Learn Beer » Reviews » Beer Talk

Beer Talk

Quest Tripel Blonde Ale

Published May 2013, Volume 34, Number 2

Green’s Gluten Free Beers

Stockport, England

[Imported by: Merchant du Vin, Tukwila, WA]

Green’s beers are made from gluten-free ingredients—millet, buckwheat (aka soba), rice, sorghum, hops, water and an authentic strain of Belgian ale yeast. They are bottle-conditioned in the traditional Belgian fashion.

ABV: 8.5

ABW: 6.8

COLOR: 4

BITTERNESS: 32

ORIGINAL GRAVITY: 1072

Available: AL, AK, AZ, AR , CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY

  • Lew Bryson

    Had a celiac friend over who flatly refused to try this gluten-free ale; he’d been disappointed by so many others, he said. On my own, then. … Head’s a bit coarse and thin (lower protein?), and the aroma’s apple-dappled and vinous, verging on cidery, but intriguing. Tastes like a beer/cider hybrid: fruity and cider-tangy, but beer-broad underneath. Tripellike in the finish, where it gets sweet-spicy, but doesn’t cling. Ambitious for gluten-free and at least partly successful. I think my friend missed out.

  • Stephen Beaumont

    A gluten-free tripel seems a large order to fill, but at the outset this ale appears up to the task. The color is bright gold, the aroma sweet and fruity and even the foam seems durable. On the palate, however, it reminds me curiously more of a sweet cider than a beer, with a thin, quite sweet character, copious fruity notes (red apple, mostly, and some tangerine) and apparent alcohol. The hops on the finish help matters, but don’t quite have me thinking “beer.”

Add Your Comments