Jalapeños Raspberry Double
Brasserie Trois Dames

 

been eyeing this one up for awhile as a huge fan of these guys, but the price on the large format always held me back. i finally found it nice and marked down, and had to bite. its super old, not sure how old, but it says it expired in december 2019, and these guys tend to put some far in the future dates on things, my guess is this is more than five years old now, but its still a cool beer, it just makes me want to taste it fresher now. its pretty subtle on the raspberry and jalapeno now, and im not sure what they mean by double, like it definitely isnt a belgian dubbel base, at least not anymore, and its not strong enough in abv to be any kind of double in that sense, so maybe extra fruit or peppers, not sure of another version, but i guess it doesnt matter. its kind of brownish red with a bit of sediment and a lot of bubbles even though the head is short. i dont smell oxidation but its very sour now, guessing it was always a little funky knowing the brewery, but probably has ramped up in acidity over time in the bottle, almost smells like a flanders red type now, with the tannic tart raspberries adding to the pucker factor. i dont smell a lot from the peppers, and i really only taste them in the back of my throat on the finish, they are subservient to the raspberries now, but bring just a hint of warmth on the swallow which i like, neat with the sourness. some real red wine and oak character to this, almost in front of the extras, and its somewhat maltier than anticipated, fuller bodied for what it is too, texturally very interesting stuff, off dry somehow even with the brett after all this time. not sure i love it, but i also am glad i tried it, just wondering what the heck this was like when it was new, seems a little odd even for trois dames, but i dug it, and it was fun to share with my homies, these guys intrigue me to the max and i never want to miss anything they put out. quite a nice pairing with pizza that had jalapenos on it as well...