Hello again guys.  For today’s craft beer review I’m going to be trying the Affligem Tripel produced by the Brouwerij Affligem located in Opwijk, Belgium.

Now, I’ve had the opportunity to taste and review the Affligem Dubbel and the Affligem Blonde.  I found both to be excellent beers, so I’m expecting this particular brew to follow along those same lines.

Let’s see if we can find some information about the Tripel on the website, affligembeer.be.

Affligem Triple:  the pride of abbey beers.  Its amber colour and distinctive bitterness is bolstered by 9.5% alcohol. 

Short and sweet.

The Affligem Tripel comes in a 25.4 oz. bottle and it has an ABV of 9.5%.

Trying to leave the sediment in the bottom of the bottle, the brew poured a very attractive, clear, honey/gold to pale orange color.  The head was off white with a mostly smooth and creamy texture.  It was nicely sized and the retention time was quite adequate.  The lacing was just “ok”, but a thin ring stayed around the top of the beer for the majority of the drink.  One cool thing I noticed was a steady stream of bubbles arising from the very center/bottom of the snifter.  Very cool.

The aroma was very bright with hints of spice and fruit.  Tones of pepper and clove interweaved with green apples and lemon citrus.  Some grassy hops and freshly shucked grain balanced the attack as well as scant cracker and wafer notes.  I found the fragrance to be well harmonized, clean and fresh.  It smelled good to me. 

Within the taste, the spices seemed to jump out at first followed quickly by the fruity lemon citrus and ripe green apples.  A somewhat noticeable taste of alcohol was discovered, but it was quickly tamed by a very pleasing pepper and clove snap.  It was still distinguishable, however it wasn’t too distracting because as the brew began to warm it started to become even more camouflaged by both clean, bready malts and grassy hops.  The bitterness wasn’t that overpowering either, although the entire flavor profile was fairly robust and sturdy.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied with some nice, bright carbonation.  It was dry, clean, snappy and crisp with a slight bite.  A good showing of warmth was felt from the alcohol and an acceptable amount of flavor was left covering the palate after each sip.

Overall, the Affligem Tripel is a very good beer.  It was solid all around.  The beer is deceptively “big” however.  I found it to be more of a sipper and I would probably only be able to handle one bottle at a time.  Even though “spiced” brews are not a particularly favorite style of mine, I would have no problem having this again sometime in the near future.  This Tripel seems to be able to blend the spices very well with the other characteristics of the flavor.  Like most beers, as it began to warm it really started to shine and become much more complex and enjoyable.  With that being said, if you haven’t had the opportunity to try the Affligem Tripel, pick up a bottle, enjoy it on a late night and see what you think.  Be sure to let me know your opinion also.

Thanks for reading and commenting everyone.  I really appreciate it.

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  3.9 out of 5
Grade:  B+