Terrapin Thirty Strong

Brewed by Terrapin Beer Company
Style: American Strong Ale
Athens, Georgia USA

On tap at Taco Mac Metropolis. Happy Birthday! Pours a cloudy orangish brown with a soapy tan head that shows decent retention and lacing. I had to let the beer warm up a bit before I could smell anything, and when I did it wasn’t overpoweringly aromatic. There were hops up front but with tons of caramel malts and lots of different fruits that I couldn’t differentiate between. The spices became more evident as it warmed as well. The taste was a better and more powerful version of the nose. Where to start? There was an initial floral hop bitterness that almost immediately gave way to a wildly varying array of sweet fruits, caramel and vanilla sweetness and plenty of different spices. I’d be kidding myself if I said I could figure out half of the things I was tasting. I definitely do think I got some rye spiciness and some tobacco in the finish though. The mouthfeel is medium to full with a sticky thickness from both the sweet aspects and the hops in the flavor that lingers for a while. Well, I really think I need to sit down and have another glass of this one as I know it’s a good beer, but I had trouble getting a cohesive beer with all the things going on. That said, I really think it would come together extremely well over time...if only they had bottled it.

On draft at Taco Mac (VA-HI). Cloudy red-gold in appearance, delivered w/out a head. Definitely a lot going on in this beer--the complexity of the aroma and flavor really too much for my rather simply palette to glean a lot of the individual elements. Thought it was nicely balanced among the sweet (roasted malts, vanilla, bready), the spicy (but not overwhelmingly so), and a twinge of lingering bitterness. Also got some interesting tartness from somewhere, but maybe that was just me. Interesting for sure.

Draft at Taco Mac Highlands. Pretty interesting offering here. It took me a while to decipher and narrow down the individual flavors and aromas going on. This is a pretty complex one. Aroma at first was floral and sugary. It gave way to a raisin and fruit character and finished off with a bit of vanilla from the oak treatment I imagine. The flavor was dominated by vanilla and wood throughout which was a little one dimensional considering the kitchen sink method used to brew here. There is touch of caramel malt chewiness and a very faint bittering hop experience but not enough to get past the oak flavoring going on. It is almost too much going on to have any one element stand out in either the aroma or flavor. If anything the oak treatment/aging is reminiscient of other offerings from these guys and readily apparent here as well. There is plenty else going on too to keep you occupied in figuring out the 30 ingredients.

draft at Taco Mac, Cumming. I really enjoyed this special anniversary beer made especially for Taco Mac’s 30th.... it is quite a complex and exciting beer. came to the table with a nice off white head and a deep orange / brownish color. very pleasant and dynamic aroma with banana, apple, spice, yeast and some lingering hops. very big over the mouth, almost chewy... there is a ton of stuff in here.... the hops really take the front along with some more apple and banana. Sweet malts, bread and caramel over the top and a big strong finish with the alcohol poking through with some bitterness and spice. Very enjoyable and extremely complex and intriguing. I didn’t really pick up on the oak. Too bad its a one off brew - b/c this is really good stuff.

Initially sampled in delightfully copious amounts at the Terrapin Anniversary Party back on April 11th. Now, I’m enjoying it down at my local Taco mac in Kennesaw. Appearance: Obscured, brownish-amber body with a frothy, off-white head that yielded a nice coating of lace on the way down. Smell: The aroma presents an elaborate multitude of both malt and hop scents all bound up with a tidy bow of piquant oak wood. Each visit to the nose is a little bit different, at times it’s a bit spicy, sweet-scented, bready, or even earthy. Taste: All at once, a dizzying, complex array of malt flavors blitz past the tongue: some toasty, grainy, bready, caramel-coated, roasty, and, yes, there’s even the anticipated touch of spicy rye. Overall, there’s a fairly subdued sweetness. The addition of oak is noticeable, but certainly is not a stand out flavor -- heck, with so many ingredients and so much going on within the beer, none of them were. There’re plenty of various hop flavors to be found as well, some earthy, citrusy, fruity, and some even downright pithy. Medium-high bitterness. Farther down the 20 ounce mug, fruity hop tastes of tangerine and grapefruit began to shine through a bit more. Finishes dry, warming, and with a slight lingering spiciness. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body, thankfully neither too thin nor grotesquely heavy. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: It was great fun watching various tasters at the anniversary party try to interpret and correctly decipher the 30 ingredients. I safely assumed "water" was included, sort of like the "FREE" square in Bingo. Also, I fully felt an inclusion of oak wood and rye was another safe bet as, well, Terrapin likes both the oak and rye. I recall hearing everything from maple to smoked malts to chamomile to honey (which, I’ll admit, I thought may have been included). Another interesting creation from Terrapin, and here’s to many more.

I have to re-rate due to intoxication. Anyways, brown in color. Not a DARK brown, but a nice brown color with a decent head sitting on top. The beer left some pretty amazing lacing. For me this had a not so pungent aroma. It did have a noticeable yeast/banana aroma. That caught me off guard. Alcohol was also noticeable in the aroma. Wish it were more pungent and nuanced. The flavor was semi-sweet with banana/yeast and malt. Not as smooth as I thought it would be. Alcohol is present in the flavor. Left a decent bittering taste in my mouth, but not as much as I felt it should. Overall, decent beer, but with 30 ingredients I was hopnig for more. Also, the wood flavor wasn’t noticed; that sucks! Had on tap at Taco Mac on Peachtree Street.