Une Année Tripel

Brewed By: Une Année Brewery in Chicago, Illinois  

Purchased: 750ml (1 Pint 9.4 FL OZ) bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2014 (Batch 9 - 10.23.13)

Style/ABV: Belgian Tripel, 8.7%

Reported IBUs: ?

Local Chicago Abbey Ales? Yes please. About Une Année:

Une Année is a brewery based out of Chicago, Illinois located near the intersection of Grand and Ashland in the Kinzie Industrial Corridor (three blocks from the Goose Island Fulton St. production brewery). The brewery was founded in early 2012 by Jerry Nelson, who is "an Architect, Marine, Siebel Institute Graduate, and Chicago native who started homebrewing in 1995 while stationed in California." Currently, Jerry is the head brewer along with Dustin Zimmerman, who also attended the Siebel Institute, and previously brewed at Hamburger Mary’s Andersonville and worked at Nøgne Ø. The name "Une Année" means "one year" in French, and was chosen to reinforce the two main ideas behind the brewery: a focus on Belgian and French style beer, and an emphasis on seasonal beers. For more info, check out the brewery's website.

Tonight's beer, the Une Année Tripel, has the disclaimer: "The Tripel is often considered the most approachable of Belgian ales." I don't know if that is true, but this subtle and boozy Strong Ale punches in at 8.7% and is described as having notes of big fruits, moderate spice, and hints of American hops poking through.

Une Année Tripel

This one pours into a swampy, dark orange/gold body, kicking up a finger of reluctant, off-white head. The head quickly settles into some cauldron bubbles for that nice cauldron effect, with sea foam head on the outer edges of the glass. When held to a bright light, this beer is a vibrant and juicy, hazy orange color. Looking through the beer from the top unlocks those sunset/sunrise tones, and it's kind of a beautiful thing to behold. The head is white with orange streaks, leaving clingy residuals and epic sheets of iceberg lacing. Honestly...it's a good looking Tripel and that's all she wrote.

Apparently Belgium doesn't have a gosh darn thing on Chicago, as this smells inviting with giant citrus splashes, orange, sliced orange, perfume phenols, clove and bubblegum funk, wheat, and boozy perfume. This smells legit like an Abbey Ale, and not at all on the fruity/raisin end of the wheat stick like some imports end up. I'm still not sure if that's an issue of freshness or what, but I know what I like in my Tripels and I'm getting that here.

I'm a little bit less impressed on the taste...but there's a clean elegance to this beer, and plenty of fruity notes in the realm of orange, orange candy, fruity wheat, apples/pear, apple slaw salad, perfume spice. This has a good amount of Belgian funk, with wheat and bubblegum showing up, and some kisses of clove. But the main feature here seems to be the citrus and the hop bitterness. This is definitely in the moderate to higher end of the hoppy Tripel spectrum, but I like it. I'm getting welcomed bitterness that adds a peppery and spicy accent to the alcohol. It kind of reminds me of the Maredsous 10 Tripel, which has some nice spicy booze. As does the New Belgium "Trippel."

At any rate...this is still seductive and hides the booze well. You don't get much of the 8.7%, which is why this style rocks. Give it to your kids/wife. I'm just kidding. Don't listen to me. This is medium-bodied, with good carbonation. It has some creaminess, and the wheat malts help add body. The bitterness from the hops plays off the bubblegum from the wheat, and you get a nice citrus-bubblegum thing that gets bitter like spent gum. I'm enjoying myself here. Palate depth is on point but the complexity lags a big. I mean...this is above-average stuff, but there's a lot of good Tripels out there. Up front: citrus, citrus candy, sweet citrus, perfume phenols, perfume citrus; the mids roll into more citrus, with the addition of some Belgian funk, clove, bubblegum, growing wheat, and hop bitterness; the back end imparts some nice bitterness, and rounds out with lingering orange and citrus. Boozy, peppery, phenolic spice then follows. This is...surprisingly good. This could be a local contender and something I would pick up on the regular. 

Rating: Above-Average (4.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Above-Average on this. This is one of my favorite styles of beer, and I'm happy to report that they pretty much nailed it. Success! There's not much else to say here...except that I would totally pick this up again, especially at around $10 a bottle. This is a beer to pair with strong cheeses, grilled meats, grilled lamb, and for me tonight...chili. I actually wouldn't recommend pairing this with chili, but you know, I eat what I have on hand. 

Random Thought: I shaved my beard! All of it! AHHHH. I have good reason though...it's getting hot out. I think I'm gonna roll with the stubble look, only I'll probably look like a hobo instead of Ryan Gosling.