REVIEW 145: ST. BERNARDUS TRIPEL

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Belgium

BREWERY:  Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV

STYLE:  Tripel

ABV:  8.0%

PURCHASE:  25.4-oz. bottle, $13.99

SERVING:  Said bottle, poured into St. Bernardus branded snifter. In the snifter, not much head. Pours of varying speeds all resulted in less than an inch, with not much in the way of retention.*

APPEARANCE:  Hazy, golden-orange body with a slightly off-white, sudsy head. Very, very faint bubbling. Visible flecks of "floating" yeast. No lacing.

BOUQUET:  Malty, with a significant sucrose presence--likely a result of Belgian candy sugar. Pressed grains and slight citrus notes--namely orange and possibly a tinge of lemon--also evident. Not overly complex but extremely inviting.

PALATE:  Significant carbonation that starts moderately enough, but can become sharp and biting if held even a tad too long, if the beer is consumed too cold. (As it warms, it gets better all around, but especially in this department.) Drinkability is still a breeze. Fairly simple front palate of malt and grain, somewhat sweet. A bit phenolic and yeasty in the finish with emerging citrus zest. Aftertaste is a bit hoppy with a renewed sweetness. Very well balanced; ultra-smooth mouthfeel.

MUSINGS AND METAPHORS:  Arguably an elite beer like another St. Bernardus stalwart, the Abt. 12. What American tripels should aspire to be. 

The key to drinking a lot--maybe even most--of these abbey beers is to pay attention to temperature. 45-50 degrees is what you want here, not 35-40 as you would, say, a Coors Light. I learned that lesson the hard way once upon a time. Don't get me wrong. Consuming this at too cold a temperature will not ruin the experience, but it will certainly compromise it.

Do it correctly, and you've got an All-Star here.

*What a difference temperature, in addition to a change in glassware, truly makes. I experimented over two nights with this. The photo at the top was my "official" review, in the St. Bernardus snifter. The following night, I consumed another bottle after taking it out of the refrigerator--located in my garage--and allowing it to sit in the January air for several hours while I was at work. I also used a Chimay chalice (pictured below) instead of the snifter. The result was more subdued carbonation, an even better balanced taste, and . . . head!




GRADE:   A