North Coast Brother Thelonious

(750 ml bottle from 1828 Vintage House) Pours dark rubyish brown, fairly clear-looking. One finger of biege head recedes to a thin lasting layer. Aroma is sweet and sour, stewed dark fruits, some brown sugar and yeast. Mouthfeel is fairly soft and smooth but more prickly than normal for style. Thin sheets and rings of lacing. Flavor opens with some Band Aid (much like the Allagash Victor I had recently). The Band Aid sort of dissipates as I work through the bottle. Sweet and sour taste with notes of dark stewed fruit and a red wine taste as it becomes warmer. Some light brown sugar, cocoa and yeast also present. Alcohol pretty well-covered. Dryish lightly bitter cocoa aftertaste. Not too bad except for the Band Aid.

12 ounce bottle in Westmalle chalice. Reddish brown with lasting ring and a little lace. Toasted caramel almond and chocolate covered cherry aroma with slight alcohol burn. Very toasted brown sugar caramel with mild red fruit and underlying bittersweetness. Very sweet. Mild spicy finish. Fairly complex with all its toasty sweetness. Medium-full body and medium carbo gives a little bite. Pretty good. Maybe a little too bitey.

Ruby/brown pour, very large light head. Slight roasted malt and molasses, caramel, toffee, raisin. Not overpowered with hops or carbonation. A little sticky with a clean finish. I could see this being very good one tap. Usually don’t care for Belgian ales because of the large amounts of carbonation, but this one is not bad at all.

Stayed one night at Fort Bragg, of coarse had to have some North Coast! Poured from tap and made my belly tingle with delite! My wife, who is a dedicated red wine drinker actually liked it! Alcohol content didn’t overpower this tasty brew!

Brother Thelonious from North Coast Brewing comes in a standard Belgian-style corked 750ml bottle. He popped nice and easy with a loud pronunciation of his presence. A dark abbey ale, Thelonious poured a rich, cloudy earthen brown. Immediately I get lots of yeasty sweetness and sourdough in the nose. I can tell right away this is going to be a faithful American production of a traditional Belgian dark abbey ale. Immediately the sourdough and chewy yeast embraces my palate. A very thick weighty body as a dark abbey should be. I also get hints of raisin and a bit of maple sweetness within the sourdough and ripe banana yeasts. Thankfully, not much in the way of carbonation, though it does have a nice effervescence to the body. Just enjoyably smooth, yeasty, and pleasantly weighty as Thelonious warms, finishing with a faint hint of lemon rind lingering behind the yeast.
Definitely one of the better Belgian-style abbey ales from an American craft brewery, I would put Brother Thelonious up there with the fine beers of Ommegang. A fine addition to anyone’s fridge because we all need a little jazz and a little monk in our life. It does a body and soul good, after all.

Lovely mahogany with firm cream top. Moderately hoppy aroma with easy malt and Belgian yeast influences. Similar flavor, with stronger presence of mildly phenolic Belgian yeast Well balanced so one would never guess that this approaches anything close to the stated 9%. Decent stuff, though I think it would benefit from aging.

Tasted somewhere along my trip through the States.
Amber colored brew. Sweet, fruity aroma. Sweet flavor with some dark fruits, some hops.

Tap at the Red Feather - Dark copper ale with a small off white head, aroma of spice, yeast and malt, this was a damn good brew...tons of coriander, clove, dry fruit, molassas malt...alcohol is ever present but in a way that complements the other senses, like you are glad it isn’t hidden too far away...incredible surprise, will be coming back for more...