Beer of the Week

The beer: Bourbon Barrel–Aged Triple Nator

Brewed by: Troegs Independent Brewing, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Description (from the bottle): "This is the big, malty, and ageable Triple Nator with a bourbon barrel twist. Munich malt, chocolate malt, and Belgian candy sugar deliver deep toffee and complex malt notes, and months in bourbon barrels add hints of toasted coconut, vanilla, and molasses. Put it in a glass or put it in your cellar. The next chapter is yours!"

Would I buy it again? Not an ideal picture there, but oh well. Needless to say, this is an absolutely amazing beer, with all the taste of the previous Triple Nator plus a definite bourbony vanilla feel. I'm not sure if I prefer this one to the normal one, but it's close, and that puts this in my top five beers of all time. Only problem here is the price: It's twice as expensive as the Triple Nator, and that's a lot. $10 for a single bottle of beer is way too much to be anything other than a very occasional splurge. Which is probably fine, it's 14% and dangerously drinkable, just like the normal Troegenator it's based on. If the pit in your wallet didn't stop you from downing way too many, nothing would. It took most of my resolve not to buy as many of these as I could, though I couldn't resist buying one more. 

Beer of the Week

The beer: Triple Nator

Brewed by: Tröegs Independent Brewing, Hershey, Pennsylvania

Description (from the website): "What if we took the big and malty Troegenator and made it even bigger, even maltier? So big, you could tuck it away and age it for a year or four. For this sippable triple bock, we stuffed our mash tun full with Munich and chocolate malts and added Belgian candy sugar for a rigorous fermentation. In the end, Triple Nator delivers deep toffee and crisp malty notes. Put it in a glass or put it in your cellar. The next chapter is yours."

Would I buy it again?: I have some good news and some bad news on this one. The good news: This is the best beer I've ever had. No exaggeration, no question in my mind. It's everything I love about the Troegenator and more. It's malty and sweet in all the right ways, and it's still got that liquid bread taste that all dobbelbocks should have. And the best part? It maintains a certain drinkability that the fancy stouts just don't. I wouldn't chug one down, but it's not a chore to drink. I enjoyed it just as much at the end as I did at the beginning. This is, after all, a lager, and it's kept a bit of that lager identity. It's malts, hops, yeast, and water, with only sugar as an added ingredient. It's not even hopelessly bad value, either: $20 for a four pack isn't cheap, but when you consider how strong the Triple Nator is, it's not incredibly expensive. One of these has almost exactly as much alcohol as three Yuenglings. I've paid as much or even more for beer that I liked a lot less than this.

Now for the bad news: Don't bother looking for this beer in stores, you can only get it at the brewery itself. It's on tap as of late June, and there may be bottles floating around their general store, but if you want some, you have to go to Hershey. Which is annoying, but this is some seriously good beer.