Huge, fluffy white head over well-carbonated golden beer. Very obviously spicy aroma; lavender? lemonbalm? ...? but also dishwashing fluid, rubber gloves. Again this spice, unidentified, joined by banana, vanilla even Bourbon indeed. Alcohol seriously ups the sweetness. Alcoholwarming, very slick to oily, soft carbonation in the ende. Not my kind of beer to be honest. I keep claiming that Bourbon aging a strong blond beer is not the best idea. Txs to Stef!

On tap at Brugge BF. Some perfume. Clean .clear gold colour. Lasting white head. Some hop on the finish. Bit too perfumed for me.

Tripel in a young brand of beers executed at Craywinckelhof for AD Brewing, a 'bierfirma' erected by an Indian and a 'Leuvenaar' (which almost sounds like the start of a bad joke) - this kind of enterprises are in decline even in Belgium especially since the Covid pandemic, but apparently at least this one is resilient enough to keep their Tervoerke brand going. Steinie bottle with crown cap, the latter sporting the "T" representing the brand's name. Very thick, foamy, snow white, regular, densely pillowy and frothy, plaster-like lacing, stable head on a misty yellow-golden robe with ochre-ish tinge and a few thin and disparate strings of sparkling here and there. Aroma of some dominant spice first and foremost - minty and extremely soapy, as if actual shower gel was added; after a while it even becomes ethereal and 'medicinal', like something you would rub under the nose of someone who just fainted. I cannot put my finger on it, but white cardamom, lavender and hyssop seem to be potential candidates; other, far less pervasive impressions include banana peel, halfripe apricot, wet old cereals, damp straw, leftover white bread, green pear, parsnip, gin and a very distant whiff of, well, fart (excusez le mot). Spritzy onset, fruity and sweetish, notes of apple, green pear, peach and unripe banana, with lots of stingy carbonation (a bit much so even for style); smooth, quite 'full' mouthfeel. Cereally, white-bready pale maltiness under this huge dosage of spice, very herbal, very perfumey and very intrusive, even adding to a finishing wryness along with gin-like alcohol; in fact more bitterness seems to come from this "signature of spices", to quote the brewers, than from a much more modest floral hoppiness. Again this soapiness lingers, linked to a disturbing and downright unpleasant astringency established by whatever spice they used here in a fatal overdose - again white cardamom springs to mind, mingled with impressions of clove, lavender, coriander and hyssop. I do appreciate white cardamom, mostly so in an Indian cuisine context but even in beer (if rarely encountered), so there must be something else in here which bothers me a lot more; when sniffed long enough, this beer's aroma contains a very medicinal odour, as if becoming light in the head from being in an old-fashioned hospital for too long. Sniff it for too long and you will probably get a serious headache. Frankly, when I read that this was brewed at Craywinckelhof, I was hoping for at least a technically flawless, potentially boring, but in any case well-formed tripel; this could have been the case here if these guys would not have thrown so much of that damn spice in it. "True to style", they claim on the label: if the intended style is an oldskool Belgian spice beer based on tripel rather than actual tripel, then I can accept that. I guess the Indian initiator of this project could not resist reflecting his heritage in this beer - but as much as I love Indian cuisine with its endlessly complex application of spices (white cardamom being a prominent one among those, mind you), I hate it when spice or herb takes over a beer. Remove this dominant spice completely and you will have a much more stereotypical, but at least more enjoyable tripel - this is beer after all, not biryani!

75cl bottle from Carrefour market @ in Tervuren near Brussels.
F: big, white, long lasting.
C: gold, hazy.
A: malty, banana, berries, bourbon, woody, pears, bit honey.
T: full malty base, banana, pears, berries, bourbon touch, honey, red apples, light woody, warming alcohol touch, high carbonation, good one, enjoyed.

33cl bottle from Carrefour market @ in Tervuren near Brussels. F: big, white, good retention. C: blonde, hazy. A: mango, pineapple, citrus, pine touch. T: medium malty base, yellow tropical fruits, pine resin touch, bit herbal, long lasting bitterness, medium carbonation, quite refreshing, enjoyed.

33cl bottle from Carrefour market @ in Tervuren near Brussels. F: big, white, good retention. C: gold, hazy. A: malty, pears, banana, spicy, coriander, apples, honey, yeasty touch. T: full malty base, banana, pears, honey, bit herbal, bready touch, spicy, orange peels, nice balance bitterness, medium carbonation, good for the style, enjoyed.