Eel River Triple Exultation

Brewed by Eel River Brewing Company
Style: Old Ale
Fortuna, California USA

Looks nice. Not too much in the aroma. This is pretty decent. A hint of coffee, not much alcohol, not as thick as I’d thought it would be.

500ml bomber. Opaque dark toffee brown with a thin off-white head. Quite a rugged, though true to style, aroma of deep alcohol laced caramel. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light and smooth compared to the aroma, almost medium bodied in some ways. The warm brown sugar finish reinforces the fact that this beer is no joke though. Figgy, with some dark fruit pungency. Some bitterness from the hops helps to balance it all out, but they are still trumped out by the thick malt bill. An excellent example of a quirky style.

Tap. Dark red brown color. Think head. Not much nose but slightly grapey. Exceptionally smooth taste for the 9.7 ABV. Mild sweetness, almost fully balanced with bittering hops.

22oz. A disappointing take on the style. The nose is hardly a nose. Some light malt, maybe a bit of caramel. Flavor is similarly and oddly light. Some light caramel and sweet malt almost like licking malt extract. No hops, no funk. An old ale should be a little funky with some fruitiness. This has none of this. We all agreed that our homebrewed Smoked Old Ale kicked this ass of this. A poor effort but at least still drinkable.

Pours deep mahogany into a snifter. Off-white head recedes to hug rim. Dark caramel and grapefruit aromas. Thin and well-balanced with upfront dark caramel and a lasting sweet resin finish.

Dark copper pour, big head, serious lacing. Hoppy bitter nose. Thick, heavy roasted toffee or caramel. Fizzy, with a bitter alcoholic finish. Little bit of raisin in there too. Dry, and quite tasty.

On tap at Town Hall on 05/26/2009. Clear copper amber body with a small creamy off-white head. Big floral, citrus and piney hop aroma on a caramel background. Big piney and citrus hop flavor on a caramel background. Medium full body with moderate carbonation and an almost creamy finish.

Cloudy brown copper body with a medium khaki head. The nose was sweet caramel candy with some hints of apples and cherries. There was also some doughy goodness behind the candy and fruit, like a nicely blended fruit cake. The taste was leathery and salty with a little bit of ginger spice in the finish. There is also some prune that lingers in the finish. A big brew that still drinks fairly easy. Decent.