Tropical Tripel (w/Cigar City)

From: http://www.beermonthclub.com/de-proef-brouwerij-cigar-city-brewing-tropical-tripel.htm
 
This collaborative beer from De Proef and Cigar City definitely veers a fair distance from an ordinary Belgian tripel, finding its conceptual kernel as a “peaches-and-cream tripel.” While brewed with Belgian candi sugar and a traditional Trappist yeast strain, the recipe also adds a dose of lactose for additional mouthfeel (the “cream”) and finishes up with dried peaches. A Brux III strain of Brettanomyces and assertive hop additions add to the tropical angle, while further contributions of toasted coconut and medium toasted oak appear as well. Actually, it may make sense to just forget we said anything about this as being a tripel in the first place.
For starters, it’s certainly on the far-darker side of tripel territory, pouring a deep, orange hue that’s not quite transparent. A lacy, off-white edging of small foam remains at the perimeter, leaving behind a bit of shimmering lacing. Throughout, it proves vital to let this beer warm a bit for best results, allowing some of its peppery phenols from the Trappist yeast to manifest more intensely (and necessarily), balancing out the sweeter elements of the beer. After some time in the glass, the aroma will put those white-peppery notes at the forefront, followed up by an engaging mélange of secondary notes from the other ingredients: piney bitterness from the Simcoe hopping, some passion fruit and lemony citrus from the Brettanomyces, the soft stone-fruit sweetness from the dried peaches, and those touches of vanilla-like tannins from the contributions of toasted coconut and oak. While that initial phenolic note gives this beer the core backbone of a tripel, the quieter peach and tropical-fruit qualities steer it elsewhere.
At initial sip, the roundness seems higher than one’s expectation of a Belgian tripel, which is why allowing it a bit of time to warm proves necessary here. Misbalanced beer is lesser beer, and those white-pepper notes are clutch. There’s a lively, small-bubbled carbonation and the firm sharpness of yeast-derived pepper and hop-based piney bitterness that cut through that heavier core: zesty, lifting, and lightly effervescent. A modest tannic quality from the toasted coconut (maybe?) and the medium toasted oak (more likely) helps out here as well. It’s those dried-peach notes, though, and a juicy Brett character (kaffir lime leaf, passion fruit, lemons) that tend to stand out the most, providing a fruit-driven but never syrupy riff on the typical Belgian-tripel formula—which tends to rely more on balancing a yeasty pepper and alcoholic warmth with a bit of honeyed sweetness at the core. That lactose addition does contribute an extra feeling of roundness in the mouth (there’s some heft there if one swishes their tongue), but the pepper and bitterness and restrained tannins balance that out quite nicely. It’s a deft, careful balance, all told, and perhaps more dependent upon proper serving temperature than most of our Club’s other offerings in recent memory. Give it some time to warm, allow that it operates on a different balancing scheme than conventional Belgian tripels—then savor it.
The potent alcohol content suggests this beer will stay on point for some time, though try to sample a bottle every few months to ensure the others are still heading in the right direction. We suggest pairing it with foods that appropriately match its higher alcohol (although it stays hidden) and robustness, such as crab cakes with citrus-based salsa, or a tropical-fruit torte.