22 oz bomber, thanks to BA sprinkle for giving me the opportunity to get up to speed with this MONSTER!
I may be mistaken, but I thought this beer used to be classified on BA as a tripel AND I have never paid any attention to the ABV – now I’m regretting that I didn’t get a chance to share this one rather than drink it all myself! Oh well….
The pour surprised me at first because it comes down as an orange, slightly viscous body with Barleywine appearance and a lack of head and lace to match. This instantly confused me as I was expecting a Tripel with pepper notes, a lighter body and better lace. A quick check of the ABV on BA confirmed just about all I need to know – this is NOT a traditional Belgian Tripel, and after about two small mouthfuls I knew this was basically an English Barleywine in terms of the way it drinks.
The beer is basically a HUGE, MASSIVELY sweet malt and alcohol bomb and essentially nothing else. I like it, but there is just NO way that I need 22 oz of this. This beer would be better if it were delivered in 8 oz bottles IMO. The warmth in the alcohol is attractive and the sweetness comes through as a honey note. Belgian candy is enormous but yeast notes are less obvious. Pretty slick in the mouth as you would expect.
Drinkability is AMAZINGLY good considering the style and the ABV, but it’s not really very drinkable – DOES THAT MAKE SENSE??
I dunno, it’s all a bit much for me. This kind of stuff gets a little tiring. This is basically an English bareywine, HUGE in terms of taste and alcohol.