REVIEW: Brouwerij Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet

I've looked at my fair share of Belgian style ales on the blog but today's beer is my first true Belgian beer. A bit odd that it's taken this long. My fascination with this beer starts with that tall, stemmed, fleur de lis festooned glass sitting there on the right. I was at Dilly Cafe in Mariemont about a year ago (One of the great beer bars. You should really check it out if you have the chance) and they were pouring Tripel Karmeliet, and while a Belgian tripel isn't always wont to catch my eye, that glass sure was. A couple of months later I found A Tripel Karmeliet gift set at the party source that included three bottles of the beer and, you guessed it, that beautiful glass. That brings us to today, where if I'm being honest with all of you, I bought this bottle just so I could use the glass for a blog photo. Time to see if the beer inside is as pretty as the glass. To the beer!

Tripel Karmeliet pours a deep rich golden yellow. Tons of effervescent carbonation rises from the bottom of the glass and feeds into a massive layer of frothy, bubbly, bright white head.

Typical Belgian peppery estery spiciness mingles with a grassy earthy charcater. There's a nice light fruitiness in there as well. Citrusy lemon notes and also some green grape like hints.

Tripel Karmeliet is light to mid bodied with a lively robust carbonation. It's awfully creamy with a full toasty herbal spiciness. There's also a great subtle fruitiness going on here as well. Notes of pear, green apple, berry, and lemon. As the beer opens up and the carbonation bubbles off a bit the fruit flavors become more prominent. There's a great interplay going on here between sweet flavors and tart dry flavors. The rather high ABV packs quite a punch on the finish.

Well, I think it's safe to say, the beer is just as impressive as the glass. A tasty, fruity, dry Belgian ale. Well worth checking out.

HD