Three Graces
The Tap Brewing Company

 

 

 

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a tulip glass.

A: The beer is a light gold color, with a thin white head that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains esters, Belgian yeast, caramelized malts, some fruit and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of apples, caramel and some mild spice followed by a quick bite of Belgian yeast esters and alcohol. The hops presence is very mild and the malt character is on the thin side for the style causing there to not be much balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and a little smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

O: A little tasty, goes down ok, not too filling, strong kick, decent representation of style, there are certainly a lot of other choices in the style that I would pick first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22oz brown bottle. Bottled in date etched on side label. Served in an Allagash tapered goblet.
It pours a cloudy gold color. A hard pour is needed to agitate a medium-sized white head.
The smell is a mix of cut dry grass, resinous and citrusy hops, cloves, pepper and a hint of white rum.
Flavors of bitter oranges, peppery spices, citrus zest, Wheaties and sneaky white rum fuminess all hang together, yet independently.
It's a bit on the wet side until halfway through, when the hops and barley and resulting alcohol begin to blend together.
Could use a tad more body depth, but it really is a satisfying brew to enjoy on a cool night on the deck with some Port Salute cheese.

Bomber courtesy of jsilva, poured into an oversized snifter. Hazy apricot with a modest cap of foam that leaves scattered bits of lacing.

Mild but pleasant bready and yeasty nose with restrained notions of clove, earth and vague fruitiness. Bolder tasting than I'd have guessed, though. Grassy and grainy with a leafy hop presence. Spiciness via light white pepper, clove and a bit of tobacco leaf. Yeasty and on the thicker side of medium-bodied, but with a rather clean finish. Alcohol is well-masked. A decent stab at the style, worth checking out.

From the 22 ouncer dated March 2011. Sampled on July 6, 2011. Perhaps I should have let it sit a bit longer. The pour was the best part about it with its milky pale yellow and thin, short-lived head. The aroma was steeped in pepper and spices, banana and pear with little malt or hop notes. The body was pretty good at about medium and creamy. The higher ABV was more pronounced in the taste along with pepper and spices and a tart hoppy bite at the end. Slightly dry. It did get better as I went along.

Bomber received n a recent trade with mkabull. Thanks again Alec! Bottled 4/11.

Pours a hazy dark golden range with gold edges and a one finger frothy white head that slowly settles into a lasting ring. Sporadic spots of lacing left behind.

Slightly earthy aroma with grassy hops, zesty spice, pale malt and light fruit. The yeast is prominent in the nose with hints of bready, straw, apple and pear. Lots of peppery spice, possibly coriander and candy sugar. The pilsner malt becomes more dominant as it warms giving off an odd buttery scent.

Medium bodied with a very prominent pilsner malt flavor. There's some zesty spice up front with hints of pepper, coriander and possibly some candy sugar. This is followed by the strong yeast and malt characters. Hints of grass, hay and straw along with estery light fruit notes, especially apple and pear. Some sweet alcohol booze in the finish but overall the high ABV is well masked.

Overall, this beer has a bit of an identity crisis. It has some tripel characteristics but the heavy malt presence makes it feel more like a spicy pilsner with Belgian esters. Decent but the malt profile is a bit heavy for my liking.

Bought this 22oz bomber, bottled in March, 2011, at The Liquor Shoppe last week for $5.99. Enjoyed last eve while relaxing outside...

Poured into a Rapscallion chalice, this tripel was a dull, flat golden color, and the liquid was cloudy. Couldn't tell how much carbo was present due to the haziness, and the head was a thin, wispy trail of white bubbles near the rim, with little lacing. The aroma was inviting, with some crackery malt and tropical fruit notes wafting forth. Body was a solid, middle of the road medium, with a fairly smooth feel on the tongue.

Light sweetness was present in the flavor, being a bit bready. Some tropical fruit appeared, along with a little pear and green apple. It had a spicy, yeasty bite at the finish, along with a decent dose of hop bitterness. A middle of the pack Tripel; nothing to write home about, for me, anyhow... Prosit!!

3.65 rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

1347

22oz bomber.
A) Pours with a finger thick head then settles nicely leaving a creamy lacing on the top and at the sides of the glass. Relatively clear golden body. Great lacing on the drink down.
S) Definitely Belgian. Notes of orange peel, clove, banana, and a little bit of butterscotch.
T) Fruity notes up front - pear, apple and banana. Subtle clove in the finish. A nice malt profile, not too robust but a nice balance to the grain and spiciness.
M) Medium light body. Creamy and smooth. A definite warming sensation in the aftertaste.
O) A delightful Belgian, and ringing in at 9.2, has a nice punch!

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a Chimay chalice.

The color is a pretty cloudy yellowish orange with a slight wisp of white head and thin lacing left on the glass.

The smell is a Belgian triple all the way, some funky aroma that is also sweet with a malty sweetness then has some background fruity flavor. There is a slight tartness hiding in the background.

The taste is sweet with an apricot flavor that is sweet and a little tart. In the back as the sip goes down there are a little bit of an earthy, green flavor that is somewhat tropical fruit but sugary like candy.

There is a full bodied feel to this beer. It feels slightly big but not too big as it goes down with light effort and is really refreshing for a Belgian triple.

i attempted to the limit of my capacities to provide this brew with a chance to have a little froth, but it spurned the chance. the color cannot decide if it wants to be straw gold or amber, and as a result is an indistinct and undistinguished alloy of the two

the first aroma to reach my olfactory receptors is sweet, honeyed pils. any auxiliary aromatics are entirely ancillary. the detectable but timid spice (emanating, i imagine, from yeast) isn't enough to keep this tripel from smelling like a pilsner

up front it's sweet pils malts indeed, with a nice Golding hop flavor. a beverage not bashful of its alcohol presence, for ethanol is flavor #4or #5 chronologically. i can stomach (even celebrate) measured alcohol heat but its presence in this tipple is ungainly. i will say, however, that it is balanced by the beer's sweetness. while we're on the subject, this tripel is too sweet for a tripel. i don't know that the body is obtrusive but i find myself thinking about pairing this brew with ice cream (NOT the sign of a balanced beer, in m eyes)

the bottle specifies that this beer was fermented warm to enhance the yeast's spicy propensities, yet the result is certainly too hot. i recommend lowering fermentation temps 5 degrees and augmenting with actual spices if the yeast can't deliver at a lower temperature...or increase hops slightly in order to combat sweetness

OR/AND bring down the original gravity. a tripel is a difficult style to execute with so much booze, since its essence is permitting delicate elements to shine and excessive sweetness and alcohol inhibit this

Bottled March 2010. Poured into a Duvel tulip

A - Light, barely hazy straw colour pour with just the slightest of bubbles. A less than one finger white head that rapidly fades leaving barely any lacing.

S - Nice yeasty notes and citrus notes, but overall somewhat muted. Even after warming, not picking up any hop notes.

T - Good flavours on this, but only in the term of malts, yeast, and citrus. Not getting much in the terms of spice and such, but am getting an almost saison like bombardment. Other than the alcohol, this really isnt reading as a tripel for me.

M - Low carbonation and a dry finish. Really would like some more carbonation.

D - This stuff is alright, but could really improve on a couple aspects, mainly the mouthfeel and aroma. Flavors are nice, but really lacking in those two key categories.