The Bruery ‘Trade Winds’ Tripel

Rating:

17309349_659297914254357_3083795401209431808_n“Our Summer seasonal, Trade Winds Tripel is a Belgian-style Golden Ale with a Southeast Asian twist. Instead of using candi sugar (typical for such a beer), we use rice in the mash to lighten the body and increase the gravity, and spice with Thai Basil. The result is an aromatic, digestible and complex beer made for a lazy summer evening.”

Served in a Trappist tulip. It pours with a magnificent three finger crown overlaying the bold amber body. The head is retained extremely well and works a healthy lace as we imbibe.
Super complex aroma – incredibly well layered with plenty of depth on offer. The most prominent scent is the refreshing and slightly tart citrus rind that’s got heady notes of orange, spice, herbs, floral perfumes and angostura bitters in support. We get a pretty sweet and biscuity malt structure along with the typical yeasty banana and bubblegum undertones. Maybe just a hint of booze but it’s pretty well concealed. Lovely aroma.
In the mouth it’s actually quite palate friendly with medium body and the mildest trace of acidity. A little frothy in texture due to the active Co2. They’ve done a solid job hiding that 8.6% ABV too.
It hits the tongue with a somewhat tart citrus sweetness. Starting to get the spicy Thai basil notes that come through with a funky and estery green apple fruitiness. It follows up with the hallmark banana runts, bubblegum and peppery spice before punctuating on a dry, kind of warming and herbaceous finish that endures well on the back palate.
We’ll get straight to the point and say that this is a damn fine interpretation of a Belgian tripel. The aroma is a near 10/10 and the flavour, although not as good, is still complex and traditional in its delivery. This was our 2nd crack at their range and again, we’re very impressed.