The 2-4 Beers of Christmas Day 4: Midtfyns Bryghus Chili Triple

Beer # 252 Chili Tripel

Midtfyns Bryghus

Årslev, Denmark
Microbrewery
Flavoured Belgian Tripel Ale 9.2% ABV 
Brown Glass Bottle 500ml
$5.20 (Canadian) At LCBO

Twitter: @MidtfynsBryghus


Back again for the fourth instalment of my Christmas tasting series. Sadly I am a day behind posting this because I was out last night to our work Christmas Party. So I am catching up today with two posts. The first one is an interesting find from a microbrewery in Denmark. The beer is a chili infused Belgian tripel. Clocking in at a skull splitting 9.2% ABV, this beer has been voted the Best New Beer in Denmark ( 2009) and the Best Spiced Beer at the 2012 World Beer Awards. Midtfyns started brewing in 2005 in an old converted butcher shop. Initially they brewed two beers on licence from Scotland. Eventually they built a selection of beers and had to move into a larger facility, the current brewhouse in Årslev. They have received many accolade and are regarded as a driving force in the Danish craft beer scene.

Let's bring the heat...

Pours amber with a short head made of small, light tan bubbles. The nose is sweet and malty. The first sip is very sweet almost cloying. Very candy-like. It is obvious that sugar or malt extract was added to boost the alcohol content. A lot of the sugar is not fermented out leaving the beer tasting almost like a dessert wine. The heat creeps in on the background. It starts off like the burn from ginger beer and doesn't get much hotter. Aeration gives us chili powder, a little more burn in the throat, and some super sweet malt sugars. Lingering clove on the finish.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional 


Cost: 5/6 PASS
Colour: 5/6 PASS
Beer Style: 4/6 PASS
Re-Order:  3/6  SO-SO
Experience:  4/6 PASS
Christmas Cheer:  5/6 PASS

Final Thoughts:

This beer was distressingly sweet, and not spicy enough for me; especially given how sweet the beer was. There was some nice flavour. Maybe if I was drinking it while eating something it wouldn't be so bad. Definitely worth a try though.

CJT


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