Small Batch Tripel Ale
Susquehanna Brewing Company

 

As I continue to winnow down/away the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody, I am fascinated by some of the beers that I have for review & rating. This one is kind of a curiosity for me since I wonder how they will do with this interpretation of the style.

From the Bottle: "Brewed Right."; "Experimental Brew Series."; "We know the only way to make really good beer is to get your hands hoppy and see what happens. The Susquehanna Small Batch series lets our brewmaster test his creative palette to craft recipes and blend beers like you've never tasted before. Now you can taste them. Let us know what you think, and we'll turn the best of these brews into readily-available Susquehanna brands."

I Pop!ped the cap & began a slow, gentle pour since I had no idea if lees would have formed. Once sufficiently decanted, an in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of foamy, fizzy, bone-white head with moderate retention, quickly fading to wisps. Color was a beautiful Gold (SRM = 5), enticing The Gelt Gang of Midas, Croesus & Mammon to drop by for a taste. It was very carbonated as evidenced by the CO2 bubbles that continually manifested themselves. The nose was at once musty, peppery, spicy, citrusy and slightly sugary sweet. Hmm. Mouthfeel was medium. The taste was Belgian Tripel-like, but it lacked to Ooomph! that this style generally delivers. It was musty, citrusy and peppery/spicy, but it felt like it had either been dialed down/back or simply failed to live up to its potential. It was in the ballpark, but it needed tweaking to really be worthwhile. Finish was dry, but given the relative lack of lees, I am guessing that this was filtered prior to bottling. If so, that was a mistake! Flavor had noticeably been stripped away & the beer suffered as a result. Please, if you attempt this one again, SBC, leave some yeast behind for it to bottle-condition! This was Good, but it could have been MUCH better. YMMV.

Tripel pours a cloudy copper color, with a small head. Sweet sugary aroma. Flavor is very sweet and sugary with Belgian candy flavors. Good body and feel. Overall a solid tripel ale.

 

 

I tried this on tap at the brewery tasting room served chilled in a glass.

The color is a light hazed golden with white head. The smell is very good slight mix of banana esters and slight orange-like hop aroma. The feel is very good with mild malt sweetness moderate bitterness and slight spice in the texture with mild alcohol in the finish.

The taste has the flavor of yeast with some tropical banana-like elements with dry pils and light sweetness perhaps wheat with the hops not as flavorful as they are aromatic with a modest amount of alcohol in the finish. Overall this is a good take on the style with a nice hop aroma yet the alcohol is a little strong in the taste in my opinion.