Launched last month at the beginning of the year, this is the new non-alcoholic version of the classic Tripel Karmeliet, the three-grain tripel developed by Bosteels in the late nineties - but now in the clutches of AB InBev (with the expected loss of quality as a result, the current version being notably more bland and sweet than what I recall from the original, which I have been familiar with since it was first launched itself three decades ago). This version was apparently brewed to the same recipe but with a different yeast strain, which allegedly only ferments glucose and fructose but not the more complex maltose, the primary sugar in cereals - resulting in a very modest alcohol level of 0.4% ABV, just below the Belgian standard to legally qualify as non-alcoholic. Distinguished visually from the 'original' by the blue highlights in its packaging (labels and cap). Thick, foamy, egg-white, bit irregular yet dense and stable head, not quite the huge 'bath foam' head of the original but still fully developed; crystal clear, metallic brass-coloured blonde robe with old golden hue and active visible sparkling. Aroma of chewing gum, wet wheat flour, breakfast cereals, banana but more 'green' and less dominant than in the original, coriander seed of course, industrial biscuit, plaster, wet white paper, dried cut flowers, dust, iron. Sweetish onset, very sleek and clean, light banana and apple peel notes but not the esteriness I typically expect from something referring to itself as a 'tripel' (ignoring the fact that an alcohol-free tripel is in itself a contradictio in terminis, of course); bubblegummy without much of the sweetness normally associated with it, rather plaster- or papier maché-like, in a very slick, glueish environment, but also with an evidently thin mouthfeel. Sweetish barley, soapy wheat and silky oats are present as announced, but in a superficial, watery way and difficult to distinghuish - so that a kind of generic, bland graininess is the net result, picking up a touch of floral hop bitterishness in the end but in an 'industrial', bit 'dusty' way, paired with the coriander and curaçao spicing, which admittedly do linger a little bit along with the hops and vague traces of iron and a dull basic sourishness. A less agreeable plasteriness or rubberiness also lingers. Thin, bland, unnecessary and paradoxical (a 'tripel' is a strong beer by definition - even the term itself more or less indirectly yet clearly refers to it): I must admit that these NABLAB beers have become increasingly better in the past years in ways most of us probably could not predict, but this one fails to convince me that the original character of the 'real' Karmeliet is fully retained as the producer claims, even taking into account the character it already lost after the takeover. Another one cashing in on the hype - but I remain curious about how the devoted Karmeliet (or generally tripel) consumer will react...