Brother Thelonious
Overview: The bottle and label are an impressive start; the 750ml bottle has an imposing presence about it, you know that it has to be consumed in one sitting because the cork will not go back in the bottle, nor should it, like the wines that come in similarly sized bottles, this is a beer to be consumed and savoured. You are not only buying a beer you are helping young jazz musicians too; no they are not selling it themselves, the brewery donates to the Thelonious Institute. This is a Belgian Abbey style beer.
The Beer: A fabulous 9.3% abv; very dark brown (the brewery call it a dark mahogany), a nutty aroma; Full bodied, in fact it is safe to say that this has so much body that you should consider finding a skeleton in the glass afterwards, the nuttiness is in there together with a distinct bitterness; the flavour is somewhat hot by the full-on grabbing of the throat, it does seem to have complex elements to it, but you can’t get to them.
After Words: To be fair, it does have complexities but the sheer strength washes masks it out. It is a good beer but I was maybe expecting a bit more from it. Worth trying – you are imbibing and philanthropising (is there such a word) at the same time – but suffers a bit from the higher strength that drowns the flavour.
Website: North Coast Brewing
