North Coast Brother Thelonious

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

old rating: 7/4/8/3/16 - 3.8 pour is brick-red with a medium size beige-yellow head that dissipates quickly, good lacing. smell is sweet, chocolate, brown sugar, pitted dark fruit, some spice, caramel. taste is strong, smooth, and thick, bakers chocolate, prunes, raisins, grapes, some toffee, background is white pepper, malt, and spice, ends dry, somewhat tart, and somewhat sweet sweet.

Quite dark brown with a lot of off-white head. Smells of malt, dark fruit, some burnt flavours. Somewhat caramelly and strong metallic notes in a very foamy, fizzy body. None of the Belgian-style yeast you might expect or the complexity. Nicely made but nothing too special.

Aroma of dark fruits. Dark brown in color with small tan head. Rich flavor of rasins, and brown sugar. Medium body. Alot of flavor to it. Good beer.

Bottle. Moderate to heavy malt notes of nutty and chocolate, light hop note of herbs, moderate yeast aromas of dough and earth, and toffee and brown sugar in the background. Head is small, off-white, with fair lacing and is fully diminishing. Color is hazy brown. Flavor starts moderately sweet and lightly acidic, then finishes lightyl acidic and bitter. Palate is medium, oily to creamy, with a lively carbonation, and finishes lightly alcoholic. Full, rich aromas and flavors make this a very good Belgian Strong.

2006 GABF Woodsy aroma, some dark fruits. Flavor is malty and fruity with a bit of sourness.

Bottle from the 2006. Deep amber with a tan head. Aroma of tart cheery, sweet fruit, spices, plums, and sweet malts. Nicely carbonated body. Sweet malts, cherries, dark fruits, plums, sour fruits, spices. Finish is nice, but maybe a bit sweet. Very enjoyable, and fairly refreshing.

Monk is one of my favorite jazz musicians, so I was eager as heck to try ths Belgian inspired creation from the North Coast boys....Dubbel-like, dark ruby with a slight head in a goblet...a little sweet, ripe fruit, some spice, very true to the the style - a little raisin in the taste, true to the style again...a solid beer.

A clear, dusky crimson shade, this, with a slim, cola-toned head...not as impressive as I like a dubbel, but fair, s’okay, s’alright... Nose starts with sweet things, dark fruits, mingling with spices, plums and cinnamon, apples and pepper, the dark keys get hit, while the sweet notes linger... cola meets coffee, We lift glass to lip, ale meets tongue, tastes thrills the buds, it’s a sweet, spicy thing. A cola-tinged pepper is the first thought to mind, cocoa and coffee, black and tan finds a fantasy in the senses...deep and dark, pretty and twisted, fine and fancy, sweet and lovely...very evenly played, but you never know what’s next...a cadence keeps up, a groove maintains, richness reigns, swing is always king,...big fat chocolate keeps time... rolls and rolls around the mouth, a sweet thing, and full of character, plenty of hops to tingle the buds...finish on a beautiful run on the keys, and then start the next one swinging.. another touch of the ale on the lips and the coffee/cola thrill continues... ...it’s not too late, to make amends/ we were meant to be, more than just friends/just friends... sweet, but expertly balanced by the darker tones, and the hops, well played on all parts of the keyboard, darkness and light get a little shine... . another drink and I’m liking more, as the spice and the rich, dark fruit rides over the cola-ish feel. We’re on a caravan, searching and wandering, looking for further flavors than the norm, stretching out against the desert of what we’re used to...prunes bump against cinnamon, nicely rounded off, an equally met challenge of malt and hop. I like the quote from Monks’ son, who goes by T.S., "finally, after all the years of getting a cut from the door, musicians will get a cut of the bar!" A refererence to the the proceeds that will swing their way to the Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz, which will receive the profits from this particular ale...I wish it were more than $2 a case, though, but as long as folks keep hearing about the man and the music, I’m cool on it. It’s a full-bodied, thing, with a long cola-tinged finish, plenty of sweetness, tempered with spice, rich and chocolate-y. But I forgive some technical flaws by how it swings on the palate and pleases the senses...and it don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing... and do I need to comment on that label;? Too cool! Brother Monk holding court!