First Review of 2012! Scuttlebutt Tripel 7

Welcome to the first beer review of 2012. We have a first for gulp! tonight, as I will be reviewing the first tripel to be featured on the site. That being the case, I'd suggest you head on over to Beer Advocate for a quick read up on what a tripel is: http://beeradvocate.com/articles/223.

Now that you're educated, tonight's beer is from the Scuttlebutt Brewery in Everett, Washington. Part of 14 seasonal beers, the Tripel 7 is a Belgian style ale. Right there you should be warned that this really isn't a true Tripel (perhaps you can tell me why it isn't a "true" Tripel based on what you read from the link up there). Created in the mid 90's, Scuttlebutt is a growing brewery in the northwest United States. Growing so much in fact, that, according to their website, in 2011 they projected selling 186,000 gallons of beer! Sweet!

Let's get to the beer. The '7' pours a pretty nice golden haze color, and with this pouring, had little head. The scent is a pretty light fruity - like banana. And, no surprise, the flavor is much the same. It goes down pretty easy, and feels good on the throat. They used two types of hops in this beer, Bullion and Cz Saaz. Had I had those before, I would likely tell you right now if I taste them; however, I haven't so... yeah.

This is a pretty good beer. I can't really compare it against other Tripel's, so I vow to you that as the year goes on, I'll have some more Tripel's for comparison. Also know that it's just under 9% ABV, so drink with care!