Beer – #545 – Moa – Tripel Sauvignon 2014 Vintage

Experimental beer, experimental music, experiments with numbers and an experiment at a party

A Belgian style Tripel experimental fusion beer

A Moa Tripel Sauvignon 2014 Vintage beer, in a cork and cage special presentation 375 ml bottle, and at 9.3% ABV, makes it 2.8 standard drinks, the bottle would be around 300 calories.

Brewed by Moa Brewing Company in the style that is Abbey Tripel and they are in Blenheim, New Zealand

Classical beer, ideal for classical music

A Belgian style Tripel experimental fusion beer where the candi sugar adjunct was replaced with unfermented Sauvignon Blanc grape juice from the 2014 Marlborough harvest.

The end result is a beer where the typical Tripel banana and spice fermentation derived characters are complemented by vineous yet fruity and tropical notes.

What could possibly go wrong?

Love the cork and cage, even if it bumps up the pricing, makes it a celebration beer somewhat.

That popped with a bit of urgency, so well carbonated.

Sweet sugary aroma.

Pour is quite pale, and then clouds as you forget the bit in the bottom. The head, as is, is thin but persistent. Aroma blooms a little to be more banana like,

it is very familiar. Alcohol is noticeable too.

The initial taste is quite bitter and tart, but with familiar sugars and softness. The finish is towards a dry and arid.

I’m really enjoying this, but then I secretly really like the Belgium style beers and would generally be very enthusiastic about them, I like the mouldy mildew kind of thing, I like the over-the-top sweet candy sugars, I like the sour bitterness and I enjoy the colours. There I said it.

This does have a fairly noticeable alcohol astringent in it that could be considered a bit of a handicap to some, but it appears to be all up front and not at the back.

As it warms slightly you get more of the sauvignon notes and overall it become a bit deeper and some of the more tart notes begin to come through.

If I was the brewer I’d be a bit chuffed with this one.

The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as a solid 9 of its things from the thing. I might be slightly generous with that number it seems to have been a while between good Belgium beers for me, good ones that is, and when you get one you realise that you should get another. Not quite a desert beer but this is a nice end of drinking finisher.

The double dip review

Am I enjoying it? I am a bit blown away by how good this one is. Yes I am.
Would I have another? I would be in heaven if I had another, it might be worth getting another for later in the year.
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? This is a decent beer that would go well at the end of the evening, with or after the desert, sitting under the stars or in the warmth of the music room. It really is a beer to mull over and enjoy.

Music is a challenge, and so with this I’m listening to something completely left field. Joseph Haydn: Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra in E-flat major. This is performed by Wynton Marsalis

I know right, be unpredictable and enjoy it all.

ABBEY TRIPEL

Like other abbey ales, Tripels are strong, yeasty-malty beers. But they are also pale, and have a notable hop profile. Hop bitterness may be higher than a typical abbey ale, up to 35IBUs. But the finish is where the hops really shine, as tripels should finish fairly dry. Otherwise, maltiness is still essential to the style, and the assertive yeast note typical of all abbey ales will be more apparent in tripels, since they do not have the rich dark malts to distract the palate. Alcohol flavours feature more prominently in Tripels that in just about any other style.