New Belgium Honey Orange Tripel

Traditionally  the four varieties of Belgian Abbey Ales are abbey ales, dubbels, tripels and quardrupels or grand crus. Legendarily the regular ales were for the common people, the dubbels went to the local nobility, the tripels to the bishop and the quads they kept for themselves. I'm pretty partial to quads myself, especially the bourbon barrel-aged variety, but today I'm drinking a tripel.

As is usual for a tripel, New Belgium's Honey Orange Tripel pours a bright golden hue with a healthy snow-white head. The honey makes it a bit sweeter than I consider optimal, but doesn't detract from the taste. The orange peel gives it a nice tang. The 25 IBUs put it in the middle of hop bitterness territory. It clocks in at 10% ABV, as the brew warms up, the alcohol heat becomes more evident. Honey Orange Tripel is at once a light summery ale, yet packs a punch, and still has that elegance that you'd expect from a high-end offering.

If it weren't for the cloying sweetness, I'd give this a solid 10, but it will have to be a 9.25 on the IGB scale.