Bison Organic Belgian Ale

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

Bison’s tripel (or triple if your a lawyer) was a decent attempt at a Belgian classic. It poured a nice orange body with a small head. The aroma was somewhat fruity with hints of coriander and clove. The flavor was sweet and malty, but something was slightly off. Overall a quite enjoyable take on a Belgian Tripel!

Aroma of fruit and Belgian sugar. Golden amber color with a white head that laces. Thin to medium bodied; very moderate carbonation. Starts sweet, with coriander spice, and light bitterness. Nothing effectively balances the sweetness, but it is very refreshing, and the effect is of a light, low alcohol, tripel. Reheitsgebot be damned, it is really very good. Went well with steak fajitas.

Pours bright golden with a big fluffy light tan head. Aroma of yeasty esters, orange peel, chamomile, and coriander. Taste is estery, with notes of honey, pear, coriande, toasted malt, and an ending hoppy bite. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with soft, but lively carbonation. I really enjoyed this tripel, chalk this one up as underrated.

Very fruity/sweet smell. Poured much clearer than I expected and the initial strong head went away quickly although some remained to the very end. The fruitiness hides the alcohol well but you can still feel it a bit in your belly a moment later. More refreshing than I excpected from a Belgian.

Sampled May 2007
Absolutely brilliantly clear with a washed out cranberry tinged, copper color. The head starts out about two-fingers thick and is an almost white colored head. Quite fruity smelling with notes of orange zest, bergamot, a touch of kiwi, and Macintosh apples (though it mostly smells of bergamot). Actually bergamot is quite an apt descriptor as this definitely reminds me of the citrus notes in earl grey. Touches of earthy spice aromas also meld in to the aroma.

The flavor has an astringent spiciness to it in the finish that adds a bit of sharpness and ultimately provides a balance to the upfront, sweet orange peel flavors. Quite a bit sweeter than I would like, I almost thick that this beer has been heavily filtered, but it might have just have some very retarded Belgian yeast character. Very clean tasting, definitely too much so, but it is still fairly tasty. An earthy spiciness somewhere between coriander, menthol and dandelions.

The use of cascade hops is surely not very traditional (did they use citrus peel on top of this), but it is the lack of yeast character that keeps this beer from being great. Still it is quite tasty and definitely quite drinkable. This hides the alcohol fairly well, but after some time the alcohol becomes apparent in the aroma.

ruby orange color with a small unlasting head, nice simple aroma of floral fruits light spice and grain. mediumbody with light soft bubbles. tastes of bready malt with some dark fruits orange and a light bitter roast. what i’ve come to expect from this brewery, fairly balanced and mellow

Bottle, Knightly Spirits. After peaking at the % within style after buying this, I wasn’t expecting much at all. Oh, quite contraire! Poured bubbly golden in color, fairly clear body, thin head initially, weak retention, but some bit of a covering while drinking (a ring by the time it was gone). The aroma was simple, apples and cloves and yeast. The flavor was a nice Belgian Strong, yeast, light grapes, and strong cloves. Coriander was there after it warmed a little, along with some pine hops. Mouthfeel was light to moderate for the style, somewhat refreshing. Not my idea of a tripel, but I enjoyed this as a Golden Belgian Strong.

From a 22 oz. bomber bottle with a blurb along the right side of label, no bottling/freshness date, stored at cellar temperature and allowed to warm up a bit before sampling in a snifter. Poured a partly cloudy golden hued orange with a small foamy white head that quickly recedes into a fine bubbly lacing, very minimal amount of sticking. Floral aroma along with a light citrus, grassy grainy and candied sugar, a touch of honey and a hint of coriander, faint spiciness and a little bubble gum. Low carbonation, too low for a tripel, and a softly crisp, thin, watery, medium-light bodied mouthfeel, not that impressive. Watery tart, thin overall, kind of bland tasting, toasted husky grainy and honey, a watery sour citrus, sugary, sour apple fruity, I didn’t find any plum, the spicy, peppery solvent alcohol lends to a strange lingering aftertaste, and a unbalanced finish without much dryness, husky grain and watery spicy, sour solvent alcohol. I didn’t enjoy this tripel, I thought overall it was not very tasty or balanced, I’m having a hard time finishing this bomber, I’m too cheap to give it a drain pour. As far as I know, this was a fresh sample, purchased at Sam’s Wine, Chicago, as soon as it hit the shelves and after reading the label, I was careful in it’s storage.