Glazen Toren Ondineke Tripel

Glazen Toren Ondineke Tripel Ale.

Here's one I first tried on my birthday last year, courtesy of Brad the Beerguy. He just pulled out a 1.5 liter bottle of this (!), and I shared it with friends. Then, the Beerguy went back to his car and brought another one! This I saved in my fridge for months (on it's side, above the fruit tray...too big to stand up!) for a special tasting with a couple of friends. I tried to take notes (something I don't like to do among company), but never posted them, because they just didn't make the cut. (Wait, I just found them on my computer! You ready? Here they come..."Ondineke

Hazed amber. copper…slimmed ring of whitish head.

Aroma: spice, fruit, yeast. dry, even-tempered. all in check. 

Taste: dry and spice, wild and funky, crazy, messed up and earthy. Malt aplenty, chalky, aspirin, high hops…")

Yup. Didn't make the cut. 

Luckily, the distributor came through with some kegs for me, and this one is the final beer of this Belg-a-Rama #10 that I have yet to cover. (It's the fourth in the series so far, after Angelique dubbel, Jan de Lichte wit, and Erpe Mere saison.)

A unique beer, an atypical tripel, (full name: Ondineke Oilsjtersen Tripel (Tripel from Aalst) with an unusual name, and label art. After much searching, I learned it's named for a character in a book by a local author, and the drawing is a depiction of this "Ondineke" character. Still looks extremely odd. Did they ever translate it from the Flemish. I'd be interested to know why this beloved heroine is pigtailed, nude and possessed of strangely long fingers.

 Alas, this might not be the perfect glass for a tripel, but it is the only one I have with the Glazen Toren logo. So, I'm using it.

Gorgeous golden cast, with a constant stream of bubbling, and big snowy white head, starts large, drifts down, leaving lace.

Aroma: a perfect marriage of spice and citrus, soft and sensual. Some pepper, some coriander, geting close with orange and lemon, sliding into the nose and tickling it. Sharp, tangy, then a little sweet.

Many things in the mouth. Sparkling, spicy, sweet, juicy, then dry as she goes. Fruit goes hand in hand with spice, and it quits the palate with a quickness, drying off, yet enticing another sip. Gets more and more lemon-y as we go deeper in. Each new meet and greet on the tongue smack the lips and palate again with small amounts of spice, large amounts of fruit, that swiftly turns dry and begs it's pardon on the way. Lingers lightly. Spreads just enough of it's particular pleasure along the palate to urge on further consumption, and spread further delights.

I'm liking these Glazen Toren beers. Though expensive, they're definitely worth the drinking. There's a few more out there I haven't tried, but they won't escape my grasp, I can assure you.