Triumph Kellerbier

Brewed by Triumph Brewing Company
Style: Zwickel/Keller/Landbier
Princeton, New Jersey USA

Bit of a cellar funk for sure, some musty cheese, mild blue? Cheesiness with white grape notes, yeasty sourness, overripe oxidized apples and some horseblanket. A total surprise. Complex and refreshing. Mouthfeel full and yeasty but not chalky. Chewy-ish.

Musty, grainy, herbal and citrus hops in the aroma. Hazy golden body is topped by a low white head that recedes to ring with some lace. Grainy malt flavour with some earthy, herbal hop character and pleasant finishing bitterness. Light body with moderate effervescence. Sampled on tap at the Pennsylvania location of the brewpub with beerbuzzmontreal, MartinT, Rastacouere and Yowie.

GABF 2005: I was just about ready to move on when I noticed this offering of a hard to find style so I gave it a shot, turned out quite worthy. An unfiltered hazy golden hue with a tight small head and good lace. The aroma is a beautiful mix of noble and spicy hops along with some bready malts and earthy yeast esters. The flavor is quite pils like but with more depth and character, those noble hops really shine in this environment. A hint of citric twang was a bit of a surprise and I actually enjoy it. The feel is mild and quaffable, session styled for sure. I love those little surprises you don’t count on, this was one of those moments.

On tap at the New Hope location:

The Lure:
An opaque head covers the citrusy and soft hop earth. Dry straw and grain are diffused throughout, but this authentic meeting remains a little too subtle for pleasure.

The Festivities:
Wooden hops and dry hay malts coalesce within a light and quenching body. Served a little too cold initially, the yeast and pils malt softness still shines all across, enhanced by citrusy fruitiness.

Transcendence:
Petals opening widely for the sunrise.

Pours a slightly cloudy golden color with a thin white head that sticks to the glass. Aroma of mild hops and citus. Good flavor of hops, malt, citrus with a bitter finish. Light body with soft carbonation. Very interesting.

Light gold with only a slight haze, but the white head lasts forever. Typical pils malts serving as a toasted bread and cerealic base over which the lemony and floral hops have it their way, once they’re done with being prefumey and spicy, they react by being herbal and fruity. Surprisingly pineapple flavoured, I would say it makes its aroma better than taste, but the flavours are bright, lively and nicely complemented by the yeast traces procuring a slightly tartish appetizing balance. Hugely refreshing despite a more than fair medium body. Light carbonation for the style, oily and actually hinting at alcohol a tiny bit.

Pours a cloudy yellow with a light fluffy head. I could smell right away in the aroma that this was a pilsner. I’m not the biggest fan of pilsners, but this one was decent.

[At GABF 2004] A hazy orange beer with a fine white head. The aroma is sweet malty with some notes of caramel, and so is the flavor, while the mouthfeel is flat. Not really my style of beer.