$11.75 for the corked and caged affair via mail from Bruisin’ Ales, Asheville, NC, USA. Bottle says 9.5% ABV and has the text, “January 2009 +”.
Possibly the most tightly wound cage that I have ever come across, a bit of a pain to get off. Follow this by perhaps the most tightly inserted cork ever, and you get the picture. BIG effort yields a very small pop and a tiny whiff of gunmoke.
Pour is a light orange/golden color with some good head and lace. The head lacks density somewhat but it is substantial and it does have decent lace.
Sweet alcohol and pepper hit the nose.
The tastes are quite frankly not as profound as the nose would suggest. There is a really nice combo of all of the pre-requisites of a typical tripel like Belgian yeasts and candy, alcohol, white pepper and coriander, but it is really well balanced, in check, simple and understated. Drinks well below the advertised 9.00%. Pretty smooth and the beer avoids some of the typical prickly carbonation and mouthfeel that can be associated with some tripels.
Very nice quality but this is NOT an “in your face” version of the style. In that respect it represents nice introduction to the style and would be easy drinking for those trying to get into this style.
Tasty, simple and easy drinking, a very nice beer.