North Coast Brother Thelonious

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

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...

There is a beautiful ruby and copper color to this beer when you pour it into the glass. As soon as you smell this beer it brings you right back to the powerful fumes of Belgium. With that specific strong Belgian ale flavor, it is surprising this was brewed in Cali and not Belgium.

Pours a nice dark and clear root beer brown with a nice fluffy caramel head that didnt last too long. Aromas of bread, yeast, and caramel malts. Thick and very sweet on the palate. Heavy malt flavors with a mild hop aftertaste on the backside. I like this and would buy it again. I’m recork the bottle and put it with my keepers. Way to cool for skool label. I found this brew in a small shop on Rt-1, Coastal Highway a couple miles north of Lewes, Delaware.