Fish Tale Monkfish Triple (2004-)

Brewed by Fish Brewing Company/Leavenworth Beers
Style: Abbey Tripel
Olympia, Washington USA

Bottle. Orange amber with a low off-white head. Nice estery aroma with fruit, earthy yeast and a bit of sweetness. Sweet, malty, fruity flavor. Some yeast in background. Refreshing, but too sweet to be very good. A bit of hops present. LIngering sweetness and fruit (peach/appricot). Medium body.

Name: Monkfish
Date: 12/01/2006
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

opaque orange, fine beige head, sweet fruity aroma, rich malt flavor with well balanced earthy hops, fruity apricot character, touch of sweetness, long bitter finish

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

Tried at the 2004 Seattle International Beer festival. Good but for me, not memorable.

From a 22oz Bottle. Pours a hazy toasted bread crust color with a finger of foamy, off-white head. Aroma of graham cracker malts, toffee, and brown sugar. Hints of peppery spice, cardamom, and banana esters take a complimentary back seat with an even more subtle whiff of floral hops. Medium bodied, moderately carbonated mouthfeel. A bit heavy bodied for the style with an obvious balance toward maltiness, light on the ester and hop characters. Not nearly as dry as expected for a bottle with the word "tripel" printed on the label. Flavors of lightly toasted bread crusts, graham cracker,and brown sugar hop out on the palate. After chewing on the bready base for awhile, a hint of nutmeg shell spice and pear reduction fruitiness start to creep out on the palate. Finishes with some residual malt toothy whole wheat bread dough grains, along with a hint of sugar. Spicy esters are there, although restrained. Herbal hop freshness is missing, as is the light, highly effervescent palate. Malt body is there, and more bold than expectation. Flavors are solid overall, but don’t really deliver what the label’s "style designation" suggests, nor is it mind blowing in it’s artistic deviation from this shackled norm. Also had this a couple of times on tap at the Stumbling Monk; hoped the bottled version would yield a different, more insightful introduction to this beer, but the result was the same disappointment.

A delicious Tripel... but not from Belgium! This one is a bit hazy, but is loaded with flavour! Lots of sediment, so pour slow and carefully...

Bomber from Blue Max’s in Minnesota. Hazy orange with a small head. Fair lacing. Sweet orange candy, brown sugar, pears and apples. Little trace of alcohol. No bitterness. Finished on a citrusy tang. Very fine brew.

22oz, no date. Dark orange with a one finger light beige head, fair retention. Aroma has some sweet and bready malts, corn syrup, very light cardboard and grassy hops, alcohol, dust, and some misc. fruity notes. Flavor was more toasty with some sweet malts and more bready characteristics, though better than the aroma. Luckily, this isn’t too sweet (which I was afraid of).This kinda tastes like a doppel. Full body with low carbonation. Dunno about the tripel thing. . .

My 12oz bottle was spawned in March. Wife bought this beer on Wi. trip. Sour and some toasty notes for aroma. Hazy orange body with decent head. Flavor was a zesty acidic sour candy which was wasn’t over sour. Smooth on the palate not an over alcoholic triple good beer.