Ogham - Oak
The Celt Experience

 

 

 

Tasting notes: Smooth. Big pear drop on nose. Peaches, apricots, plums in the mouth. A light booze on the palate. Fruity and mellow. Less spicy, woody, or floral than expected.

330ml bottle poured into a Troubadour tulip glass

Look: Deep, golden yellow with a couple of fingers-worth of snow white, bubbly head. Decent retention and leaves behind a small amount of lacing on the sides of the glass. Let the head dissipate and you're left with a uniform, white foam cap. A little bit of sediment, but far from excessive.

Smell: Smells very much like a 'traditional' tripel - slightly grassy, plenty of yeast, citrus peel and more than a hint of spice (think coriander, plus a slight pepperiness). The bottle mentions cinnamon, although to be honest I didn't detect an awful lot of that. Even so, if a good, 'full' smelling beer.

Taste: Tastes like a traditional tripel, too, although the presence of cinnamon is actually evident now. This reminds me of an overclocked witbier - plenty of candy sugar, coriander and orange peel with a lingering, hoppy bitterness.

Feel: Slightly syrupy but not overbearingly so - the fruit and spice flavours are well to the fore and there's a nice, bitter finish where you get a hint of the American hops.

Overall: Another one-off brew from Celt, which is rather sad in a way since despite being from Wales rather than Belgium this is a mighty fine 'exotic' tripel. Definitely reminds me of a witbier turned up to eleven, and despite being 8.5% ABV it doesn't feel like it. This, and Ogham Ash, are a pair of absolute crackers which are well worth tracking down. A credit to the style, with a nice twist.

 

Beer bottle (50 cl.), purchased from Clez Clem's and tasted in 2014.

Appearance : golden color with a white foamy head.
Smell : grassy, fruity and spicy aromas.
Taste & mouthfeel : fruity & spicy flavors, with a moderate bitter finish.
Overall : a good beer in the style "exotic" triple, a pleasant surprise from Clement.

 

330ml bottle, produced with orange peel and cinnamon. Apparently there's more to an oak tree than I had previously imagined.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, pale golden yellow hue, with a rising tower of glistening, creamy, foamy white head, which leaves a loose patchwork of fuzzy, sudsy lace around the glass as it it slowly sinks away.

It smells of sharp, edgy green yeast, sassy black and white pepper, pale grainy malt, dry orange rind, and a further bit of musty, earthy hops. The taste is more spicy, green and black pepper, semi-sweet, rich pale grainy malt, a touch of caramel, a hint of metallic cinnamon, some sozzled fleshy orange, and more edgy, leafy hops.

The bubbles are present, and a bit peppy, but nothing more, the body medium-light in weight, and smooth, but with a simmering alcohol caveat. It finishes off-dry, the sugary pale malt and fleshy orange having a challenge on hand with the lingering spice, pepper, and hops.

A tasty flavoured tripel - the adjuncts doing well to distract from the usual alcohol astringency. Not much is discernible from the cinnamon, unfortunately, but I'm sure its contribution is part of the overall sublimation into the total flavour vortex. Good stuff, and I don't usually throw those words around lightly for this style.