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Well after a few days off from posting anything I’m back.  Hope your Thanksgiving was nice and that your Black Friday was hectic.  This wasn’t a normal 4 day weekend for me as I worked Friday for a few hours and have worked Saturday and today.  But alas next Thursday through Sunday I am off and boy am I looking forward to it.  Not just to relax be Phil from Dos Beerigos birthday party.  It is going to be awesome to say the least.

So Friday night I cracked open a bottle of the Flying Fish Exit 4 that I mentioned in the previous post of their arrival at Total Wine.  This is an proclaimed American version of a Belgian Tripel.

I make no attempt to cover up my normal distaste for this style.  They all just taste the same to me with Belgian yeast, banana, some other just sweet flavors.  But when Ed Roberts brought this over for a recording of United We Drink I was floored that this was a tripel.  So I grabbed some and had to sit down and try it again.

It pours into my Dogfish Head snifter a hazy orange color with a thin white head.  The head is gone pretty quickly and doesn’t really leave any impression with lacing on the glass.

What is this in the nose?  Hops?  Why yes, there are big bold grapefruit hops in the nose.  This is unlike any tripel I’ve ever had before.  I get some other pleasant citrus aromas in there.

The sip is definitely more of the hops but then you get your Belgian yeast character and some just sweetness.  But luckily the hoppiness balances everything out.  There is a bit of an alcohol bit there too, especially as it warms up.

I almost don’t want to call this a tripel as it is just nothing like any other I have had before.  Maybe Belgian American Pale Ale?  I love the hop profile on this beer and could just smell it all day.  Body spray Flying Fish?

So if you like traditional tripels try this.  You will appreciate something different.  If you are like me and hate traditional tripels then still try this.  I think you too will be blown away with how a slight twist can make a dull style better.

Grade - A

Appearance – Pours a hazy golden orange color with a very small bit of a white head that is gone very fast.

Smell – Not a whole lot going on here.  It get some Belgian yeast smells and a faint bit of alcohol but that’s about it.

Taste – Some citrus sweetness with some bready qualities in there.  They yeasty quality is present as well as a bit of an alcohol burn at the end.

This was the final one of the Flying Dog Canis Major pack that I have not had and this was the least impressive of the bunch.  It seemed rather bland to me.  Not a lot going on in the nose or taste.  Other tripels I’ve had seem to have more going on.  Oh well we can’t win them all.  For a pack of four big beers to have 3 out of 4 be really good to me isn’t bad at all.

Overall Grade – C+