F: medium, white, not long lasting. C: gold, hazy. A: fruity, banana, bit cooked vegetal, spicy, yeasty, peach, floral, bit honey. T: malty, orange peels, bit fruity sour, bready, dough, bit gin alcohol, quite good balanced, herbal tones, not bad at all, medium body with high carbonation, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Winters Bier Festival in Waregem.

F: medium size, light tanned, poor retention. C: dark, opaque. A: malty, chocolate, cocoa, dried fruits, banana, bit vinous. T: dark malt, cocoa, chocolate, dark caramel, bit vinous, dark cherries, warming alcohol, bit nutty, not bad balanced but lack some more complexity to balance huge ABV and to be great, almost full body, lower carbonation, only good yet enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Winters Bier Festival in Waregem.

20th Nov 2017. Shrewsbury Beer Share Group Meeting in Chez Sophie. 75cl bottle: BB Apr 2019, brought by me from Rudy in De bierboom, Brugges, he is one of the 'four monks' who brewed this. Slight haze to the golden pour, white topping. Incredible Belgian yeast aroma and a lovely, easy drinking Tripel with enough sweetness to appeal to my sweet tooth. There is a light spiciness and floral/fruit element within the flavours, I really enjoyed it.

75cl bottle @ monthly tasting, Chez Sophie, Nov 17, courtesy of Bladdock. Many thanks! Pours a lightly misty gold, small white head. Aroma has a nice breezy Belgian yeast sweetness. Taste similarly light with a gentle Belgian blonde character. Lacks a bit of bite but nice enough.

The tripel from these "four monks", among whom we find Bierboom's Rudy Vossen as well as Hoppelaar's Joachim Nuytens, a new beer company in Bruges brewing elsewhere - in this case De Feniks. Thanks to Bart Van Poucke, who apparently joined this company as well meanwhile. Bubbly and coarse, frothy, gradually thinning, egg-white head, warm peach blonde robe with somewhat greenish tinge, hazy but 'perturbed' by very strong, cava-like fizz. Aroma of peach, banana, canned pineapple, powder sugar, sandwiches, white pepper, old ginger powder, moist unspiced potato chips, grass, nutmeg, honey and a touch of DMS (cooked cauliflower) but luckily subtle enough not to disturb me too much. Sweet onset, peach, banana, touch of green pear, sourish accent, sharpish carbonation but not overcarbonated for this style of beer; bit 'fluffy', bready malt body with lingering honeyish residual sugariness on top, ending in an increasing yeastiness, bit estery and bready, bit phenolic too but not unpleasantly so and fitting the style well. Floral hop bitterishness shows up in a mellow way, and so does the expected afterglow of gin-like, yet non-astringent alcohol. Very stereotypical, sweet Belgian tripel, very accessible and easy so bound to please the average beer drinker I suppose - and quite well executed on top of that. Granted, from a company referring to the heavily Belgian-coloured, centuries old tradition of brewing monks I did not expect anything else than things like tripel and quadrupel. This one is fine for what it is, even makes me curious about that quadrupel they concocted as well.

33cl bottle: BB 5th Apr 2020. Poured into a Westmalle chalice at home on 18th Oct 2017. Sold to me by Rudy at De Bierboom, Brugge, he is one of the Vier Monniken (four Monks). Ruby pour, tanned top, fading very swiftly to a wisp and collar. Boozy from the start, almost burnt my nasal hair with the aroma! Sweet, rich malty front, alcohol bursting through the brew all over the place, odour wise and flavour wise. Dark fruits abound, that's sweet plums, dates and figs. Lovely, but I just know it's headache inducing and the 33cl I am drinking is more than enough. Some beers can carry 12% ABV and above by their depth of character or flavour, this couldn't quiet do this. Sorry Rudy, but I will tell you to your face that it wasn't as good as I hoped.

At The Monk, Bruges. Second beer of a new craft brewery in Bruges, backed by crowdfunding. Pours hazy golden with a small, foamy, white head. The aroma contains yeast, barley, hops & herbs, some fruits (apple, banana). It tastes medium fruity sweet and light barley-like bitter, with a short hoppy finish. Medium body, slick texture, soft carbonation. Surprised to see it's 8%; feels a bit weak on the palate; only decent in terms of taste.

Bottle consumed at Bierboom, Brugge, Belgium, Friday 15th September 2017 with Lynn and Barry. A little bit of spirit on the nose with some caramel and chocolate. Soft in the mouth, a good warmth from the alcohol, Pleasant sweetness, a little bit of coffee liqueur, this is a nice beer. A6 A4 T7 P4 Ov14 3.5

Bottle consumed at Bierboom, Brugge, Belgium, Friday 15th September 2017 with Lynn and Barry. Hazy gold with a white filmy head, spicy with a bitter linger, a little corainder perhaps. A little bit thin for the abv but it's fine. A6 A4 T7 P3 Ov13 3.3