Callisto Tripel
Ecliptic Brewing

 

500 ml bottle purchased from Lifesource natural Grocers in Salem OR.
$6.99
" Belgian Style Ale brewed With Blackcurrants"
Pours a nice clear amber with purplish tones..very nice thick /creamy off white head.
Aroma is quite "leafy"..maybe i'm imagining things but blackcurrants when back in Scotland as a kid smelled leafy picked off the bush. Some pale malts.
Taste is quite something a real mish mash of blackcurrant and Belgian yeasts and spice. It works ..but maybe finished too sweet.
Mouth feel is OK but needs a bit more carbonation to make it excellent.
A good idea but needs work.

Poured from 500mL bottle into a tulip. This is the 2020 edition.

Appearance: very rich amber hue with just the tiniest hint of haze. Head is a thick finger of pillowy ivory foam with a bit of a pink cast; a nice lace is left on the glass as the head slowly dissipates. Of course, it doesn't have the appearance of a standard tripel, but for what it is I think it looks very good.

Smell: lightly malty with a hint of earthy fruit character. It's interesting, but I don't find it as enticing as it could be.

Taste: richly malty with a bit of syrupy sweetness and a hint of orchardy tripel flavor, especially toward the aftertaste. The blackcurrant works okay with the tripel base, but I don't feel like it plays to the beer's strengths. I like it well enough, but it doesn't blow me away.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a good level of carbonation and creaminess. I like it.

Overall: I think this is a well-made beer; the flavor profile just doesn't entirely suit me.

16.9oz bottle (no date) poured into 14oz teku. Poured a lightly hazy brownish pink color with 1-1/2 inches of white head (that had just the slightest pink tinge) that had very good retention and lacing.

The aroma had the expected yeast aspects at the front, with the malt supporting that. The Black Currants added a slight fruit component.

On the tongue, the yeast was still dominant, but the fruit had a bigger role, being a bit more forward.

The body was fairly typical for the style, perhaps a touch fuller than average.

Drinkability was good, I enjoyed my bottle, but I probably wouldn't have 2 in a row.

Overall, a solidly enjoyable beer. Certainly worth trying if you see it.

 

The reddish infused color of the Triple (presumably from the blackcurrant) makes this a pretty beer, though the lack of head and lacing don't seem to fit the classic Tripel style.

The aroma was pleasant. Bready and cloves as a Tripel would imply, and the subtle tart fruit addition makes for an interesting experience.

The flavor follows with the dominance being the classic attributes of the Belgian influence. The blackcurrant is definitely noticeable, but wonderfully integrated as a background rather than a forefront.

As the head indicated, this was under carbonated for my liking. It was well balanced, with pleasant tart and fruity complexities.

Overall, this just didn't seem like a Tripel to me at all. A well made beer and very enjoyable, just not to style. Call this a fruited Belgian pale, or even a strong blonde, and I'd say this is a winner. But I'm no expert. If you see it, try it. Despite it's (almost singular) flaw, I'd definitely indulge again. Cheers!

 

Look - reddish pink with a pinkish white head. It has long legs and good retention. Really nice to look at.
Smell - Belgian yeast in the form of clove, banana, and bubblegum. Sweet fruity notes from the currants, and I agree with a previous reviewer that you get some notes of caramel malts.
Taste - surprisingly tart, which kinda dominates, but there are also hints of sweet fruit and spices.
Feel - great carbonation, medium body, but the finish is slightly off due to the tartness dominating the profile.

 

 

On tap at the brewery the other day.

The beer pours an attractive, fairly dark rose color with light lacing and minimal head retention. On the nose, there's considerable fruit from the currants, with some light lemon hints, light clove and light honey. Given that this beer is described as a tripel/Belgian style golden ale, I was expecting this to be fairly sweet. In fact, there was very little sweetness in this beer; just enough to buoy the light sour and the fruit. Mouthfeel is medium bodied to light, and frankly, I would not have guessed this is a 7.5% abv. beer. This beer is very drinkable, with the alcohol very well integrated into the flavor profile.

An interesting beer from Ecliptic brewing.

This is the 2016 edition, brewed with black currants. Color is definitely more pink than amber. The aroma is yeasty yet fruity. Light body. I am thinking this would be a good flavor for toothpaste. Sweet and baffling. Tart on the tongue. I am finally getting the currant taste, though it's more like the familiar fresh red currants they sprinkle on the fruit plate in fancy places.

Sweet and malty with that peculiar yet likeable fruit taste. Almost entirely unlike a Tripel, but quite drinkable nonetheless. The beer is named for the second-largest moon of Jupiter, and maybe it's the dark reddish color, so the photos would indicate. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at the Community Co-op in Bellingham.

 

22 oz bottle

Pours a one finger of head into my pint glass. Head is light pink in color. Fizzes away pretty quickly. The body is purple in color, it's brewed with Blackcurrants, which apparently totally took over the color. Visibility is basically zero. Carbonation looks medium-high. We'll see how the lacing goes, some foam is still lingering. Overall this is a weird, but pretty beer so far.

The nose is very nice, but not perfect. Up front you get that very sweet berry aroma from the Blackcurrants. It's borderline dominating. Behind that is the Belgian yeast, which brings just a hint of clove and banana. Definitely a hint of smooth caramel, almost corn aroma here as well. It's nice, but not what I was expect in the style. A faint sour/acidic aroma, possibly from the berries, or just that fact that it's a beer. Initially my thoughts were that this is just too sweet on the nose, even for a tripel. And while that is probably still true, it is actually a very complex aroma, and has a nice smooth characteristic to it, while also staying very interesting.

The flavor has more of an astringent, white wine kick to it, not nearly as smooth as the aroma. The berries and yeast hit first, but the berries actually bring more of a tart flavor than I was expecting. Banana, clove, and tart berries all hit at once, it's actually very nice. Finishing with a slightly sour/acidic/astringent bite. Possibly a hair of that caramel floating around in here somewhere, but not much. It's still a beer that has a decent amount of sweetness, and you do taste the berries, but again, the tartness offsets things. I wouldn't even call this a "very" sweet beer, only moderately. Some sips are sweeter than others, but this is a nice brew. Different, and a little weird, but tasty.

The carbonation is medium-low, it's a subtle carbonation that somehow works with the kick this beer has. Body is thick enough to support a bigger, yeasty beer. Not bad.

The drinkability is good for a beer that comes in at 7.5%. It does have a bit of a kick, but it's not what I would call a booze kick. You do get a tiny bit of booze here and there, but not much.

Overall this is a nice, interesting take on the style. It's tasty, and it does a damn good job of balancing tart and sweet.

The appearance turned out alright. Patchy lacing throughout the whole glass. Not perfect, but good enough, and it was a pretty beer to start out. Almost a 4, but not quite, 3.75.

Also, that sweet, caramel flavor started to become more prominent. It didn't "ruin" the beer or anything though.