Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery Tripel Vison

A few years ago, a question was posed on the boards of the Beer Advocate.com website that caught my attention. "How many beers from a single brewery have you had?" the user asked. Some answers came out, like so: "24 from Victory for me." "I've got 36 from Three Floyds." "I'd say about 40 from Dogfish Head." So, I did some adding, strictly going by the reviews that I'd posted on that site, and came up with my numbers. "205 from Town Hall for me." That's it, thread over.

That was a few years ago, so the number has to be, oh, 240 by now. I've been trying out the beers and writing about them for almost 13 years now. Sometimes an old one comes back, and none of the staff had ever heard about it. Like the Belgian-style tripel, Tripel Vision. I saw a beer with that name had been released and check out my reviews. Looks like I added it to the BA database back in September of 2004. Here are those notes from then: 7.6% ABV.

Wearing a coat of hazy, deep orange, proudly behatted by a fine layer of foam, Tripel Vision looks the part, and is off to a good start.

Aroma starts funky and tart, heavy citrus, thick orange and lemon, with cloves and coriander, and other spices entering the mix. Candy sugar peeps up a bit, giving this complex nose another twist, and further fruits add another voice, peach and apricot have their say. Very well-rounded, sweet, and satisfying.

To taste, though, that's the true reckoning...Full flavor, right from the start, fruit and sweetness show their colors, and flood the palate. Very delightful fandango on the tongue, with a good, full body, lush, tasty character. Weighs a bit on the palate, but that's a fine thing in a brew like this, it hangs down enough to force one into contemplation, and in this hurly-burly world, that's a damned necessity. The imbiber succombs to a situation of slow coinsideration and rumination. "What is this beer doing to me?" he asks. "Come to think of it, what is life doing to me? I'll take the beer, please, for life is good, when the beer is, too...enjoy these moments, they are far too rare."

Things like that...yeasty, strong, and sophisticated and subtle in it's sweetness, this is a unique stab at a tripel, different from many I've had, but superior to others, as well. Just a well-crafted ale, and I'm so glad I don't have to join a cloister to enjoy it. I like being alone with my thoughts, but not that alone!