Category 12 Brewing Transmutation Belgian Specialty Ale Tripel at 9.6% ABV (C$9.29 at Okotoks Co-Op, 650 ml, no packaging date or best before, acquired 1-Sep-2019, reviewed 2-Sep-2019)
Appearance: clear medium amber with one fat finger of rocky ivory head, good retention and moderate soapy lacing. (4/5) Aroma: bready caramel, dark fruit, candi sugar, white pepper. (7/10) Taste: high sweet, moderate-high bitter. (6/10) Palate: medium-full slightly slick body, moderate carbonation, sticky building and lingering bitter warming finish. (4/5)
Brewer’s notes say this is a transmuted Tripel, so that’s what I’m going with as a style guideline. Some of the usual suspects call this a BSDA, but there are some slight problems with that classification; to wit: it’s not dark, and it’s not what the brewer is calling it. And, call me crazy, but, I like to evaluate things the way the brewer says they should be. So, we’re calling this a hoppy Tripel: let’s go.
Right off the hop, this is more a Belgian Dubbel than Tripel: lots of dark fruits eventually lead the way here over a bready caramel, completely unlike the dry Belgian Tripel style I prefer. You want to say you’re doing a hoppy Tripel, fine, I’m all in – but on the front end, this isn’t that. It’s really not even the sweet Tripel style that takes a back seat to the dry one I prefer, come right down to it. Sorry, guys – I generally like what you’re doing, but this is all over the map, and I suspect the only reason I’m ranking this as highly as I am is that I’m half cut and it’s got a beefy ABV. (14/20)
7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com
