Charlevoix Tomahawk Triple IPA

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 1     Golden(1)->Dark brown(5) : 2     Still(1)->Sparkling(5) : 2
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 2   White(1)->Tan(5) : 1   Lasting: 1   Lacing : 1
Aroma:
Intensity : 2  
Yeast : 3   Bread : 2   Tropical Fruits : 3   Soap : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX   Fusel : 4  
Malt : 3   Biscuity : 3   Hay : XX   Toasty : XX   Caramel : 2   Fruity : 4   Nutty : XX   Honey : 3   Maple : XX   Molasses : XX   Cereals : 2   Grainy : XX
Hops : 3   Noble(1)->American(5) : 4   Leafy : XX   Spicy : XX   Floral : XX   Lemon/Lime : XX   Grapefruit : 2 Orange : 3   Herbal : XX   Grassy : 2   Pine/Spruce/Resin : 3  
Notes :   Peach/Apricot : 3   Earth : XX   Mint : XX   Butterscotch : XX   Smoke : XX   Dates : XX   Bourbon : XX   Bubblegum : XX
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 5   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 5   Sourness : 2   Bitterness : 3   Complex : 2   Length : 3
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 4   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : XX   Oily : 4   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : 5   Mineral : XX   Oxidation : XX   Metallic : XX

Comments: Surprisingly crystal clear, rather syrupy smell, indeed very sweet and not very sharp yeast aromatics while the hops are rather timid amidst the strong alcoholic sweetness. I appreciate the effort, but it doesn’t seem, in my opinion, to focus on the best points of the beer it tries to take its inspiration from (delicate yeastiness, sharp and mostly aromatic hops rather than syrupy sweetness, strong filtration, straight alcohol and hops that lack confidence or brightness)

Any first impressions?
-A veil of foam tops the transparent pale orange.
-Orange pulp is spiced with herbal, perfumy hoppiness.
-Oranges and peaches offer juiciness to the calculated resinous hop second half; this is hop wine!
-The silky body is very classy, benefiting from an appropriately unobstrusive effervescence. This carbonation though isn’t of the fluffy kind you’d expect in a bottle-conditioned Belgian Strong Ale.

What if you dig deeper?
-Alcohol warms up the back end, as expected at this gravity, but its heat is well-concealed by the smashing wooden, resinous hop bitterness, which is very pleasant for the purported 120 IBUs.
-Malt doesn’t develop much flavor, but sustains competently.
-This appears to be filtered. If so, I’d like to know why? Better consistency?
-This Abbey Tripel on Double IPA-like hop steroids is an impressively elegant sipper, an audacious experiment sure to please most adventurous beer geeks, imho.

On tap at Vices et Versa, Montréal.

A dark golden ale with a thin creamy white head. A strange aroma of pinhey hops and Vicks vaporub menthol, IPA, a sweet marraschino cherry with a good malt base, light cinnamon, and good hops. A complex and unsettling brew. On tap at Vices versa, Jan. 2007.

Draught glass at Saint Bock, Montreal, June 15 2007 after MartinT’s birthday party. Someone else’s glass, actually (Glouglouburp’s?) as it was un-finishable to that individual. Lucky me. Hazy-to-opaque (hard to tell in the atmosphere) amber-copper with some lasting head....hugely fruity nose, tropical fruits and some sharp piney-citric hops, pleasant enough but already over-sweet....and then on the tongue, the sugar really whallops you; as Clark notes, it also has sort of a dirty, unclean texture and flavor as well, like something old died in there with the overripe peaches and apricots that dominate the mouth; I don’t mean to suggest it’s undrinkable or horrid, but it just has an unpleasantness about it, and a strong metallic/alcoholic bit at the finish, that really makes it tough for me to finish the glass....and I only do because I’ve decided this is going to be a serious-drinking night....syrupy, thick, cloying and carbonation is just not enough to support this thickness. Not for me, thanks.

Draught tulip at Le St. Bock on 1/27/07
Fluffy white head perched atop a clear, lemon-yellow body with strong golden hues. The head fades steadily to partial cover, leaving light lacing behind. Light carbonation in the liquid.
Moderate amounts of hops in the nose are quickly joined by honey and caramel and a strong yeastiness. Lemons, oranges and a dry, but light white grapefruit note are the aromas given off by the hops. Warm honey-dough and light, earthy caramel give a strong malt backing, but it still seems a touch too bare behind the hops. Furthermore, on the finish, mixed in with light Belgian yeast esters is a strong dirtiness. Dirty carpet, wet wool, not exactly sure, but it’s definitely noticeable. Hops try their best to drive it out, but the aroma isnt overly strong or lasting, and seems to thin out heavily as it warms/breathes. Alcohol well-concealed.
The flavor begins with juicy citrus and strong grassiness. Round and lively it sits atop lightly sweet pale malts, with a touch of light caramel/toastiness. However, a pervasive dirtiness sets in quickly and completely ruins the beer. I’m not sure the cause, but it’s been my biggest problem in homebrewing thus far. I’ve narrowed it down to either A) bacterial infection from dry-hopping or B) bacterial infection from too high a lag time. I’ve got to imagine that commercial breweries don’t have problems with lag times, so it seems to me that it’s some type of complication with dry-hopping (both beers that I’ve dry-hopped have had this exact dirtiness). It’s strange too because this beer is filtered, so you would have thought all the hop debris would have been filtered off. Anyways, if I put this side-by-side with my homebrew, you’d be amazed at the similarity.
Unfortunately, it dosent translate in to such a good beer. Try as I may, I couldnt choke down my tulip. Odd that no one else reports this...but I’ve got Olivier to corroborate my story...

Sampled on tap at le Saint-Bock. Clear golden color with a thin white head that had a good retention. Solid aroma of fruity hops, pine needles with some belgian character provided by the yeast. Superb flavor of fruity hops with pine needles and a very present belgian yeast, it finishes with bitterness. The body is light to medium with a liquorous texture and moderate carbonation. I like that the high alcohol content is not felt at all, all in all this is a solid achievement.

Body color like juice from apples. Head first big like mountain. Beer smells sweet malt, woman perfume and juice from the bees. Beer tastes like flowers petals from field where buffalos graze. Also taste fruits from where sun warm, peach, kiwis and tropical fruits. Beer very sweet. Fire water not show 11%. Bubbles soft like baby buttock, too soft, beer like this better if bubbles strong like proud warrior. Finish like crisp hop flowers swimming in honey. Bitterness medium lasts long time like angry squaw. Very good fire water from where white men speak funny language. White men better be careful with Tomahawk because Tomahawk very powerful. Hugh.

En fût. Verre de 12 oz dégusté au Saint-Bock (Montréal, QC). Arôme: Odeur d’agrumes avec une pointe d’épices. Apparence: La couleur est blonde orangée avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une large dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes et de conifères avec une pointe de caramel. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement sirupeuse. Forte effervescence en bouche. Présence d’agrumes en arrière goût. (Rating #842)