Trinal
Hidden Cove Brewing Co.

Poured into a 16 chalet glass not a clue when it was bottled. Pours a very attractive dark amber, with a finger off white head that leaves some thin streaks of lace, with pretty solid retention. 4.25

Smell is must, red wine, fig, dates, plum, oak, and clove. 3.25

Taste follows must, fig, dates, plum, oak, clove, and red wine. 3.25

Mouthfeel is about medium, plenty of prickly carbonation, pretty darn dry, and at 9% ABV really trying hard to get through this one. 3.75

Overall nope this one is not going to turn me into that guy that loves this style, but it was free and I am feeling pretty darn good after this one. I will never ever try this one again. 3.25

 

After taking the cork out with pliers, the beer poured a slightly hazy reddish brown color that cleared up nicely ad the beer warmed. A modest khaki colored head fell to rafts and a ring.

The immediate smell is red wine. It is soon matched by characteristic Brett smell. There is some cherry and other dark fruit present. As it warms a little alcohol peeks through, but there is only a faint presence of bourbon. It's a pretty nice aroma overall.

The taste is multi-layered. Definite red wine presence, almost too much. There is a sharp sourness that while noticeable is not dominating. There's a decent amount of malt, a clear taste of oak, a trace of bourbon/vanilla, earthiness, and a generous funky brett flavor. There is a dark fruit presence - seems like dark cherry more than fig or date. It's interesting and an intense flavor, but nicely put together.

It is a bit tingly at first, but mellows out to a different finish. It's not super-carbonated, but it goes from light to a little heavier on the feel as you drink it.

This beer says retired, but it is still around. EVen with some age on it, I think it is worthy of a try. Quite tasty overall, intense yet not overpowering.

 

 

Retired? I just purchased this at my local crafty store.(4/27/17) Perhaps it's baack? The stats seem slightly different than the one listed here. This one is 9 % abv. Not 10. 1pt..9fl oz. Cage and cork.

Once I finally got thr cork out, it poured out to be an opaque brown color with amber and red hues. A very solid and creamy looking cap forms slow but stays high. The thick, whipped looking cap actually doesn't recede at all for several minutes.

The nose is simply awesome, full of very funky-sour yeast aroma's. Cherries, red wine, earthy funk, sour berries and oak cask-like complexity in aroma. As the liquid warms up, more alcohol heat and red wine aroma's dominate. In fact, it turns into a very yeastie red wine thing.

The flavor is extremely complex. From the sharp and sour Brett yeast, malty oak and wood cask, serious red wine edge all comes together amazingly well. Sour berries give way to a very smooth malty oak and red grape taste. The yeast flavor's are complex but does not overpower the rest of the flavor spectrum. Great balance for such extreme flavor's.

For a yeast-forward brew, it is remarkably smooth from the 9 months of bourbon and pinot noir cask aging. A lively effect hits first, but only for a quick time, it soon becomes very smooth and lush, with a smooth and rather heavy finish. A very unique mouthfeel with a slightly zippy beginning and lush end. As it warms, it actually becomes very relaxed and very cask-aged feeling with a bit less zip.

Easily one of the more complex and interesting Sour-aged Belgian-styles I've had. With all of the powerhouse aspects, it really comes together very well. Tale your time with this one, sip and savour.

 

16.9 oz bottle was poured into a sniffer.

Appearance: A two finger billowy head was poured that reduced to a thin layer. It is an amber crimson color with good clarity and vision of bubbles coming up through the glass.

Smell: Vanilla, bourbon, funk, red wine, musty, and slight booze.

Taste: After sitting for a year and then sitting out of the bottle in my glass, I have to admit that there is a nice tart and funky flavor that goes with the mellow bourbon and pinot noir barrel flavors.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, light to medium bodied, a little dry, funky, tart, medium carbonation, and a little booze.

Overall: Interesting flavors, but not too overbearing. Cork was a pain to get off, but after sitting for a year, I'll take it. Bourbon and wine has mellowed a bit from what others have said and that's alright with me.

 

 

So much red wine, both aroma and flavor. This is really well done.

 

Way too much going on in this beer. On the front of the tongue you get a lot of sweetness. You can taste the bourbon, the pinot noir and the brett all at once slapping you in the face. Personally I just don't care for all of these characteristics combined together in one. They aren't complimenting one another but just creating an over powering taste. Maybe with a little bit of age on it the brett might funk it up a bit and tone down the bourbon and pinot noir.

Also, yeah the cork on this guy was out of control, so hard to get off! I had to use a wine opener.

 

Corked 1pt 0.9 oz bottle says it is 9% ABV (different from description above which says 10%).
Pours with a fine white head which settles down in a few minutes. Color is a reddish amber with persistent and diffuse small bubbles of carbonation. Smell is some of the sour brett with significant rich whiff of bourbon. Taste is a fine sweet tripel with some brett sourness which meshes well with the red wine and bourbon notes. Bourbon taste is a little stronger than some other bourbon barrel aged beers, but that is a good thing since the other beers were a little weak in that aspect in my opinion. The alcohol lasts in the aftertaste along with the bourbon, more so than the other flavors. Definitely worth trying if the slightly sour, red wine with bourbon tripel flavor sounds good to you. Very well done and balanced. A special beer to sample; very tasty but not something to drink much volume of.

From corked bottle, marked 1 pint, .9 oz.
Deep amber color, minimal head, but nice lacing
Smell of mild Scotch; can smell the alcohol
Taste of Scotch, soda and lime; very nice
Sparkly in mouth, very pleasant after taste
Overall, very very nice

 

Bottle from a Lazy Dog.
I spent the better part of 10 minutes trying to wrangle the cork off this bad boy. Finally into the glass pours a deep amber colored liquid with a frothy off white head that shows remarkable retention. Big vinous notes on the nose, fruity light grape jelly with hints of vanilla and light oak as well as a very potent lemony sour cherry tartness. The flavor is a bit sweeter than I was expecting, but you can still find the Tripel in there with its strong honey sweetness. Light bits of tart fruit and an almost jam like grapeiness. Faint oak and light vanilla flavors. Touches of alcohol around the edges give a nice warming in a lightly sweet finish. I was a little reluctant to drop 14 bucks on a relatively unknown brewery's beer in fact I passed the bottles up at two stores. Color me pleasantly surprised!

Just started getting into sour ales this year and found this one to be exceptionally smooth.
Struggled with the cork due to low carbonation but finally popped it. Poured a nice red color with a minimal head. Odor and taste typical of wild yeast ales, but had a smooth finish. Compared to peers, not sure it's worth the extra cost but this is a fine Belgian style ale.

From the corked and caged bottle. Sampled on December 26, 2015.

The pour is your basic amber brown with a modest off-white head. Pretty straight forward. But everything after that changes.

The aroma emits a big red wine, red grape character along with modest malts and low hops.

Medium, smooth body.

Not sure what to make of this. I get some red grape and wild ale characters in the flavor along with toasted malts. Little bitterness. But it is the wine-like character that sticks out. It is brewed with red wine yeast so that has a definite impact on the experience.