Hello again guys.  Thanks for checking in on another craft beer review.  For today’s review I’m going to be trying the Maredsous Abbaye-Abdij Tripel 10 produced by Duvel Moortgat located in Breendonk-Puurs, Belgium. 

I’ve never tried this beer before, so let’s just jump to the website, maredsousbieres.be, to find the commercial description of this brew.

Maredsous Triple is served in the abbey on special occasions.  Its elegant smoothness hides its alcohol content and makes it the connoisseur’s beer.

Maredsous Triple is a golden-bodied Belgian Triple, redolent with festive sparkle, creamy body, and a luscious head.  Its elegant smoothness belies the strong alcohol content.  You’ll revel in its balanced, long, and warming finish. 

Sounds delightful.

This brew has an ABV of 10.0% and it comes in an 11.2 oz. bottle.

The Maredsous 10 poured a very nice, semi-clear, deep orange to amber color.  It had a very smooth and frothy, off white head with small tight bubbles.  It was decently sized and compact.  The retention time was very good and the lacing looked quite sufficient.  Some clear alcohol legs were left clinging to the glass when tilted from side to side, which provided a very aesthetic appearance.

The smell revealed a nice bit of sourness with a well blended “funk”.  Hints of soured pear and grapefruit along with an exquisite amount of sour dough bread and Belgian yeast.  Tones of spice in the form of clove and pepper melded well with some floral notes and an herbal quality with a slight redolence of alcohol.  This bouquet was wonderful!!!  Super well balanced and pleasant all around.

The taste presented a good bit of sourness as well.  Yeasty, sour dough with hints of freshly baked “Amish” bread.  Savors of grapefruit and pear that were slightly past their prime really set this thing off.  It had some funkiness, but not like the kind that one might find in a Geuze or a Lambic.  Rather, more of an earthy, subdued, gentle “funk”.  Solid tones of spice in the form of white peppercorns gave a bit of a bite and sturdy jolts of alcohol reaffirmed that this baby was 10% ABV.  The overall flavor profile was quite toasty through and through.  Man, this thing had a great flavor.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied, very smooth, very dry, chewy and lively.  The carbonation was spot on too.  A very relaxed warmth was felt along with a hearty amount of flavor left behind on the palate.

Whoa.  This was a great beer to say the least.  It was very robust, sturdy and solid in all aspects, but somehow remained super well balanced.  I definitely want another one of these.  Although I would classify this as a “sipper”, it was still relatively easy to drink.  It was gone before I knew it.  It totally hit the spot on the night in which I tried it that’s for sure.  I would highly recommend that you guys pick up a bottle of the Maredsous 10 if you have the opportunity.  It’s one of the better Tripels I’ve had in a while.  It has enough character to be pondered for the entire drinking experience.  Well, at least I did anyway.  Man, I wish I would have picked up another bottle.     

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

Until next time.  Cheers.

Score:  4.35 out of 5
Grade:  A