IPA Bavaroise
Les Trois Mousquetaires

 

It pours a golden amber shade with a thin veil of haze. A bright white fluffy head stands three fingers tall and laces wonderfully.

A blend of sweet melon and tangerine comes softly, sitting beside zippy floral notes. A touch grassy and a touch earthy. Orange peel and green pineapple flesh out its fruitiness. A light husky graininess pairs with fresh biscuit on the back end. It's tame for an IPA but rounded and pleasant too.

Its bitterness is more firmly stated, coming through grassy, floral and raw. A husky graininess is layered on top. Its sweetness is now more melon than tangerine, outlining its leafy hop core. Pineapple is pressed along the edges as well. An unrefined earthy, raw bitterness extends past the finish.

It's CO2 level gives it some snap. It's clean and concise with a dry, creamy finish.

This was purchased and drank about two months after its production date and I do think that had an impact on its hop character in both aroma and flavor; rounding and taming it if nothing else. I still enjoyed its tropical nuances. They nailed the body as well; refreshing, clean, and dry. I will always try anything new from LTM and I'm happy I picked this up.

Bottle: Poured a murkey yellow color ale with a large pure white foamy head with great retention and some lacing. Aroma of floral hops with light fruity notes as well as dry notes. Taste is also dominated by dry hoppy notes with nice floral notes of tropical fruits and some herbal notes. Body is full for style with good carbonation. Interesting use of hops varietals that are not common.

 

 

Cloudy golden/yellow color with a nice big bubbly head and some carbonation. Smells amazing! Grapefruits, lime, citrus, apples, pineapples, really nice aromas. Really smooth and tasty, all those fruits are present in the mouth with some nice presence of the malts.

Based off perhaps two week old memories. Take with a grain of salt.

L: A cloudy pale orange colour, which suggests heavy dry hopping. One finger head that lasted the duration of the experience. Good lacing.

S: A bit medicinal and herbal. Some slight melon notes and the faintest waft of tropical fruit. Faint sweet malt.

T: Really good stuff; i have never tasted an IPA quiet like this one. I get a lot of medicinal herbal notes typically attributed to noble-type hops, but I also get some citrus and piney flavors. Tropical fruit comes through moreso as the beer warms but it is there. Crackery malt with just the slightest hint of base malt sweetness. Maybe a bit of diacetly or some buttery off-flavor. This is a unique drinking experience.

F: Full body yet bone dry. Carbonation is perfectly adequate and allows for a smooth drinking experience.

O: A truly great beer. IT's nice to drink an ipa thats not in the typical west-cost US style. I'll have to get brewing with some of these new German hops!

 

Way too much diacetyl.

Beer is an amazing 8 years old.

A: It pours the usual IPA color of slightly hazy light honey. It has a pure white puffy head with solid retention. Not a lot of lacing but that was expected from the abv.

S: it really smells on between of an American IPA and a traditional beer with German hops. It has a strong flowery smell with a lot of juicy orange and tangerine. Light pineapple and peach. The malt is light with some general shoney sweetness somewhere in there and maybe some light biscuit malt.

T: there is definitely more bitterness in this than the 50 ibu indicates. There is a strong herbal and orange peel bitterness with some flowery notes in there too. Typical German. There is a solid fruitiness too with pineapple, peaches and light orange juice. Light biscuit malt but not much lingering sweetness.

M: Somewhat light and fluffy with a bit of stickiness. Not perfect but solid nonetheless.

O: Another solid and different offering from Trois Mousquetaires. Although it might not be the best thing they ever done it is still very much solid and different as usual from them. Recommended

 

Service: Bottle
Bottled on: Aug-21-2015


A:
Pours a hazy orange-gold with a couple fingers of airy off-white head that slowly drops to a decent film. Okay retention; speckled lacing. (3.75)

S:
Herbal Euro hops, biscuit. Orange pith, soap, grass, crusty bread. (3.75)

T:
Citrus-pine bread. Tangerine (skin and all), caramel malt, dough, cereals, herbs, sap finish. (4)

M:
Medium bodied and fluffy in the mouth with medium carbonation, a lingering herbal hoppy aftertaste, pretty dry finish, pretty drinkable for as bitter as it is. (4)

O:
Very nice and exactly what it advertises.
This is a German-feeling/seeming IPA if I've ever had one (and I haven't--barring Schneider Hopfenweisse).
Filling and hearty with a nice wheat/malt background for the hops to be featured against. The aroma is not really there like an American IPA but it does give you a good idea of what you're getting into there is a little bit of melon and clean sugariness in the nose as well but all-in-all it is a slight and subtle as you would expect from piles of European hop varieties. The flavor follows suit with more sweetness coming through and a more thorough medicinal bitterness at the end. Bready, 'together', inoffensive, hoppy. These are the things that I would assume would be necessary if someone told me they had made a “Bavarian IPA” and that is what is here.
Personally, I think that stronger aromatic hops or something a little less resinous-tasting might be a nice addition; however, since this one was brewed to be infinitely quaffed at Oktoberfest, I think it is just about everything it should be. (4)