Green Flash Le Freak

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

Bottle. Head is initially average sized, creamy, off-white, mostly lasting. Body is hazy dark yellow to light amber, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly malty (toasted grain), moderately hoppy (resin), with notes of gum, pepper, lemon zest, alcohol. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium to full body, velvety texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic, lightly astringent. The hop aroma is a bit strong, but oddly it fades in the glass and lets the tripel character show through just fine. This is actually better than the regular tripel (which I sampled in the same session) despite my distaste for the type/usage of hops, due to it having a brighter aroma and a crisper/dryer finish. Pretty good stuff.

On tap@O’brien"s: Hazy peach amber color with a small off-white head. Aroma is lightly sweet with a hint of grass and faint bubblegum. Flavor has a spicy citrus start with some candi sugar sweetness in the background then a sharp citrus bite and a lingering grapefruit rind aftertaste. Medium body and creamy with moderate carbonation.

Pours lightly hazy amber with a large off white head. The aroma has banana esters, Belgian yeast, light toast and a hint of hops. Medium crisp body with quite a bit of carbonation and an overall roughness to the palate. Starts with tripel style malt as mentioned above with some dryness and earthy / spicy hops on the finish along with some dry caramel. I don’t know the age on the bottle, but I was expecting a punchier hop kick. Still pretty solid, but I was expecting more.

Bottle. Pours a light and hazy amber color with large thick white head. Aroma is grapefruit citrus with some spice and sweet malt. Flavor is on the sweet side but hoppy, spicy, and lightly fruity. Finish dries out some and offers hints of the belgian yeast with a fairly lengthy bitterness. A wide range of interesting flavors in a beer that borders on confused.

Pours with a slightly cloudy, golden-orange body topped by a thick, off-whtie head with lots of lacing. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a little spice, a nice grassy hop note and a piney, bitter, lasting finish. Meidum bodied, smooth and a touch dry.

22 oz’er. Nothing like killin’ a Thursday afternoon with a big ol’ beer like this. Bronze and active, this tops out with a nice creamy top. The aroma is somewhat restrained, with just a hint of farmhousey yeastiness and a little floral sweetness. But this drinks with a big chewy essence, thick with resin and Belgiany wild yeast kick. I’m not sure if I like the marriage of the two components, but I don’t care because I’m kickin’ back on a nice day off. (#3536, 5/14/2009)

Lightly foggy gold, thick white head. Aroma is yeasty, nice hoppiness, alcohol, spices, orange peel. Taste is an upfront hoppiness, with alcohol, yeast, background hoppiness follows. Alcohol dominates a bit too much.

Sampled on tap at Stone World Bistro & Gardens, May 2007
The beer is quite hazy and is topped by a one-finger thick pale head that sits atop an orange-gold colored beer. Aromas of earthy spice, that sort of quintessential signature Belgian nose; notes of grass, with an underneath fruit mix of pear, apple and even some citrus (lemon and some orange peel). This is a really nice, interesting nose.

The beer is fairly dry tasting, yet it has a heft and body to it that belies this. I think the earthy, chewy spice notes help to dry out what would otherwise be a beer with some sweetness. Grassy hop notes are noticeable up front and the beer picks up some pale-grain sweetness after the first couple of sips; still it is fairly dry over all. A biting, herbal hop note is found in the finish; an austere bitterness as well as some hop flavor contributes to this. The beer is very hoppy, yet still the Belgian yeast character comes through in a supporting role.