3rd Nipple Tripel
Tustin Brewing Company

On-tap at the source; what an ironic way to end my vist during Russian River week. On to the beer:

Nearly golden in the chalice with a clean body. There's a solid amount of lacing and head retention. One whiff in the nose says "bananas!". That and a gentle addition of nutmeg. I would have said that this was a strong hefeweizen based on the banana's galore in the aroma. The taste would have convinced me more so; flavors like bubblegum, clove, and brown sugar jump out and greet me. No, it's not a traditional tasting tripel, but given my love for those south German wheat beers, I do like the flavor going on here. I find it to be like an "amped up" hefeweizen in this respect. Unlike other tripels, this doesn't go too far off-balance.

Fun way to end a cold night of drinking.

On-tap at Tustin

A: This one pours a clear golden color with a thin white head and almost no retention or lacing.

S: Sweet bread and sugar start this one off. A lot of spice, particularly white pepper and coriander. Plenty of banana, yeast, and alcohol in there, though I'm not too much a fan of the latter.

T: Things are pretty much the same on the flavor. Lots of sweet, overripe banana, sugar, and bread. A touch of caramel, too. A decent spiciness, mostly the pepper again, with quite a lot of booze.

M: The body is medium with a low to medium carbonation. Not effervescent enough for a tripel.

D: This was just too boozy and sweet for its own good. A little more carbonation would have helped too.

Sampled 2/18/2011 at the brewpub.

Pours clear dark golden yellow, very little in the way of lacing, head, or retention.

Aroma is banana, then malt, booze, and bread in equal parts and followed by a splash of white pepper.

Flavor is lots of banana, some bread, yeast, booze, caramel, low/med bitterness, and an ever so slight citrus-ness. Kind of sweet.

Body is light/medium as is drinkability. Not bad over all, just wasnt in the mood for it at the time.

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