Tonight is Wednesday, which of course is one of the best days to have a taste-off of a few local beers. Tonight's event will put a few garden variety triples from the local grocer face-to-face in what I anticipate will be a heated bout of mediocrity. The contestants include Leffe Triple, Grimbergen Triple, and Florival Triple (brewed under contract for Del Haize Grocery chain.)

As a side note, the beer I'm drinking right now is Augustijn Grand Cru, a beer I've overlooked ever since I arrived here. Now I know that there was good reason for that. It isn't bad, its just not very good. It is quite pale in color (paler than most triples), mildly phenolic in the nose and aftertaste, and though it has some light citrusy and malty notes, these flavors don't satisfy the psyche on the 300 or so dark, moist evenings in Belgium. I'd go with a Hoegarden GC any time.

And here are the actual test data. KC is myself, AC is my wife Angelia

Beer	KC	AC
Leffe Triple	Simple yeasty aroma with clean malt and candi sugar up front and sweet spice in the finish.	a bit of a pilsner flavor to it. A hint of cardboard to round out the palate.
Grimbergen Triple	dry malty aroma, with a bit of DMS as it warms. but not much there. Full, sweet flavor with vanilla and a honey cream note. Almost like a liquer.	Has a Duvel flavor that she likes.
Florival Triple	Malty aroma with a hint of cardamom. Subtle hops in the background. Massive malt up front, with a good balance of hops reigning it in. Drier with a touch of astringency.	Hoppy with a bubble gum aroma.

Overall, we were surprised by the character of these beers. The Florival and Grimbergen were definitely the best, with thick creamy heads and lots of flavor, but the Leffe certainly held its own with a different interpretation of the style. Of all of them, I'd buy the Florival again as it was the most balanced of the lot. All three of these were better than the Augustijn Grand Cru I opened earlier.

Well, there it is.