All About Beer Magazine

Beer Talk

Cask Aged Tripel

Published September 2013, Volume 34, Number 4

• Lisa Morrison

  Hazy, brassy gold in color with a slight ecru head, this tripel was no doubt quite lovely even before being added to Middle West Spirits OYO whiskey barrels. Cask aging adds bourbon, vanilla and a slight woody dryness to the rich fruitiness and slight booziness of the tripel. Aromas of peaches and vanilla start things off, and the first sip brings similar flavors, with a slightly burning belt of whiskey and a good dose of spice. Lush, boozy and a bit cloying, this beer is a real sipper, meant to be enjoyed over a long evening.

• Jeff Evans

  It’s hard to maintain elegance and class when you’re producing a beer as strong and as complex as this, but Rockmill’s whiskey-barrel tripel does so effortlessly. There’s no hiding the creamy oak qualities, the drying tannins or the spirited bourbon notes that run right through this golden brew, but they marry together seamlessly, creating a sweet, ultra-smooth, warming elixir that leaves a tingle on the gums as it turns slowly bittersweet in the finish. This is a beer that is big but not brash, potent but not boozy. For me, those are great attributes.