Beer – #569 – Garage Project – Touch Wood
Peculiar beer, peculiar music, peculiar use of numbers and a peculiar party.
You need a bit of good luck to pull off a beer like this – so ‘touch wood’.
The Elderflower and Honey Tripel is in a 650ml bottle, is 9% ABV, and 4.6 Standard Drink units and about 495 calories in the bottle.
Brewed by Garage Project this is in the style that is an Abbey Tripel and GP are in Wellington, New Zealand
A bottle of your most intricately wrapped beer please
Malted barley and wheat infused with Elderflower sugar syrup, fresh Elderflowers and honey create a beer alive with the verdant joy of Spring.
You need a bit of good luck to pull off a beer like this – so ‘touch wood’.
Each bottle hand wrapped and individually numbered.
Bottle 1454 – my lucky number
What were they thinking? and What could go wrong?
Bottle 1454 of only 2500 wrapped and shipped. Which makes it all the more mysterious and desirable, and once it’s gone, it is gone.
I’ve had this in the fridge for a few weeks waiting for a good time, and there is no time like now to be a good time.
Sour Belgium beer yeast aroma on opening, which is a good sign,
Pour is crisp clean golden, a well carbonated beer that clears to leave a really nice white and fluffy head that look a big luxurious.
Aroma to me seemed like candied sugar. The taste, well, the taste isn’t like a beer that I’ve ever had, it’s hard to put a finger on that.
A savoury tasting beer in some ways, a sweet beer in others. No hint at all at alcohol content, no astringent burn, nothing.
More bitter than a normal Tripel might be, where you could expect more sugars, perhaps. Certainly not a dry finish that should expect.
I though that this is an understated bit of good despite the lack of the floral or overt sweetness. It isn’t boring to drink and has some favour points that prick and peak.
It warmed in the glass, the alcohol became slightly more pronounced, slightly. Second pour and it’s still crisp and the carbonation is perfect, the glass hazy then snap clear, head is lovely. I finally got the hat cloudy as I poured the bottle empty, just because I could, not because I should. It made no difference, didn’t add anything to the taste that I could discern.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 8.5 a of its things from the thing. It is certainly an entertaining and performance beer, which could only have been improved with a cork and cage. It is an unusual take on a Belgium beer style that you could probably argue wasn’t even a bit close, more a hat tip to rather than an interpretation.
I think that this is a beer that could have done with some more oomph in the profile, and that packaged otherwise I might have been less generous. As it is the arbitrary nature of things means that unless you are a complete grinch you should perhaps enjoy it like I did, live a little!
The double dip review
- Am I enjoying it? I think you get caught up in the whole thing starting at the presentation and the ‘hidden’ thin in the wrapping, the way interest is piqued about the flavours.
- Would I have another? I would certainly entertain another, it is alarmingly easy drinking for a strong beer.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? It’s a pre-wrapped present and flowers and a bottle, it’s the real deal of beers to. Of course I’d bring one, except there are no more and that’ll never happen, but if there was and I could etc etc.
Do yourself a favour and check out here for a better and more detailed set of pictures for the table art, it’s a bit amazing
Musics I was listening to “Kodakid” the album “Kodakid” and this is the opening track “Outta Sight” You’ll find it on Sptofy here Seems they might have called it a day though
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.
BELGIAN STRONG ALE
Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.
A life just as ordinary 