Bison Organic Belgian Ale

Brewed by Bison Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Berkeley, California USA

Pours and clear golden body with a big head. Nose of fruits and sweet malts. Flavour is sweet with a little alcohol burn to it. Noticeable corinader dominates some of the taste and effects the finish. A very different tasting beer.

Bottled. Clear deep golden, rocky head. Coriander aroma. Sweet and fruit with dense, rounded maltiness. Honeyish finish. A solid beer with lovely mouthfeel. Perhaps a little hard on the coriander.

The beer after its emancipation from the 22-ounce brown bottle sets in the glass a shining clear gold color with the head portly in size and a creamy white with the residual lace a thin velum like sheet. Nose is slightly musty sweet malt, crisp and clean with the start modestly sweet and the grain profile adequate, top is middling in its feel to the palate. Finish is biting in its acidity and the hops pleasantly spicy; aftertaste is desert bone dry with a slight hint of alcohol bitterness, a drinkable beer.

Golden colored. Herbs and spice dominate the nose. Easy drinking with malt, yeast, ginger, and spices coming through in flavor. A quality attempt.

As with the Organic Red Ale this is a very straight-forward beer that may be a good substitution for the organically inclined, but lacks much originality. The plesant thing with this beer is its outstanding drinkability. Unlike many brewers, Bison did not present the beer as simply a vehicle for a strong Belgian yeast strain, but instead crafted the beer so the yeast is more of a backdrop to the malt and surprisingly apparent hops. Interesting, but again nothing too outstanding within the style.

gold colored body, almost all clear. white foamy/creamy head that goes fairly quickly. strong grassy/hay nose, coriander too. makes you feel like you’re in a summer sun-scorched field at Mt. Diablo (September)! banana and hoppy start. kind of watery mouthfeel, crisp carbonation. a little alcohol flavor, then spicy ginger-like aftertaste. lacing lasted longer than the head. very light-hearted belgian style ale, right in step with the free-spirited Berkeley flair.

This beer is all candi sugar and nothing else. The only other tastes coming out of the flavor profile is perhaps some light coriander and ginger with some orange peel. The aroma is medicinal and reminds me of shoe polish. Not a favorite.

Golden yellow color, sticky lacing and good head. The aroma is strong with medicinal spices and lots of cidery alcohol. The flavor is tart with sweet malts, candi sugar and spices. Finishes almost cloying, not very balanced. Strong alcohol and hops cover everything up.