Game Day Beer Review: Bayoue Teche Brewery Cocodrie Tripel Ale

(8.00% ABV) Cocodrie -- the French word for alligator -- was poured from a 22 ounce bottle into a tulip glass at the home office. This beautiful honey colored beer had a fluffy white head that refused to leave, like a houseguest who has overstayed their welcome -- except in this case, the lacing added nicely to the beer's overall effect as the glass slowly drained.

The beer's smell was the combination of of the yin-like funkiness of yeast and the yang-like sweetness of orange, with a hint of dry apple to balance the twin scents out.  We tasted many of the same flavors upon drinking Cocodrie, with some wheat thrown in for good measure, and there was just a hint of hoppy bitterness at the end. Cocodrie had a long and smooth, dry finish, and alcohol was very well hidden. A-

Game Day Beer Review: Allagash Curieux Bourbon Barrel-Aged Tripel

(11.0% ABV) Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a snifter glass after a late night on the football pitch. Curieux poured a clear and deep gold color with a head composed of the purest white, tiniest bubbles we've ever seen in a beer -- more akin to shaving cream than anything else.

 

The beer smelled of ripe fruit up front: bananas, apples and lemon, mixed with some slight woodsy scent and a peppery smell as it lingered.

There's bourbon through and through this beer after the initial fruit taste wears off. Curieux is aggressively carbonated and tingles the tongue. The beer contains some slight heat on the finish as the alcohol makes itself apparent. It's not nearly as sweet as some other tripels, and very much to our liking. Curieux is a great beer from a great brewery: A

Game Day Beer Review: Anchorage Brewing The Tide and its Takers Tripel with Brettanomyces (Batch #2, November 2012)

(9.00% ABV) Purchased in Ketchikan, Alaska and cracked open as the farlieonfootie corporate yacht pulled out of port recently. The Tide and its Takers was poured from a 750 ml bottle into a glass that was clearly intended for other beverages. The beer was brewed in the land of the midnight sun in conjunction with the venerable east coast brewery Dogfish Head, and aged in French oak Chardonnay barrels before being bottled.

The smell was recognizable almost immediately, as that familiar brett sourness was evident even though the glass more than a foot away. The beer appeared a hazy, deep straw color, and the downy white head stuck to the side of the glass like a man clinging desperately to a lifeboat.

The depth to the taste that was added by the French oak aging was immediately apparent. The beer tasted less of citrus that we expected from the nose; the typical Tripel sweetness was very restrained in this offering. The beer had a lively mouthfeel and was highly carbonated. As it warmed slightly we tasted green apples.

A very unique brew and one that -- predictably, with Dogfish involved -- very effectively blurs the line between wine and beer. Highly recommended: A