Alley Kat 15th Anniversary Belgian Style Tripel

So what if out of eight posts, three of them are Alley Kat beers.

Alley Kat has just released its second in the 15th anniversary series, a Belgian Style Tripel.  A Belgian Tripel is basically a a strong brewed pale ale (this one being 8.2%), associated mostly with the Trappist Brewery, Westmalle. Despite being around since the early 30's the Westmalle brewery perfected the recipe in 1956, and more or less established the Tripel style and name which has basically remained the same since.  Alley Kat has decided to show us their version of this marvelous pale ale in a limited addition, bottle conditioned, 650mL bomber.  This also being the first bottle conditioned beer Alley Kat has ever released.

It pours a hazy light amber, with a gorgeous head of thick foamy white bubbles.  The nose packs a wallop! Rich fruity wheat & malt notes, spicy banana, coriander, with a hint of yeast.  Is this beer or are we baking dessert bread? Very impressive.

The sweet fruity malt flavor is fantastic, lots of apricots and Christmasy spice. Well balanced hops with a pleasant peppery finish. A well rounded medium body with a perky effervescence. The 8.2% alcohol content is masked well behind a yeasty base.

Overall I'd have to say thumbs up to the talented folks at Alley Kat for providing us with yet another tasty treat. I should buy and age these limited addition releases and try them again in six months to see how they stand up.

 To be honest in a world of craft brewers who building some extreme brews, I had always thought of Alley Kat as a "play it safe" kind of brewery. But in light of recent releases, I am learning that they are capable of brewing some extremely magnificent beer.  Unfortunately in a market such as Alberta you must have to hold yourself back and produce more easily approachable beer to appeal to the masses, and of course make enough money to stay alive.  But having a large and loyal group of fans will enable them to really experiment and create some fantastic extreme beer.

Tomorrow evening Alley Kat will be doing a cask conditioned ale night at our restaurant, The Sugarbowl, providing two cask conditioned versions of their popular Full Moon Pale Ale.  This I am excited for.  As for food specials we will be doing delicious scotch eggs, and beer battered fish and chips using Alley Kat's Amber Ale.  I hope to pick the brains of any brew savvy people that might be attending including Jason Foster who writes an amazing beer 101 blog through Sherbrooke Liquor and also manages his own website called onbeer.org.  Incredible what this man knows about beer.

And in other news, I am now the proud owner of a brand new home brew kit!!

I recently celebrated a birthday and my wonderful wife and daughter bought dad exactly what he wanted.  I also recieved a Barons Premium Dutch Lager Beer Kit along with the brewing equipment.  This particular beer kit is a good start for beginners like myself because no boiling is required.  It's fairly idiot proof as long as you are capable of following directions.  It's not the direction I plan to take with brewing my own beer, but it will allow me to get to know how to use all the equipment needed for brewing before buying the raw ingredients and attempting to make beer from scratch.  For a mere $30 you will be be blessed with a good 20L of fresh beer! A pretty good deal I'd say.  But the goal here is hand crafted beer.  So let the home brewing begin!