Unibroue Trois Pistoles Belgian Style Dark Ale

In the Quebec province of Canada in a place names Chambly there is Unibroue, a brewer of fine Belgian style beers. Trois Pistoles Belgian Style Dark Ale, 9.0% ABV is an example of a type of Belgian style beer that they brew.  Trois Pistoles, which means three coins, is named after a small village of Quebec found over three hundred years ago. Trois Pistoles pours a deep, dark ruby color with a two finger rich beige head that dissipates at a steadily. The aroma is of dark fruits like raisins, a bit of plum and malts with nice chocolate, rum with some spices. This beer tastes slightly sweet with a bit of roasted malt and ripe fruit, plums, with nice spice notes. The mouth feel is full and rich with a nice dark and sweet finish and the after taste is slightly roasted malts and hints of sweet ripe fruit. Trois Pistoles would pair nicely with a pastrami sandwich, which this beer reminds me of. Unibroue Trois Pistoles is A+. It doesn’t drink like a 9.0% beer but does drink well and you really taste each of the flavors on this beer and no single flavor or part of Trois Pistoles is overdone. I highly recommend Unibroue Trois Pistoles to anyone. It’s a great beer! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Foothills Brewing Hop of the Month Azacca Golden Ale

The Azacca hop, named for the Haitian god of agriculture, has an interesting history with Foothills. I found that it was first introduced in May of 2014 in their IPA of the month series Maya Bonita; see May 2014 of review of said beer. It quickly became one of their favorites so much that they made it one of the featured hops in their HopJob Session IPA. Azacca Golden Ale pours a very bright yet very hazy yellow and gold color with a three finger fluffy white head that is like a cloud, and fades as slow as an iceberg floats by. The aroma is tropic scented with a bit of pineapple. The taste lightly hits you with a bit of a tropical hoppy not at first then gently lets a juicy pineapple with a faint mango with touches of a nice mandarin. But there is a nice hoppy bit on the finish that has a little tropical sweetness to it that leads you taste buds to a nice hoppy topical bitter after taste that fade nicely until you take another sip. I will say again that Foothills Brewing has brewed yet another great Hop of the Month. I give Azacca Golden Ale A+, it has a nice juicy tropical flavor to it that ends in a nice bitter hop finish. I can’t say a bad world about this Azacca Golden Ale. I recommend that you try it now. I might have this one again! Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!   

Innis & Gunn Rum Aged

A few or so reviews ago I put up a review of an Innis & Gunn Beer from Edinburgh Scotland, Original Oak Aged. Well I also have here Innis & Gunn Rum Aged, 6.8% ABV. This Innis & Gunn is aged with rum oak chips for fifty-seven days prior to bottling. Back in 2012 this beer won Grande Gold at Monde Selection. Well let’s see if that is still the case. This Innis & Gunn pours a ruby red color with a thick but tight creamy off white head three finger that looks like whipped ice cream and stick around. The aroma is sweet scented with hints of toffee a bit of sweeter fruits and touches of some malt. Innis & Gunn Rum Aged has a sweet taste of some slight fruit and nice soft toffee-malt with tiny hints of vanilla. The finish is nice and smooth with malted toffee and that is where the after taste comes in with a nice sweet creaminess. The mouth feel is medium on this Innis & Gunn. I think that this beer lives up to it 2012 Grande Gold medal. It’s an A+ for sure, and I think it’s better than the Innis & Gunn Original Oak Aged Beer. The rum aging really brings out the sweet flavors in this beer and also added some great flavors. I recommend that you try Innis & Gunn Rum Aged Beer. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!      

Terrapin Beer Co. Watermelon Gose

Gose (Goes-uh) is a traditional German-style beer brewed with sea salt and coriander. Gose is a making a come back especially with craft beer breweries and brewers. It is more of a summer type of beer, but I think it is good any time of the year. One of my favorite breweries Terrapin Beer Co. in Athens Georgia brews Watermelon Gose, 4.5% ABV.  Watermelon Gose pours a clear darker golden color with a fast fading two finger head of brilliant white. The aroma is tart and there is a nice watermelon fragrance with a faint hint of coriander. Taste is somewhat sweet with watermelon up front with a bit of salted tart flavor, but then as it passed over your tongue it the beer become a more tart. Nothing that is overly tart though. The mouthfeel is light and refreshing and Watermelon Gose has a tart watermelon finish with a tart but salty watermelon after taste that is more tart than anything else. Terrapin has done a good job her adding watermelon to an already tropical beer, but the finish and aftertaste are a little too tart. So with that in mind, I give Watermelon Gose a B-. I do think you should try this one, and I am not saying that the finish and aftertaste kill the beer and make it undrinkable, no that is not it at all; it’s just a little more than I would have liked it to be that’s all. I would have this again but it’s not a go-to beer. I liked Terrapin Beer Co. Watermelon Gose. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

NoDa Brewing Company NODAJITO Witbier

Breweries sometimes will try to brew a beer that that will taste similar to something else, whether it is food and/or drink. Some come close and some don’t. But this isn’t a common thing among brewers and/or breweries, and it’s not a type of beer that is hard to find. I don’t mind breweries doing these types of beers. I think it is an interesting take on a beer. It can show how good a brewery is at brewing beer. NoDa Brewing Company here in Charlotte, NC brewing NODAJIOTO Witbier, 4.8% ABV, brewed with mint and lime. This is their take on a Mojito Witbier. NODAJIOTO pour a bright hazy yellow color with a three finger fluffy bright snow-white head that never seems to fade away, but yet it leaves nice lacing in the glass as you drink. The aroma is much like a Mojito with nice muddled mint and fresh lime, and not much Witbier aroma. The taste on NODAJIOTO isn’t as much of a mojito taste as the aroma but is very good. There is a nice mint and lime flavor but it a little less intense du to the stronger Witbier flavor. The mouth feel is on the higher side of light and NODAJIOTO finish semi-sweet and refreshing. The after taste is slightly minty with lime and a bit of wheat. NODAJIOTO is a good easy drinking sessionable beer. NODAJIOTO is an A+ for sure. It does not taste just like a mojito but you can really taste what the NoDa Brewing Company is going for with NODAJIOTO, and NODAJIOTO is a great idea that is great tasting! I highly recommend trying NoDa Brewing Company NODAJIOTO Witbier. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!

Southbound Brewing Co. Transilience Imperial Berliner Weisse Ale

I have never heard of Imperial Berliner Weisse Ale. But I guess you can make a stronger version of a Berliner Weisse and it would be Imperial ale. So here is Southbound Brewing Co. out of Savannah Georgia with Transilience Imperial Berliner Weisse Ale, 7.0% ABV. Transilience is brewed with pomegranate, mango, Lactobacillus and saccharomyces. Berliner Weisse is a German-style sour wheat beer. It is much different than the usual Munich style wheat beer. Transilience pours a hazy orange color with nearly no head. The head that was there fizzed away instantly, with nothing left behind. The color maybe from the fresh mango and pomegranate used. The aroma is tart and fruity with hints of the mango and pomegranate. Taste is as strong as you would believe it to be, and it’s very tart and fruity with hint of wheat but over all it is tart and bit thin. The mouth feel is medium and Transilience finish overly tart with hints of the same mango and pomegranate. The after taste is even more tart but there is a bit of fruity wheat there. I didn’t like the after so much because it too tart and stays a bit to long.  I give this a C+. Transilience starts out okay and the gets too tart too quick. Not bad on the other flavors though, just needs to tone the tartness down a notch. But I guess that what makes it an Imperial Berliner Weisse. Cheers! Please enjoy responsibly!