Dark Horse Sapient Trip Ale

Brewed by Dark Horse Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Marshall, Michigan USA

Bottle in trade from ford9719. Thanks dude!
Pours a really nice looking rich, opaque and bright orange color with a very small offwhite head. Smell is fruity with banana, clove, orange and yeast. Taste is very heavily spiced with lots of clove and yeast notes. Kind of trails off in the finish and ends a bit thin, flavorwise but with a slight astringency. A bit of alcohol in the flavor too. Not my favorite brew, but interesting, nonetheless.

Bottle. Pours a clear amber with a white ring. Aroma is sweet, earthy, and fruity, of hops, citrus, pine, malt, and spices. Taste has a lot of preserved orange notes, with hops, malt, and spices. Very sparkly. Lingering orange-hops flavors. Tasty.

Citrus, wheat, and alcohol aroma notes. Cloudy orange with white head. Citrus, caramel, and alcohol flavour notes. Full-bodied, decent balance, mild lingering bitterness.

2008 bottle - Thanks be to Todd... Pours a murky straw brown with little head, aroma is bright, fruity and sweet...flavour is lively, spicy and yeast dominated, lingering dry fruit in the mouth...ABV suprised me, didn’t think it was that strong...my first DH and a nice fall treat...

The body is very lightly hazy, mostly clear, and dark amber in color. A foamy, off-white head settles quickly to a tiny film. Sugary legs leave soapy spots behind to slowly drip back towards the body. The aroma is heavy on caramel malts and candy sugar, hints of wheat, bready yeast, and alcohol soaked white grapes coming to mind. There’s a bit of bubblegum to the nose as well. The flavor is boozy and sugary, overly sweet candy sugar dominating all else. Pungent coriander seed and abrasive alcoholic notes just aren’t working for me. A sticky, cloying, under-carbonated body doesn’t do anything to help this beer’s cause. It’s not often that I truly enjoy a tripel, and this is certainly not one of those rare exceptions. Dark Horse should stick to what they do best, dark beers.

12 ounce bottle. I have had quite a few Dark Horse brews, and was definitely excited to try this one. I am sad to say that even though good, this one was nothing special. Pours a deep gold color with a very small white head that disappeared very quickly. The aroma consists of a lot of yeast with a little bit of a sweet and fruity hint. Tastes a lot like it smells with a LOT of yeast (there was even a lot of yeast floating in it) and some citrus fruits. Overall a good beer, but definitely not one of Dark Horse’s bests.

Pours a dark cloudy gold in color with a slight ring of froth sitting on top. There are a bunch of floating yeasties in the glass. Smell and taste is very yeasty and musty. Taste there is some Pear flavors as well as slight bubblegum. Decent mouthfeel. A little cloying and tiring. I love Dark Horse brewing, but this was a miss for me.

This is a beer I’ve been wanting to try for a while, as everything I’ve had from Dark Horse has been very good, and this was no different. This pours a hazy dark golden, with a fluffy head. The aroma screams traditional belgian yeast and sweetness. I must say, it is a bit "rugged" but in a good way. It definitely let’s you know what you’re drinking. The flavor follows obediently with lots of fruity, and malty notes, with a touch of banana on the finish. Cheers!