X.O. Tripplebock
Ellicott Mills Brewing Company

The beer poured a light amber with a white head. The aroma was a wonderful mix of malt, fruit, and alcohol. The taste was lead by good sweet malt. It had a nice undertone of fruit, with hints of tanin in the finish. This was all wrapped up in a very pleasant alcohol burn. The feel was medium and oily with a very soft and delicate texture to the whole. This was a great high strength bock. I was tempted to sit and drink it all night, but didn't want to wind up under the table.

Specifics (per brewing/menu board within brewpub taproom):
Draft 12.5% ABV; brewed 8/9/05 and tapped 12/14/05
I sampled on 3/3/06, with a glass just after tasting their Doppelbock.

Appearance: Surprising light ruby-mahagony color, served in a small snifter filled to the brim. Just slightest spread of rim-lace.

Smell: Toned down (by default), sweet/alcohol, with slight aroma of just-ripening fruit.

Taste/mouthfeel: Wow. First noticed how drinkable the beer was for its alcohol level, with mouthfeel viscocity just right. Maybe my previous beer was of influence, but seemed to me to hide its strength even moreso than the 8.5 Doppelbock. Then I really tasted the fruitiness - this tasted nearly as might a very strong fruit beer, laden with substantial malts and fruit (peaches?), had I not known better. So, nice complexity with its simple ingredients (I suspect considering its sytle and profile).

This beer left me appreciating every sip even after my glass was drained, and moreso wondering about the entire mash-to-lagering process and how admirable a brewing effort this represented. Very impressed by its quality of brewing... hats off to the brewmaster on this one; hard to top!

Mucho thanks to GusterFan and Dave for 'persuading' me to tag along once again on a DC (mostly?) business trip.

An expensive bottle of beer! $25 for a litre swing top, Of course, it is a rich, strong beer.... It pours a crystal clear, deep amber with a reddish cast body beneath a creamy head of off-white that slowly dwindles to a wide collar but leaves little lace. The nose is surprisingly fruity given the style (I was expecting more malt), and has a mineralistic side that leaves it smelling a bit like children's vitamins. Alcohol is present, but it's not distracting. The aroma's not particularily welcoming, nor is it off-putting... it's just a bit unusual. The body is full and it's carbonation is median, leaving it smooth and creamy across the palate. The flavor follows the aroma without offering much more than a little bit of extra malt character and much less fruitiness. I was expecting something rich and dark, but this is much more like a supercharged helles bock. In fact, it seems like a bumped-up version of their Jack Frost bock. On the up side, as an extra strong helles bock it's done very well and the alcohol is surprisingly well-hidden (although not completely cloaked). It makes an enjoyable sipper, and would work well as an apertif, after-dinner drink, or nightcap. Worth trying, but not worth seeking out.