The Sprecher Series ... The Tripel

It is the third step in the Belgian series.  There was the Enkel, which was surprisingly good.  And there was the dubbel.  I like dubbels.  The next one is the tripel.  Ordinarily, I like tripels.  However, this tripel was a slightly different story.

I think of this beer progression like a movie franchise.  The Enkel was a very good example of a patersbier, much like Star Wars: A New Hope was a very good first movie. (I don't consider the prequels to be the first of the Star Wars genre, because I don't like those movies.)  Then, there was the Dubbel, which was a very good sequel to the Enkel.

And then there is the Tripel.  But for my "Sprecher Series," I probably would not have written a review for this beer.  It is one of the more forgettable tripels that I have had tried recently.  I don't think that is the fault of the brewers.  There are a lot of good reviews for this beer on sites such as Ratebeer and Untappd.  I think the reason lies with this particular bottle of beer.  This particular bottle of the tripel was just not a good one.  

The Sprecher Tripel pours a dull yellowish-gold color, with little to no carbonation.  The flatness of the beer gave way to some banana elements in the aroma, which one would expect with a tripel.  That banana carried through with the taste, and was accompanied with some clove notes.  However, the most noticeable element was apple, which one would not expect with a tripel.  That apple was a little tart, which suggested that perhaps this particular bottle was the exception to what would otherwise be a very good progression of Belgian beer styles.  

I hope that I can get another bottle of the Tripel so that I can see if the flatness of this tripel was just an issue with the particular bottle that I had.  If I ever make my way back to Wisconsin, I will certainly look into buying one and doing an updated review.  Until then ... 

ENJOY!