1902
Siphon Brewing

a belgian tripel with honey and lavender, and very heavy on the lavender. just my second ever from siphon. there are things to like, and things to maybe not like so much about this one. i think its successful in a couple of ways. the first is the obviousness of the ingredients. even through a fairly sturdy malt profile and highly estery belgian yeast complexion, both honey and lavender are obvious. the honey for its natural sweetness and floral nature, and the lavender because it literally smells and tastes almost like lotion or perfume, intense in that way. i think the yeast has green pear and apple notes, some white wine, and some citrus notes to it that are all compatible with the lavender and the honey in their own way, there is good balance and depth here, robust as these elements are. that said, it sure lingers on the palate and i taste and burp this well into my next beer. on top of that, it feels heavy for what it is, even without a big alcohol presence, like there is a lot of grain and sugar weight to this that makes it stack up fast in the belly. i like it, a lot when its cold, but as it warms, it gets almost phenolic and very lavender heavy. good combination of ingredients and a well made beer, but it could be fine tuned a bit. ambitious though, and pretty solid, i will be on the lookout for more beers from siphon, this was fun to share around, i couldnt drink more than one though...