Green Flash Le Freak

Brewed by Green Flash Brewing Co.
Style: Abbey Tripel
Vista, California USA

Bready lemony nose, Great thick mouthfeel. Bitterness from the start to the finish. Didn’t fine the Belgian flavor profile. A little perfumy in the aroma and the taste. Don’t care for it. It’s crafted well, and it’s not the first hybrid of these styles i tried. I do not think it should be under this style heading, it’s more like a IPA, not that it should be under that style ether. Oh well, good job! but it doesn’t work for me.

Bomber->Honker: pours a thin white diminishing head atop a cloudy orange body. Orange aroma, some floral. Very hoppy, medium body, great character, bitter finish. A very nice fusion of an IPA and a tripel, but much heavier on the west coast IPA style.

Bottle sample courtesy of my friend Adil- A deep hazed golden pour, topped with a frothy and rocky white cap. Intense nose of fresh hops with spices, flowers, citrus, yeast. Tastes sweet and of candy, tropical fruit,pear, and has a massive hop flavour of pine and citrus. A bit of a yeasty funk lingers towards a very lengthy and bitter finish. Very good!

22 ounce bottle. Served in a chalice, the beer pours a dark gold color with a tinge of orange and a half inch white head. Head retention and lacing are both average. Aroma is citrusy (grapefruit) and pine hops, cloves, and some tropical fruit. Taste is similar to the aroma, it tastes like pine and citrusy hops, peppery spice, Belgian yeast and a bit of tropical fruit and cloves. Also has a good bitter hoppy finish. The taste does start off very hoppy, but it does balance out as the fruit flavor shows up more as the beer warms. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it’s a bit dry and is well carbonated. Drinkability is good, the alcohol is well hidden and it’s not hard to drink at all. I think this is a good overall brew, I enjoyed it.

It’s hard not to like the offerings of Green Flash. Le Freak is one of the better tripel’s I’ve enjoyed recently and further cinches my high regard for Green Flash. Le Freak is a really nice tripel full of fruit notes, light spices, yeast and some residual sweetness that pleases my sweetooth. The perfumy aroma mingles well with the cloves and pitted fruits and seemed to be the strength of the beer. Easy to finish the bottle, even with the >9% alcohol. A nice example of a tripel.

Bomber purchased at Rozi’s in Lakewood. Aroma is a blend of fresh aromatic hops, with a slight backing of soft belgian yeast. The flavor is equally as double sided, hoppy at the front but showing a more robust sweat-bready flavor at the end.

Bottle. Hazed amber pour with a tall, off-white, frothy head. Aroma is spicy hops, spices, citrus fruits, dusty yeast and dried fruit notes. Taste is strong spices, spicy and citrusy hops, Belgian yeast, citrus fruit, light pine, caramel, sweet malt, and floral notes. Body is medium with a creamy, but full carbonation. Ends with more spices, spicy and floral hops, light toffee, citrus peel, pine needles, bitter hop, caramel, malt backbone and Belgian yeast. Nice mixing of the styles.

22oz from WLV Liquors. Pours a clear golden orange with a thin white head that mostly fades away. The biscuity belgian notes become stronger with the temperature of it rising in my glass. Next to those doughy malts are citrus and pine a touch of spice and grass. Sweet trippel like flavors, though I’d just think it was a sweet DIPA. Citrus and grassy pine flavors are ok, but I’d like more of them with the sweetness. Touch of alcohol in the finish. Overall not bad, i’m not too keen on the choice of hops here. I think that could have made a big difference.