Flossmoor Station Ellas EpidurAle

Brewed by Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery
Style: Abbey Tripel
Flossmoor, Illinois USA

Light gold and mostly clear. Intensely sweet malts, with notes of rock candy, honey, and caramel. Fantastic hop aromas, with herbs, flowers, and honey. Slightly grassy bitterness to cleave off the sweetness. Really tasty trip.

Pours a clear orange with a frothy, dissipating white head. Candyish aroma with apricots and rose petals. Flavor is heavily sweet with lots of honey and candied cloves, orange and ginger. Med-light body. Finishes heavily boozy. Very good interpretation.

Nice pour on tap good head light gold color. Alcohol sweet aroma, after dinner beer for sure. Sweet tasting with a nice kick.

This was originally the St. Benedict’s Tripel, but when Matt took it to Night of the Living Ales, the others brewers were suprised he hadn’t named a "baby beer" for his new daughter, as is tradition at Goose Island. So it’s named "Ella’s Epidur-Ale" on the taps at Flossmoor. Draft, served by Matt. Deliciously light copper color. I picked up a taste of honey, which Matt admitted to adding only to get more ferntability. Bit of a cream sherry character. Strong and warming alcohol feel adds to a buttery feel (I mean buttery in a good way.). I had a feel for some ginger, but Matt said he added no spices to this at all, so it’s just a function of the yeast and whatever Styrian and East Kent Goldings hops were put in. Sweet, tasty, and great in the Trappist glass they serve it in.

On tap: Coppery hue with golden highlights topped by a fading frothy head and some lace. The aroma has notes of honey, thistle, clove, banana, herbal hops, and estery yeast. The taste starts sweet with honey and butterscotch notes followed by some ripe fruit and spicy hops. The finish has a twang (almost lactic) and a kick of alcohol. The feel is sticky but not heavy, warming and semi-dry. A solid effort with good character, spiced nicely.

Cask (Night of the Living Ales!): Orange gold with a slight haze. Surprisingly fruity aroma: juniper berries, pears, white grapes and a touch of orange peel. The yeast play is on the fruity/alcoholic dough side away from the spicy clove/citrus rind side…wow, the flavours are unexpectedly spicy: bits of coriander and a peppery/clove effervescence, if only they could have bottle conditioned this to bolster the lacking carbonation, it would be great!

On tap at the brewpub
Golden amber, thin head. Very sweet aroma with some yeast and a bit of fruit. Rich sweet sugary malty flavor with light-to-medium hop bitterness and some grass. Thick palate. Could use a touch more hop finish. Still, a very fine effort.

Shining golden hue wearing a slight haze and a diminishing white head. Québec’s barley sugar, candied caramel apples, clover honey and various herbs form an undecided aroma forgetting the notion of focus and going strong on yeast (doughy and estery), malts and hops. Full bodied, lots of malt(and alcohol) in there, the carbonation being perhaps a bit limited for a belgian style. Seriously sweet for such a hoppy beer. Every ingredient provides packs of flavors, they remain surprisingly in communion if not transcendent or spectacular in their balance. A karmeliet without the class nor restraint. I’d gladly have a full-size portion at the pub.