This is the second year that Village Brewery has hosted the Village Friend. This year’s beer is a collaboration with Calgary’s newest local brewery, Banded Peak Brewing (Plainsbreaker Hopped Wheat Ale from a previous CCC package). On a large scale, it is always the intention of the fine folks at Village to help build the community and, in this particular case and with this particular beer, the community is their friends in the brewing industry. Their intention is to help smaller breweries with funds to build up their operations. Last year they helped out The Dandy Brewing Company (Dandy in the Underworld Oyster Stout and Plum Sour from past CCC packages) and this year, Village is helping Banded Peak with the purchase of their lab equipment. From Village Brewery: “We are all in this together and their success is our success. It takes a Village after all.”
This beer pours a clear, medium gold colour with a small, thin head that dissipates quickly and leaves spotty lacing on the glass.
This Belgian Tripel has significant aromas of banana with a touch of orange that melds nicely with some gentle spiciness and moderate aromas of sweet, grainy malt. The smell rounds out with some light floral hits.
On the palate, this brew showcases a beautiful marriage of spicy, fruity flavours supported by a soft, malt character. Some complex but gentle spicy characteristics show in the realm of pepper, with lots of grains and a mid-palate, low sweetness. This medium-bodied beer has good carbonation and finishes dry with a bit of a boozy kick and a touch of bitterness.
Tripels love basil. A simple vegetable pasta works because the herb and spice flavours in the beer merge with the pesto while the mid-palate sweetness grabs hold of the vegetables. Or if it’s pizza night, go with a margherita. The booze and bubbles will cut through the cheese, but the lighter body and flavours won’t overwhelm.