Green’s Quest Tripel Blonde Beer

It’s time for the finale in my three-part Green’s gluten-free beer review series. I’m kind of wishing all six other styles were imported to the states so I’d have a few more gluten-free beer choices, since this puts me at the end of the line for what I’ve been able to find so far.

On opening the bottle, a lovely malty aroma wafted out and nearly fooled my nose into thinking I was going to have a regular beer. The Quest pours nicely, with finer carbonation and a decent (but not truly Belgian Tripel-quality) head — not nearly as airy and, well, huge as what I’m used to seeing. In under a minute it went from a 1″ head to a .25″ head, as you can see in my photo. But the color is a nice honey gold/red and very clear, though probably not what I’d describe as a “blonde.”

As with the Endeavour dubbel, this beer needs to warm a bit to taste good. My first sip was tart and a bit off-tasting. Not tart and weirdly fruity/grapey, more tart like a dry cider but without the apple taste. Not even lambic or geuze tart, which still has a fruitiness to it. Gone, though, is the up front acrid sorghum bitterness and metallic flavor in my mouth.

Once Quest warms up, it tastes moderately like a traditional tripel — definite spicey aroma, warm feeling in the mouth, honey tones to the sweetness. But there’s a slight bitterness to the finish, just a little bite that’s not quite right.

So far, this is the most convincing “Belgian” style gluten-free beer I’ve tried. I don’t think it’s an every day drinker like the New Grist ale could be, but for the price it’s worth the occasional splurge. And again, if I hadn’t had regular beer within fairly recent memory, this would probably be sweet ambrosia on my lips!