Sure, North Carolina's better known for pulled pork than beer, but Black Mountain's Pisgah Brewing Company crafts liquid delicacies more divine than any swine. Since 2005, this Asheville-area microbrewery (named after a local mountain) has fashioned small-batch organic wonders, like the crisp pale ale; the smooth, obsidian-hued porter; and, to your sobriety's enduring detriment, the Solstice.The Solstice (sold in corked 750 ml champagne bottles) is a Tripel, a Belgian ale so-called because brewers employ triple the normal malt. This makes Tripels serious knockouts, with alcohol percentages that sky into double digits-sipping (Solstice is 9.5 percent). While inelegant Tripels recall jet fuel, the best, like Solstice, finesse the boozy jolt, creating a complex potion that's dangerously delicious.
Pop the cork, and fruity, funky aromas waft forth while you fill a tulip glass with the unfiltered, honeycomb-colored elixir. No sunlight passes through this cloudy brew. While fruits dominate the nose, the Solstice rocks a spicy ginger kick that lingers on your tongue, urging another nip. It's a prospect made sweeter by, well, the Solstice's lack of cloying sweetness, a flaw that makes drinking some Tripels as appealing as sucking sugar cubes. Want more good news? This Solstice occurs year-round.
Got a favorite Tripel? Spill it in the comments section.
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