Inviting candi-sugared Belgian dark ale elegantly blends brown ale-like pecan-walnut-hazelnut conflux with chocolate-roasted dried fruiting. Spiced plum, raisin and date illusions gain slight alcohol warmth and ashen hop char at silken mocha-fruited finish.
Delightful easygoing copper-browned Abbey styling stays softer than most richer competition, but to no detriment. Sweet caramel-spiced plum, raisin, dark cherry and red grape illusions preserve molasses bread base as modest cellar funk spreads underlying musk.
Spritzy lemon zest absorbs light Belgian yeast sweetness, withering banana-clove honeying and distant apricot-fig-tangerine conflux above mild sourdough base in ho-hum manner.
On tap at Blue Grasshopper, warbled honey-fruited 2016-brewed tripel lacks sufficient herbal yeast peppering to mustily contrast temporal sugar-spiced banana daiquiri, lemon meringue, orange marmalade, mint liqueur, candied orange, apricot and fig illusions. Less expressive than most Belgian-brewed Abbey ales, but not drastically so.
A simple pleasure. Approachable soft-toned Abbey Ale emulating from New Mexico contrasts mild crystal malt creaming, vanilla-spiced honeyed fruiting and dewy sweetness against white-peppered herbal hops. Ancillary caramelized banana, sugarplum, burgundy, apricot and fig notions provide fruity center.
