Kasteel Tripel

Triples are known to be strong, yeasty and malty. Tripels Pale in comparison to other Belgian styles, but with a more notable hop profile.

Brewery: Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck
Beer: Triple
Style: Belgian Triple
ABV: 11.0%
Price: About $3.89 USD

This beer pours hazy yellow/orange with a dense white head. Aroma is malty sweet and yeasty, with notes of fruits and spices. Flavor is "in your face" cloves, oranges, coriander and yeast. This beer has a certain complexity to it. The spices seem perfectly balanced. Phenomenal across the board. I almost want to believe this beer could end wars. The sensations my brain is receiving are surreal, if my mouth could orgasm, it would have done so at least ten times now. Palate is light, carbonation is lively. Flavor wise, the alcohol isn't detectable until the beer warms. Your stomach will know otherwise : )

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 5/5
Overall: 17/20
Final Score: 43/50

Hoppin' Frog's Outta Kilter Wee Heavy Scotch Style Red Ale

Out of all of the styles of beer, the Scotch Ale is one that never seems to grow tired on my palate. There's just something about it's bold maltiness that excites my taste buds time and time again.

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Outta Kilter Wee Heavy Scotch Style Red Ale
Style: Scotch Ale
ABV: 8.2%
IBU: 23
Price: $7.99 per 22oz bottle

This beer pours a clear deep amber/red color with a thin off white head. Aroma is caramel, more caramel, malt, and slightly fruity. Flavor is very sweet, with some caramelization and a hint of fruitiness from the yeast. Body is medium with a slightly oily texture and light carbonation. As this beer warms the alcohol becomes more evident.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Final Score: 37/50

This beer may not perfectly fit the Scotch Ale category, I didn't really get any roasty notes on this beer. Ignoring the style constrains for the scoring this is a fantastic beer.

Brasserie Lefebvre's Hopus

I think I'll devote this month to Belgian Beers. Why, you ask? THEY ARE AWESOME, that's why.



Brewery: Brasserie Lefebvre
Beer: Hopus
Style: Beglian Strong Ale
ABV: 8.3%
Price: ~$4-$5 USD for 330ml bottle

This beer pours a light hazy golden color with the a fluffy white head that never seems to diminish. The aroma very sweet/malty, with a buttery hop presence. Flavor is very sweet, with hints of coriander. The finish is somewhat spicy, dry, maybe even acidic. Texture is somewhere between medium and heavy.The aftertaste is quite nice, a combo of malty sweet and hop bitterness.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 13/20

Final Score: 33/50

La Trappe Quadrupel

What's better than a trappist quadrupel? Not much my friend, not much. La Trappe is the only trappist brewery not located in Belgium. Fun fact, there are only 7 trappist breweries. Let's see what these monks have come up with.

Brewery: De Koningshoeven (La Trappe)
Beer: Quadrupel
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
ABV: 10.0%
IBU: 25
Price: $5-6 11.2oz bottle, $11-$12 25.4oz bottle

This beer pours a deep copper, almost red color with two fingers worth of off white head. Aroma is full of dark fruits (plums, pears, and cherries come to mind). This beer has a very deep and complex aroma, full of deep esters. Flavor is sweet, fruity, with a hint of spice from the yeast. The aftertaste is plums and alcohol. Body is medium with a good amount of carbonation.

Aroma: 9/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall Score: 17/20

Final Score: 42/50

Hoppin' Frog's Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale

Since summer is here, it's time to pound out a new round of seasonals. You might be asking yourself, wtf is a shandy? I pondered the same thing as I stood in line for a beer at a baseball game last summer. I was greeted with a beer that resembled lemonade. Today I shall be reviewing Hoppin' Frogs Shandy, which happened to be bottled this week (SUPER FRESH!).

Brewery: Hoppin' Frog
Beer: Turbo Shandy Citrus Ale
Style: Fruit Beer
ABV: 7.0%
IBU: 7
Price: $7-$8 per 22oz bottle ($28 at progressive field, eek!)

This beer pours a light shade of gold with a thin white head. Aroma is sweet with lemon being the only thing I can detect. Flavor is lemony with a hint of maltiness, has a very sweet aftertaste. The body medium with light carbonation. Note to self, this beer goes down easy, especially on a hot summer day. A 22oz bottle of beer @ 7% ABV + dehydration from being outside is a bad combo.

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall Score: 12/20

Final Score: 31/50