Bornem Triple Abbey Ale

Brewer: Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Belgium
Beer Name: Bornem Triple Abbey Ale
Style: Tripel (strong pale ale)
ABV: 9.0%

One day this weekend, and I'm not sure which day (because over the past week, my schooling, working, sleeping, eating, and videochatting have all melded together into one huge indiscernible mess of hours), I decided to buy lots and lots of beer. Because that way, I wouldn't have to make multiple beer runs throughout the week (efficiency is my main goal in life).

Anyhow, I went to my usual beer spot, Mr. Dunderbaks, and I picked three lovely brews, which I will save for later posts. But then I remembered that one time, I had fantastic beer luck at the ABC Liquor store just a little further down the road (and admittedly, their prices were better, too). So I hopped in the car and took a little trip down Fletcher Ave. And I must say, I made a good decision, my friends.

I bought a 6-pack of different Belgian beers, all brewed at the same brewery: brouwerij Van Steenberge. ...Embarrassingly, I can't remember how much I paid for it, but I will say this: I remember being thrilled at how (relatively) little I was paying for each beer, compared to what I'd just spent at Dunderbak's.

Tonight, I decided to crack open the tripel ale (there is a dobbel in the pack, as well).

Good call... good call.

I came in from work tonight, after nine hours in front of a computer screen. I threw down my purse and briefcase (which I tote around only to increase my professional appearance... really I just cart around skittles and fun-size twix bars in it), peeled off my pants, walked to the kitchen, and in my trousersocked-feet and rather conservative knit sweater, I promptly poured the contents of the 330ml stubby bottle into my Waterloo records pint glass... though I'd have poured it into a tulip glass if I'd have had one.

What a lovely mist drifted out of the top of the bottle right before I poured it! And a lovely aroma, too -- definitely a typical Belgian tripel abbey scent: rich yeastiness and a mild fruity/citrusy undertone. If witbier weren't my favorite sort of beer, I might say that abbey ales were. Anyway, I couldn't even pour the entire 330ml into my pint glass, at least not all at one time, because the fluffy, off-white head was so thick. Which was a very welcome change, compared to my last two entries. You can see in the picture that even after I managed to pour the entire thing into my pint glass, the head still poked up over the top. I must admit -- and maybe this makes me an 8-year-old -- overly fluffy heads are my weakness when it comes to beer. It's like I'm eating alcoholic cotton candy! Anyway, this head was quite lovely, and persisted for ages (like 8 or 10 minutes). Unsurprisingly, it left pretty rings of ecru lace around the inside of my glass as I drank the brew. The ale was a fantastic, consistently deep golden brown throughout, and it was very, very clear. I don't think there was any sediment.

Once the head finally went down enough for me to actually drink the beer, I was happily content with its taste. Yes, the beer is a bit dry and a bit alcoholic (but come on, it's a tripel!). But I liked it very much! One forum stated that it had a nice banana finish, which I tasted once it was pointed out to me. I might not have picked up on it otherwise.

The taste was a bit off toward the end of me drinking it; but to be fair, I spent over an hour on it because I kept getting distracted with other things like making a bite of dinner, checking email, and giggling at myself for no real reason (it was a 9% beer, after all).

I would buy this again, certainly. In my less-than-expert opinion, I'd say that St. Bernardus makes a better-tasting tripel, but the head on this beer was to die for. =)