Beer Review: Invertase Brewing’s 3X (Belgian Tripel)

Name: 3X
Brewing Company: Invertase Brewing Company
Location: Phillipsburg, NJ
Style: Belgian Tripel
ABV: 8.6%

A very well made Tripel highlights a “young” brewery’s skill in a complex style.

From the “our beers” section of Invertase Brewing’s Web site:

Classic Belgian Tripel. The very expressive yeast gives off notes of coriander and pepper with a hint of orange and banana. Moderate bitterness and a dry finish. Soft, pillow-like head with a light-golden color.

In three words or less: Strong, Complex, Spice

The annual birthday brewery tour hit the northwestern portion of New Jersey/Pennsylvania border along the Delaware River. On the New Jersey side, our second visit of the day was Invertase Brewing Company and this beer was the first I had during that visit, and the one I enjoyed the most.

Tripels are a classic Belgian style whose flavor largely comes from the yeast used in the beer. It is a style I like quite a bit but not a style you’ll see every brewery make, it isn’t the easiest style because you can’t typically hide mistakes with adjuncts. I think 3X was one of the first beers the fine folks of Invertase brewed shortly after they opened in late 2019. So how does it hold up?

The keg must have been tapped out because I was given a can, which is perfectly fine. The day was nice so our crew headed out to the biergarten where I popped open the can and poured a golden beer into the glass. Some Tripels I’ve enjoyed show slightly cloudy and unfiltered in the glass, this one is clear. The beer smells like a Tripel, hints of fruit from the yeast and an overall rather earthy aroma.

First sip gives a hint of the quality of the beer. I’ve got a smile on my face because this is very close to what I expect a Tripel to be. The esters / yeast give a hint of banana that is extremely pleasing to my palate.

With each sip I take from the glass, I enjoy the even beer. That fruit element comes through more potently, though not like I’m biting into a fruit that would be an amalgamation of a pear and banana. Rather, the hints of those fruits are extremely pleasant, not to sweet and offset the relatively high ABV of this beer. I say relatively because 8.6% is a right around the average ABV for a Tripel, at least the Tripels I’ve had and logged into untappd.

3X is an impressive Belgian Tripel for the balance and nuance in the beer from a brewery that has only been existence for slightly more than two years.

Recommended, link to 4-bottle cap untappd rating check in.