, slick texture, average carbonation. Rather cliché yeasty Tripel with a weird off-note in the aroma, but okay.

Pours hazy dark brown with a quickly thinning, tan head. The aroma contains caramel, brown sugar, nuts, dough, spices & herbs, some chocolate. It tastes medium sweet (caramel & dough) and light to medium hoppy/spicy bitter on a constant nutty/malty base; bit metallic, hoppy and herbal in the rather astringent finish. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy to soft carbonation. It could have been better!