Hazy Day In Brussels
Monkless Belgian Ales - The Brasserie

16oz can purchased at Huckleberry's, in Spokane, WA, for $4.29. No freshness date, although there's a mostly useless batch number stamped on the bottom of the can.

Poured into a Precious Things teku, this was a cloudy golden shade of amber, with a decent amount of creamy off-white foam perched on top. Said head drops somewhat quickly, but is easily reagitated back to life with a twirl of the teku, producing big sheets of lace.

Very light amount of aroma. What I could get was a little perfumey, with a bit of a white grape scent.

The spiciness of Belgian yeast, which is extremely hard to find in the aroma, is present throughout the taste. It is light enough to meld well with some light fruit flavors not unlike white wine grapes and pears. Slightly dry finish.

Fairly light bodied, with a slightly crisp mouth feel. Not quite that light and effervescent feel of a Belgian original.

A decent American Tripel that might be better when fresh. It irritates the hell out of me that Monkless is so pretentious about dating their beers and that I can't tell if they're fresh or not when I find them.

Slightly hazy, golden color. Medium-sized, white head. Yeasts, malt, dank hops in the aroma. A bit strange combo of hazy IPA and Belgian ale. Dry finish with herbal bitterness. Interesting.

16oz can. Poured out a hazy, golden yellow color with a small, fizzy head of white foam. It left sudsy lacing. It smelled of yeastiness, esters, grasses and bread crust. Sweet caramel taste with fruit and spices.

 

16oz can, purchased only because I was hoping for a much more hoppy expression within a Trippel, and this one disappointed though it wasn't BAD. Pours a deep gold with an epic white head, effervescent with a bit more clarity than a modern NEIPA, looks the part of a Belgian pale...comes off Belgian-y in the nose, some quality esters there, and its definitely earthy and musty, but the bready malt/wit notes are definitely in the forefront, and the palate is the same. Bready and smooth with some coriander and citrus peel, but pretty unremarkable.

Light amber, unfiltered pour with only a light head. Nose gets a yeasty aroma along with fruity background. Taste is definitely Belgian and comes with that fine dryness you get from their style, different from the IPA so common here.

 

16oz can from HomeBrewStuff. Pale, cloudy golden, with a thin, creamy white head. Sweet aroma, fruity, grassy. Taste brings notes of orange, bready malts, very light yeasty notes. I'm getting more witbier notes than Tripel. Sampled this after another more traditional Tripel, and I find it lacking.

 

Can Date: none
Palate Contaminants: red wine

Moderate amount of fine head leaving adequate lacing. Opaque, letting shapes show through, but no detail. Yellow-amber color.

The main thing for the nose is a grainy corn-like scent. There may be a little bit of fruit, but I snap back to corn right away. Moderate sweetness, so it's not like that's a bad thing.

The taste has yet more corn. Moderate-slight bitterness, so at least there's some Yakima to shadow Iowa. (I actually like Iowa and everyone I've ever met from there. You too, Nebraska.) There's just not anything else that goes with it, though, and that's where points come from.

Alcohol is about par for a niner. Aftertaste is a pleasant corn flavor. (Maybe I should have saved this one for a clam bake.) Carbonation is fine-moderate, and well-integrated.

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a slightly hazy, medium golden amber with a half finger white head that dissipates slowly to patches with nice lacing. Aroma of candi malt, citrus and fruit hops, lemon, apple and faint hints of mixed tropical or exotic fruit. Flavor is lightly grainy malt, citrus hops, lemon, apple, grapefruit and vague mixed tropical and stone fruit, clove and coriander. Coriander and citrus hops in the finish. Medium bodied with light creaminess. The first impression was a strong resemblance to a Belgian strong pale in the aroma, but the taste is clearly tripel inspired. I wondered if this might be like a Belgian IPA, which is a style I've not seen for a while, but most of those had more of a Belgian pale base to them. Quite different and somewhat complex with mixed herbal hops flavors and the traditional Belgian spicing. I kinda felt the coriander and hops were fighting a bit in the flavor, but the overall ale is interesting and invites further tasting, although the typical tripel ABV suggests slow sipping. Intriguing.

Here's another nice surprise in the "what on earth is this" category. I would totally call this a Belgian IPA but eventually the yeasty flavors emerge. But a nice experiment with hopping up this often one-note style.

Pours a clear bright yellow with plenty of foam in the Belle-Vue Gueuze glass. It's rich and powerful but tastes like an IPA at first glug. Lovely sudsy mouthfeel and it starts with malty sweetness. The Belgian character is distinctive along with the dry finish.

Flavors of sweet bread, apples, and flowery hops with a dose of citrus peel. Spicy too. From the 16 oz can purchased at Community Coop in Bellingham. Can't beat the creativity coming out of Bend!

 

16 oz can

Pours mostly clear golden, eggshell head is finely textured and slowly dissipates to a lacing.

Aroma of fresh grassy malts, hints of citrus and grassy hop.

Flavor is of grassy malts, some dry cidery apple, little bit of tropical fruit, maybe some grape.

Medium body, tingly carbonation on the tongue.

Pretty decent, enjoyable ale. Actually tastes fairly authentic to the Belgian style, but with some clearly American influence. Drinks slow, but smooth. Worth a try, interesting hybrid that mostly succeeds at what it's trying to do.

Bought two cans from Tavour. My basic take is it was a mistake for me to take this to the table; simply, too many hops. This really is more like a Belgian IPA than a tripel. But even with a new classification, Hazy Day should not be brought to the table for the same reasons. That said, a Hazy Day In Brussels is how I like my IPAs !

This brew opens crystal clear for a tripel, but the bottom of the can offers more hazy yeast. Smells also have the hops and a weak yeast interfering with the fruitiness of one of my favorite styles. Tastes are slightly better, but the hops still keep trying to steal the show ... and their role should be balance. Mouth is more than medium and sufficient bubbles to cleanse the palate. But not enough foods will Hazy Day pair with.

My bottom-line with Monkless is they need to focus on making their yeasts compatible with food. Such a strong criticism after only 3 of their beers actually requires more research. To see if I am correct, I want to taste their saison. I intend on doing that with a visit in May.

 

A: The beer is clear yellow in color and has a moderate amount of carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high white head that left a large, thin patch of bubbles on the surface, a narrow collar around the edge, and lots of lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Light aromas of candi sugar and spices are present in the nose along with hints of pears.
T: The taste follows the smell but the flavors of pears are a little stronger and more in par with those of the candi sugar and spices.
M: It feels medium-bodied and slightly smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This tripel is quite drinkable and does a very good job at hiding most of the alcohol from the taste. I liked how the pear flavors from the El Dorado hops contrasted with the spiciness from the yeast.

Serving type: can