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.

Goose Island The Ogden

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company (owned by AB InBev) in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Rayan's Discount Liquors in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on April 16, 2014)

Style/ABV: Belgian Tripel, 9.0% 

Reported IBUs: 35

The Ogden is one of Goose Island's new beers, which includes their really solid The Illinois, their hoppy and accessible 312 Urban Pale Ale, their Endless IPA, and their Ten Hills Pale Ale. Is The Ogden up to snuff?

About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2013, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

The Ogden is a Belgian Tripel, which is a hard-hitting style known for being deceptively boozy and full of big, complex flavors. Goose Island's The Ogden is named after William Ogden, who opened Chicago's first brewery, and was also Chicago's first mayor. He also added the North Brand channel to the Chicago River, where Goose Island would eventually reside and take their name from. This beer is brewed with Citra, Brewers Gold, and Saaz hops; it is dry hopped with Brewers Gold and Citra hops as well. This one features a 2-Row malt base, and is fermented using Belgian Tripel yeast. At 9.0% and 35 IBUs, this is a big, bold beer.

Goose Island The Ogden

This beer pours out the part of a Tripel, into a picture perfect golden/yellow body with some orange tones. The beer kicks up a finger or two of perfectly white head. The head is white, wispy, and looks like clouds. As the head drops off, you get massive webs of lacing. In bright light, this beer is all yellow/gold, with lazy dots of mid-sized carbonation. The beer seems to be filtered or semi-filtered, and the head is vibrantly white. Again, this beer's appearance is the stuff you'd expect from a brewery like GI.

The aroma here is pretty hoppy, actually. This is definitely an American interpretation of a Tripel, with big orange, grapefruit, candied perfume, orange perfume, sugar, clove, banana, and bubblegum funk. The big Citra hops really come over the top, driving the bready malt backing and the clove/sugar/banana/bubblegum funk. It's not a bad aroma at all, especially if you like Citra hops.

Again, the taste is a nice continuation of the aroma, with big Citra splashes up front. I'm getting lots of orange and grapefruit, with big funky Belgian clove, bubblegum, light banana, and tons of sugary caramel. The finish is somewhat bready with lingering sugars. There's a perfume element that shows up in the middle and continues towards the end, and the end drops some mild alcohol warming and alcohol spice on the back of your throat. You also pick up some light grain.

This is full-bodied and feels substantial, which you want at 9.0%. This is remarkably drinkable and hides the alcohol well, but you know something is up here. Palate depth is just okay, and complexity seems a bit low for the style. While I'm enjoying the Citra hop aspect of this, I feel like the rest of the beer is somewhat simple in execution. You get those big Citra splashes up front with grapefruit and orange against a funky Belgian backdrop of clove, bubblegum, banana, and white sugar; the mids dial up the bready caramel, with some serious layers of sugar, candy sugar, and more dark sugar, with some more Belgian funk; the back end cleans up with some bread, grain, and lingering perfume notes. It's very solid, especially for the price. Probably a three point five. 

Rating: Average (3.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'll go with a Strong Average here...when I first had this earlier today, I thought it was maybe too sweet. Now that I'm drinking it again, I think the sweetness is appropriate, especially for the style. This isn't a bad beer by any means, it's just missing that element I can't quite place a finger on. Having said that, at 9.0% this is big and boozy in all the right places. This is a beer begging to be paired with pizza or something doughy. Maybe pasta. My awesome girlfriend made pasta with a white artichoke sauce for dinner tonight, this beer would have paired wonderfully with it. 

Random Thought: Even though I'm not 100% sold on this beer, I'd be happy to see this beer on tap around town or at sporting events. Drinking one of these with a Bulls game? Yes please.