North Coast Brother Thelonious

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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This brown ale poured with a thin tan head, eliciting a malty aroma. The flavor is malty but a little harsh, with a carbonated mouthfeel - slightly sweet at first, with a bitter finish.

I liked it better than the cru dor or the pranqster. Nice dark brown...almost ruby tint. Thin head...diminished rather quickly. Mouthfeel was just right..not as heavy as youd expect from looking at it. Smelled of burnt caramel and bananas...a little bit of nuttyness. Same with the taste...roasted malt and belgian yeat dominate...little bit of the nuttyness and some banana...some plum. For a belgian style not comming from belgium this was quite good.

Dark, nearly opaque pour with a thin white head. Yeasty aroma with some banana and clove and pretty heavy hint of alcohol. Man... this stuff is strong. Active carobnation and very lively mouthfeel. Strong notes of dried fruit and some spice. Alchol finishes it, mostly dry. Pretty good. I wonder if the lady at the beer store recognized the dude on the bottle, she was staring it down lol.

Bottle. Spicey, malty up front. Virtually no aroma. Finishes w/ a hint of alcohol.

Rich Chestnut coloring that can’t see through. Head is very small and goes quickly. Nice Belgian yeast however alcohol could be blended a touch better. The alcohol can be tasted away from the Malty dark fruity flavor.

This beer really need to warm up to 55 degree plus before rating. Beer pours dark mahogeny with a totally dissipating off white head. Aroma is malty with some raisins and alcohol. Flavor is malt with figs and a bit too much alcohol. My big complaint with this beer is that the alcohol is too apparent.

22oz bottle. Poured a clear reddish-brown color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of raisins, toffee, other dark fruits, and lightly spicy. I was also getting a little nuttiness in the aroma. Tastes of dark fruits, caramel, and light spices. Lively body with a light alcohol finish.

Poured an orange ruby color with a thin, off white head that left light lacing on the glass. Aroma of spices, yeast, dark fruits, sweet caramel, some dough, and faint alcohol. Taste of more dried fruits, with grapes and cherries, cinnamon, all spice, with caramel malts, and light alcohol in the finish.

Caramel, malt, sweet aroma, a hint of spice maybe. Pours an amber brown. I must say i feel the flavor’s missing something, its alittle too timid. Its got some brown sugar, caramel, chocolate, some hop spice, smooth, but i gotta say their Cru’dor is better. But this one does benefit a good cause! and i love the label!

Because I just got back from Belgium and Germany, where I sampled many a beer, and also because I’m so fond of Belgian ale, I was excited to find North Coast Brewing Company’s bottle conditioned Brother Thelonious at a local beer shop. Unfortunately, I found this offering rather inauthentic and unpalatable. It’s cloyingly sweet and spicy, according to my palate, and hasn’t any balance: the most salient flavors compete too much with each other. And for a bottle conditioned beer, the pitch of its effervescence is not where it could/should be. It’s a poor knockoff of a tripel, with a strange, displeasing, carrot juice finish. Despite my criticism, I’m very happy that NCBC is branching out in this direction, and I’m confident they’ll produce something worthy of accolades, but this isn’t it. I give them props, also, for the fundraiser associated with this beer. I’ll keep my eye out for the next installmentt.