One of many liquor-infused variants of Broeder Jacob's standard tripel, in this case infused with bourbon as well as flavoured with toasted oak flakes; launched years ago but still produced so I guess the "2019" given above can be deleted. Vichy bottle from the Carrefour hypermarket in Oostakker. Foamy, initially inches thick and hard-to-pour, audibly crackling, egg-white, paper-lacing, pillowy head lasting for a long time on a hazy, orange-hued peach blonde beer. Aroma of ripe banana, sweet bourbon, honey, cake dough, freshly toasted bread, freshly cut apple, grass, dry cookies, 'jenever', cloves, dust. Sweet, fruity onset, banana ester mingled with ripe pear and a vague dash of pineapple, very lively and minerally carbonation (a bit too much on the sharp side even), subtle sourish undertone mostly from that (over)carbonation; supple body, cereally and lightly bready maltiness but also sugar-driven, with a slight toasty aspect indeed from those toasted oak flakes, adding a bit of mild bitterishness, which is eventually accentuated by a grassy hoppiness. Meanwhile the bourbon unveils itself, in the form of a sweet and very slightly astringent booziness - subtle enough not to dominate too much as is often the case with liquor-infused blonde ales, but at the same a bit too subtle to be immediately recognizable as bourbon; this booziness, as usual in infusions, bothered me a bit and does not increase the elegance nor the complexity. A light dusty aspect lingers a bit, but alcohol (and, admittedly, banana ester and hops) gets the last word here. Acceptable for what it is, but still a tad too crude for me even with the bourbon behaving relatively decently - I guess these infusions, usually being a cheaper alternative for actual barrel ageing, will never end up in my top drawer, to quote a Flemish expression.

27 September 2021. At Cambrinus, Bruges. Cheers to Anke & my birthday!

Hazy ochre, stable, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of banana, ripe apple, thyme, vague coriander, wheat, dough, honey, jenever. Taste has sweet banana, apple & pear over honey-doughy maltiness with spicy phenols & soapy coriander. Floral hoppy finish, spicy, ripe yellow fruits and warming jenever-like alcohol. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Decent enough Tripel, but Broeder Jacob has better editions than this.

Bottle at home, golden beer, small head. Aroma is yeast, floral, some peppery. Taste is the same, bitter, light sweet, herbal, peppery and yeast. some alcohol. not bad.

Bottle at home. Amber color, full sized white to off-white head that lasts for a long time. Aroma and flavor are malts, wood-ish bitter, green apple peel. A bit odd. No depth, just superficial flavors and not very complex tbh. Meh. Disappointing.

33 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ van Rooij, Culemborg.
Light hazy golden with a white head. Grainy aroma with some faint citrus aroma and some wheat. Sweet taste with a medium bitter finish. Nice thirst quencher.

28 May 2021. At Maarten's birthday party - cheers to all! Hazy yellow, unstable, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of ripe pear, apple, apricot, honey, yeast, vanilla pudding, bourbon. Taste has sweet apple, pear & plum, orange perhaps, bit yeasty, honey maltiness, bit spicy. Floral hoppy finish, dry-yeasty with ripe fruit, some vanilla thanks to the warming bourbon alcohol. Medium body, slick-creamy texture, average carbonation. Just like the Sherry and Armagnac versions, this lacks body and and real depth you'd expect from an 'Infused' beer. Drinkable, for sure, but not far removed from your average 'Strong Belgian'.

Fles 33cl thuis gedeeld. Vrij zoet, yeasty, orange peel, honingtoets, vrij zacht, bittertonen, suikers. (11-6-2021).

Bottle from Carrefour. Clear dark golden, thin, off-white head. Aroma of apple peel, pear, yellow raisin, wood, hard caramel, apricot, honey. Taste has sweet raisin, plum & apricot, sourish undertone of green apple, bitter wood & herbs in the middle over biscuity-honey maltiness. Herbal hoppy finish, restrained caramel, dried fruit, softly warming woody sherry alcohol. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. It's not that it lacks complexity, it lacks body and character. Shame!

Bottle from Carrefour, Bruges. Apparently restyled a bit, perhaps for broader supermarket distribution. Hazy dark golden, stable, small, frothy, white head. Aroma of apple slice, pear, plum, golden raisin, biscuit, honey, wet wood, alcohol. Taste has sweetish apple, plum & pear in a biscuity & caramelly malt body, bit honeyish, going over a spicy, phenolic middle which is slightly metallic too. Ends peppery hoppy, with wet wood, subtle dried fruits & boozy armagnac alcohol. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. I wonder what the original batch tasted like, because this to me lacks character, even if there's enough of it in the alcohol department.