Straffe Hendrik (Tripel beer)

The next beer review in my series. As you all know by now I am a fan of Belgian triple beers, which are strong blond beers. If I am not mistaken some countries do call it strong pale ale.

Why I do go to the beer shop, I like to choose beers which I have never tasted before. Of course there are some exceptions like Karmeliet and Tripel, which are always in my basket. So, I always do have the question which one I will try.

To solve this I did let the community decide on noise. I did create a beerlover channel on noise, feel free to join that channel if you do love beer. Every beer related post is very welcome. I am very interested in the beer outside of Belgium. When abroad I do like to try to local beer, and some are very good. Here is the link to the noise channel:

https://noise.cash/c/beerlovers-7k35qqaj4566

While there was only a short time between posting the question and popping the bottle, only one reply did came in in time. Thx @Pantera Next week I will ask the question in the morning, so that the community will have more time to react.

The community had to choose between

So as written above, Straffe Hendrik it was.

Straffe Hendrik is brewed by De Halve Maan (Half moon) In Bruges.

Besides this tripel they also do brew a quadruple, which is a strong dark beer. But they also brew Brugse Zot and Brugs Tarwebier.

I did drink it before but I did forget the taste of it. And since writing these post, I do have a complete different approach to tasting a new beer. From poring it into the glass, looking at the color to smelling it, concentrating on the taste and the aftertouch.

It is not the blondest beer around; but much lighter than the previous one, which was Leffe Rituel 9.

After testing it; the first thing I did notice was the strong after touch. It was pretty bitter, which I don't always like.

I didn't taste any special, but this one isn't a top beer for me. So the next step is to see what the brewer themselves have to say about the beer.

The aroma is spicy with hints of black pepper, coriander and ginger, and is even insinuating the presence of oranges.

I do love black pepper but I do hate coriander. That's why I am not a fan of Thai food.

The palate initiates a hint of caramel, soon flowing into a certain bitterness. In the finish one can discover citrus fruits and even subtle flavours of banana.

Aha, here is the next problem. The second beer in the week with a strong aftertaste but also with a hint of banana. Very subtle of me to take the picture in front of our banana tree 🤦‍♂️ And I was right with the bitter aftertaste.

So the question is, will I drink it again? Well probably not when I do have to pay for it, but I still have 2 of those in the fridge, so yes probably I will. Have to make a mental note that I don't purchase it again. This doesn't mean that it is a bad beer, it is just nothing for me. Some like for instance dark beers, which never will be my favorite.

The alcohol percentage does put it in the higher regions. And the fact that they do have a refermentatation in the bottle, means that I could stay in the fridge for a long period. Maybe long enough to give it to a guest in the summer 😂

As last the techinical data of the brewery:

Cheers,
Peter