Upstream Oak-Aged Tripel

Thanks to Joey for bringing this to DLD! Poured clear apple juicy yellow/orange with a dusting of white head. The aroma picked up sweet pears and oak with some honey behind.. soft and subtle overall with quite a bit of oak as it breathed. Spicy and strong in the flavor department with white pepper and toasted oak giving large impressions.. dry on the back-end with more spicage and pale malt sweetness.. OK, but not overly complex or very memorable. A bit sharp on the palate with more oak impression than I’d like.. the alcohol warmth at the end was a little rough. Powerfully decent overall.

From a 750mL Bottle, 36/642. Courtesy of valpoaj. Pours a cloudy pale orange color with a thin layer of creamy off-white head. Mild brett perfumes waft from the glass, bringing out notes of white grape skin tannins, faint leather, and dusty pineapple rind. Some belgian candi sugar sweetness and restrained malt sugars. Hints of banana character and subdued alcohols. Medium bodied, softly carbonated mouthfeel with a soft, almost silky texture. The flavors are... strange, but fascinating. There’s a bit of vanilla toffee sweetness up front on the palate, but this quickly morphs into a strange, brett-laden musty bomb, all the while retaining it’s sweetness. The brett has a dry, leathery quality, but the palate doesn’t reflect this same flavor sensation. Toward the back end, more of the yeast, malt, and sugar characters begin to emerge, most notably the candi sugar and bready malt. Some of the banana picks up toward the back end, finishing with some warming alcohols and spicy oak in the final smack. This is a really interesting beer; the flavors aren’t blowing me away, but it’s definitely respectable and certainly thought provoking how the brett and residual sweetness seem to be fighting for control, but I can’t really seem to declare a winner. Could be a bit dryer for sure, and more carbonation would help enhance that sensation. Thanks, AJ!

Bottle shared at DLD by some generous soul, cheers. Pours clear amber color with a small white soapy head. Aroma is oak, vanilla, sour apple. Flavor is oak, sour apples, peaches, alcohol. Palate is medium bodied, medium carbonation, finished slightly acidic and tart. This was wonderful.

Bottle. Amber color with a small but sturdy head. Flavor is apple and cherry with a smooth body and a light amount of acidicity that cuts into the sweetness and balances out the tannins from the vanilla.