Bison Brewing Organic Belgian Ale

Posted: March 2nd, 2008 | Author: Stacy | Filed under: Beer Reviews, Craft Brew, Organic, Tripel, What's that in your fridge? | No Comments »

I have to admit up front that I often don’t love organic beers. While I do love many other organic things — fruit, vegetables, grains — I usually find that organic beers just taste wrong, much like “sulfite-free” wines taste wrong. So it’s with a little trepidation that I bought a bottle of Bison Brewing’s Belgian Ale. But I persist in my search for tasty organic beer, especially since I love Belgian-style beers!

This Belgian-style “tripel” ale is brewed with coriander, though I don’t really smell or taste it much. It does have a nice golden honey color, and it’s super clear. The aroma is crisp, slightly of honey, and has a cereal aroma I associate with Belgian beers. It’s like a hint of Grape Nuts, which sounds weird but really isn’t so bad. It’s nicely carbonated; fine bubbles on the tongue, but they don’t cover the flavor of the beer.

At 8.1% alcohol, this beer has that “warming” quality I like in a Belgian tripel. It seems to add to the malty flavor, and it heightens the banana and spice flavors in the finish. Kathy said this beer tastes grapey, which I don’t taste, but there you go!

I think I’d buy this again if it were on sale. $3.29 for 22oz isn’t so bad, especially for an organic beer, but on sale it would be even better.

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