Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Boom Island Bolleke Plus

Boom Island Bolleke Plus Belgian Double Pale Oak Aged. 7.2% by vol. Boom Island Brewing, Mpls., MN. Breaking the Boundaries Series #2. (#1 was the Belgian Strong Golden, which I had on tap at Acadia, but did not take notes on. I'm sure there are more bottles around somewhere.)

Clear, rosy-hued, magenta-isa, slim head atop.

In the nose: Dark fruit, stone fruit, raisins, and plums, a little tart and funky, with a mess of sweet. And there's the oak, matching the malt. Very nice.

In the mouth: Sweet malt meets sour, right off the bat. Dark fruit gets sour with a quickness. Light/medium body. Caramel malt flavor stays on top, mixing well with the oak-aging, and the richness that ensues. This is nice. Not too this, not too that, fruity and funky, and certainly drinkable and delicious. Nice, nice, nice. A very unique offering to this particular market. More power to 'em.

See that link up at the top? Click on it to read the post where Kevin describes in detail the origin of this beer. Here's how the label reads: This beer is the brainchild of a special collaboration with Mouterij Dingemans, Hopsteiner, and Cargill Specialty Malt for the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference. We started with our traditional Belgian pale recipe, then took it up a couple of degrees. Next, it was oak-aged for 8 weeks. Finally, we dry-hopped it with an Experimental variety #09326 from Hopsteiner. The result is an amped up Belgian Pale with a citrusy and fruity nose and hints of French oak.  Grain bill: Pale, Biscuit, Aromatic and Caramel malts, Hops: Bravo, Exp. #09326, IBU: 23.4

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