This might be the tripel or might be the golden strong ale. Labels went missing and color isn’t helpful. We’re operating on the assumption that it’s the tripel. That recipe used eleven and a quarter pounds of Pilsner malt and a mere three ounces of aromatic. A ninety minute lower temp mash as well as a ninety minute boil were used to create a clean yeast showcasing base. Two ounces of Tettnang went in at 60 minutes along with a half ounce of Saaz at 10 minutes. Another two pounds of straight sucrose went in at the last minute for gravity and dryness. It went into the fermenter at 1.080, spend some time with WLP530 Abbey ale yeast, and came back out at a very dry 1.006. With 9.3% ABV all the measurables landed in all the correct ranges.
A moderate fruity, tart aroma comes through the big wispy head. Once I taste there’s no mistaking the bite of alcohol. This is a serious beer. Once past that, it’s exceptionally fruity with an underlying grain sweetness. Biscuit actually comes to mind strongly. The finish is quite dry. I don’t taste much spiciness at all and very little bitterness. The latter is hard to separate from the drying effect. I very much like how this simply showcases the yeast’s contribution.