Long Strange Tripel - Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City
Style:
Tripel
Serving Type:
Bottle
Alcohol by Volume:
9%
Aroma:
Sour yeasty aroma with some banana, clove and a hint of orange peel is noticeable
Appearance:
Cloudy orange/copper colored body with a medium sized white head and plenty of lacing
Flavor:
Warm candied orange, sour banana and clove flavors are balanced perfectly with the malty bread flavored side of this beer
Mouthfeel:
Super creamy texture, just a hint of carbonation
Overall Impression:
This beer has an amazingly well balanced combination of flavors that is very pleasing on the palate.
Boulevard's Long Strange Tripel is one of those beers that I've wanted to drink for the longest time but never got around to it for one reason or another. The Long Strange Tripel is one of Boulevard's original Smokestack Series beers. I love Belgian style ales and I've wanted to pick up a bottle of the Long Strange many times but it seems like I've always overlooked it in favor of more exotic beers when I'm at the store. I finally got a sample of the Long Strange at the Kansas City Beerfest last fall. I'm not sure if it was the quality of the beer or the fact that it was poured by Mr. Harold "Trip" Hogue himself, but this was definitely the highlight of the day.
A few weeks later I finally decided to pick up a bottle of the Long Strange Tripel and give it a proper review. Would this beer be as good as I remembered? I've had a lot of Tripel style beers, would this trippy Kansas City beer be able to stand up to authentic Belgian Tripels? After drinking my way through this bottle I'm confident in saying this beer has exceeded my expectation.
Boulevard's Long Strange Tripel pours an orangish copper color and develops a medium width white head that remains atop the beer through the entire glass. The aroma of this beer is funky, it's yeasty and a little sour but doesn't smell light or thin. That holds true for the flavor as well. The Long Strange is definitely a funky beer, it's got the yeast, sour and sweet components you picked up on but none of those stand out as being overwhelming. It's really quite the opposite with this beer. The Long Strange Tripel is an incredibly well balanced beer, all of the flavors are complimentary of one another so that when you take a sip, you get a full flavored and full bodied Tripel flavored Tripel....
This creamy and expertly balance Tripel is well worth the modest price tag. Boulevard's Long Strange Tripel is a masterful take on a great Belgian style beer. I regret not trying this beer sooner and I'd suggest everyone who likes a little sour in their beer to track down a bottle of this Tripel.
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