Finally its Friday, almost Belgian Friday to use an expression from another beer blogger – because today is not an usual day today I drink (or rather I drank some days ago) a Belgian beer. For you who know my taste you know that it doesn’t happen every day. Brasserie Artisanale de Rulles La Rulles Triple is the beer! But to make it up to myself since I dont enjoy drinking Belgian beer as much as American ones I’ve also tried Mikkellers “new” Hoppy Easter, their old Drikkeriget GIPA but with a new name and label.
La Rulles Triple
A Triple that already in the bottle looks more like a cider or a geuze.
Appearance: Minimal bubbles in the head which has a white color, semi creamy top. Murky peach yellowy color on the liquid.
Aroma: Very, very, fresh aroma. Like a hefeweizen diluted with juice. Like a mango purée or even a mango and banana purée. I can also find a hint of tea, maybe even spicy green tea. Also hidden scents of something like rice? Grass? Boiled peas? Very varied aroma is the least I can say about this.
Palate: Medium mouth feel, well carbonated. A first taste of candy bananas which transcends into more of a candy orange flavor. Much flavors of grass and wheat. Very acid with light hints of pear and apple flavors. Not very similar to other Triples I have had before, this is juicier, lighter and more wine like flavors. Finally there are some pineapple flavors and a sweet tropical fruit juiciness.
Final grade? – Good, first of all it is worth its price! 55SEk for a 65cl bottle is a good price for this. And like I’ve mentioned it is not very similar to other Triples I have had. Maybe a little to acid for my taste, but worth its price and worth trying for you who like Belgian beers.
Mikkeller Hoppy Easter
Mikkeller relabeled their old GIPA into this and released it now in time for Easter. This will be my first GIPA so I won’t have any reference points for this one. I see it contains Tomahawk bitter hops, interesting since I’ve got some at home, so maybe I’ll dry hop it some by myself.
Appearance: Large porous head with a variety of bubble sizes and with a semi creamy froth. cloudy peach colors liquid.
Aroma: Welcoming aroma of bitter hops with a grassy, lightly acid backbone. I feel the maltiness almost preventing the hops from going “all in” in the aroma. There is something in the final aroma which I find disturbing, like old acid hops. The aroma started of fresh and you were expecting tropical fruits and fresh, perfect hoppiness – but something happened and the malt character took over and made it end up somewhere in between.
Palate: Light mouth feel, almost a little watery. Where is the carbonation? The bitterness is surfacing towards the endand is okay but the flavors are not what you expected. A citrusy acidness and an almost soapy after taste. Much citrus, light hints of resin and flowers. Almost peppery in the end.
With an addition of Amarillo pellets (I mistook them for being Tomahawk pellets) you get a better hoppy flavor in the beer. So they should have hopped it more, better or with more hop varieties – at least to better suit my taste.
Final grade? – Okay, maybe even a small +, this wasn’t what I expected but I must give it credit for being a good Easter Beer even though it is a GIPA in disguise. The hoppy character and flavors are held back and this makes this brew a good one if you are served one, but to go and buy it for 34SEK is a little too much when there are both better IPA’s and better Easter beers out there – for less money.
Friday it is, so I wish you all a nice weekend, and if you have the time and live in Stockholm – go visit Sorbon and see if there is something left of the Mikkeller 1000 IBU!
Grundare och skribent på MankerBeer.com. Från ett fokus på allt vad USA har att erbjuda och med en kärlek till gedigen amerikansk mat, bra bourbon och framförallt all landets fantastiska öl har Manker nu börjat förstå storheten i belgisk öl.
Magnus "Manker" Björnstjerna
Grundare och skribent på MankerBeer.com. Från ett fokus på allt vad USA har att erbjuda och med en kärlek till gedigen amerikansk mat, bra bourbon och framförallt all landets fantastiska öl har Manker nu börjat förstå storheten i belgisk öl.
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