Boulevard Long Strange Tripel and Celebrator Doppelbock

Tonight we are sharing two brews with our good friend Bree, with only a few nights left in her visit.  The main result will be to make her husband, Jonathan, jealous; he would love to be here tasting them with us.  However, few of you will truly feel the triumph of this aspect of the evening so let's move on to the beers.

We start with the Long Strange Tripel brewed by Boulevard Brewing Company, a part of their smokestack series.  It has a golden colour and very good head retention.  It has a fruit smell, some lemon and some wheat.  It has a strong honey character with a very slight hint of licorice.  My wife says, "It doesn't seem as if it would have a lot of flavour from the look and the smell.  It starts off very light at the tip of your tongue but develops a bite, some spiciness around the middle, and ends with a sweet fermented finish."  I'd give it a four.


Next is the Celebrator Doppelbock.  "The one with the plastic goat figurine," Jonathan says over the phone.  It is much more straightforward than the Tripel.  The colour is very dark with a hint of red.  It smells syrupy.  Britta describes the flavour as Syrupy, molasses, smoky.  It is a firm, to the point beer.  Bree chimes in describing it as dry and sweet.  We all agree that this is an excellent beer, 4.5 is my vote on it.