Tripel Cross
Situation Brewing

 

I loved this. Nice fruity, light flavor. Excellent alcohol buzz. I could drink a ton of this.

1L howler from Sherbrooke Liquor store, where it goes for a lot more than at the brewpub, which is a bit of a switcheroo - just sayin'.

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber colour, with four fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly tan head, which leaves some rising fog bank lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of bready and doughy caramel malt, some earthy yeastiness, edgy coriander/clove spice, damp banana chips, and some tame leafy, citrusy, and floral hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet, grainy and biscuity caramel malt, candi sugar, slightly phenolic yeast, a muddled earthy spiciness, Bananas Foster, and more understated leafy, weedy, and soused-up floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly active in its palate-pricking frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and sort of smooth, as an increasing alcohol astringency kind of messes with the preferred norm here. It finishes off-dry, the complex malt, spice, and mixed boozy fruitiness the order of the lingering day.

Overall - this comes across as a combination of a Belgian Tripel and Alberta craft malt, as the graininess really struts its stuff. It also maintains that weirdly acrid alcohol 'character' that I typically disdain in the style, so, yeah, I can't really call this one great stuff, but kudos to a still newish local craft brewery for giving it the ol' college try.