North Coast Brewing Brother Thelonious
Serving: 750ml corked bottle.
Style: Abbey Ale
ABV: 9.4%
So it's been a month since I've updated my blog, but I've been a busy young man. Recently got a job at OHSU doing research in a field that I am very interested in, so I've been busy for the first time in about 8 months. Don't worry! I'm still drinking beer!
Ahhh, another big brew. Lots of flavor and lots of gravity...just the way I like it. Beer pours a nice dark dirty ruby color that catches just enough light to make it shine. Thin lace of carbonation makes it's way up to the top of the brew.
Smells fruity! A hodgepodge of tasty dark fruit wafts up into my nostrils. Some alcohol-ey ester smell in the back as well, just to remind you that at 9.4% this beer isn't messing around.
First sip, and my initial thought is that this beer is a little unbalanced. A bit too sweet and really missing some mellow earthy notes that I get with other abbey ales. Also there is a weird aftertaste that is slightly off putting.
All the other aspects of the beer are intact here, bold dark fruit flavors, deep malty complexity, and pretty decent drinkability for a 9.4% beer.
Final Verdict: C
-Overly sweet and unbalanced. If I wasn't such a fan of the style I probably wouldn't be able to drink this whole bottle. I would recommend many other abbey ales, especially the excellent offering from New Belgium Brewing at a bargain price. You can do a lot better at 7.99$ a bottle. Ommegang and Unibroue make great abbeys at this price point.
