Bison Organic Belgian Ale

Our organic "Tripple-style" ale contains hints of fruit, most notably plums, and was made with authentic Belgian candi crystals, organic malts, water, and yeast. The brew is balanced witha robust maltiness, a touch of coriander, and the subtle spiciness of organic Cascade hops.

3.2

164 reviews

Berkeley, United States

Community reviews

2.9 22 oz bottle. Poured a golden yellow with a think white head that didn’t last long. Slight yeasty aroma. Very yesty taste with a spicy zing to it. Some light fruit note. The problem for me was that the high alcohol content slightly dominated the lighter flavors. Like Bison Brewing’s Organic Barlywine, some nice flavors are out of balance adding up to something not as good as it could be.

3.1 22 oz Bomber-trade w/Snojerk321. Cloudy golden color w/a slight white head & good lacing. Sweet Belgian aroma. Kind of a standard Belgian Blonde, sweet flavors of candied sugar, banana, vanilla, green apple, & a little colander. Had a bit of a dry finish to it. Easy drinking brew w/solid flavor, particularly for an organic.

3.3 50cl bottle from Willow Bend Liquors (Florida). Pours golden reddish caramel with a one finger white head that dissipates fairly quickly. Smells of ripe cherries and plums with a faint caramel-like sweetness and slight bitterness. Flavor is much of the same with a slight bitterness throughout. Hints of assorted ripe fruit on finish. Faint taste of vanilla and banana on subsequent tastes.

2.5 Pours clear gold-orange with a respectable head. Aroma of spices and paper, with some sweet maltiness. Flavor starts out good with some bread, candi sugar, and light fruit, but it quickly turns metallic, with needle-like carbonation. The finish is stale hops, plastic, and metal. It’s funny how an organic beer can taste so man-made.

3.4 Bottle pours a cloudy golden color with a dense white head. Light floral aroma with hints of fruit, hops, and spices. Mild but flavorful with a dry aftertaste of apple. Not bad...one of the better organic beers I’ve tried.

3.1 Blind tasting at Papsoe. Little unclear golden colour with a white head. Spicy aroma with notes of coriander and some diacetyl. Also spicy flavour with notes of malt and some warm feeling from the alcohol.

3.4 [1068-20080201] 1pt6floz (w/ blankboy, GregClow, jerc, mds). Floral yeast aroma has a hint of what should be plastic coriander. Clear, medium orange body with medium-lasting creamy white bubbles. Sweet and heavy molasses yeast flavour has grainy dough crust. Medium body is thick. Booze is "conservative" and well-integrated.

3.8 May 2007 - Thanks to eaglefan538 for sharing this beer, which he prefaced by stating that it rates "not very good for style." Well, I think we both were pleasantly surprised with this one. Light honey colored pour with smallish head and lacing. Faint light fruity aroma. Simple light fruity flavor, not overly sweet, with good presence of cloves, coriander. Strong spice level, but strangely not offensive. I thought this was nicely done as a Belgian Pale, even if it didn’t taste like a traditional trippel.

3.2 A nice brew, seeming somewhat like an attempt to duplicate Duvel, but w/ a bit more fruitiness than Duvel, and less yeastiness. Huge head on this shimmering golden beer, Orange peel aroma. Flavor quite malty, with obvious spiciness, including the coriander (as advertised) as well as cayenne (from the hops?) at the very end. Quite carbonated, perhaps a bit much, like a champagne. Does not resemble a trippel;, but for the high alcohol content; tastes much more like e Belgian Strong Ale.

3.0 Bottle (22oz) shared with jerc, mabel, GregClow & mds -- courtesy of mabel. Pours a clear orange with an average szie diminishing white head. Aroma of fruit and spices, some light herbal hops and yeastiness. Flavour’s slightly sweet, a little malty and with some fruit, spices and an average bitter finish. Alcohol well hidden. Average bodied. A good but safe version of the style.

3.1 Bottle. Cloudy orange body with a sparse white ring of head. The aroma is quite refreshing and floral with spicy notes and bread. Flavour is somewhat watery and thin. There are some spicy notes along with pear and fruit flavours. Decent

3.1 Crystal clear fizzy yellow beer color with a tight white head. Has a spicy, herbal musky odor. Light bodied with a fizzy mouthfeel. Taste is fairly dry with ripe apples and spices, most notably coriander. A good try at a triple here that just didn’t quite hit the mark. 8405

3.3 2008-02-01. Bottle. Amber body with a modest white head. Odd aroma, notes of straw, coriander, horse sweat, light hops. (6+) Dry toasty malt flavour, lightly spicy and alcoholic. (6+) Average palate. Decent, but just ok.

3.4 Bottle shared with jerc, mabel, blankboy & mds - mabel’s bottle. Deep golden with a wispy white head. Aroma of candi sugar, corriander, herbal hops, and a slight yeasty/funky edge. Soft mouthfeel. Pleasant flavour, with a sweet start, full-flavoured and spicy middle, and a light, tingly finish. Alcohol pokes through a bit in the end, but otherwise, it’s a smooth quaff.

3.8 650 ml bottle from bevmo. Hazy orange amber pour with a fluffy white head. Barn yard funk aroma with fruit notes. Earthy grain and grass initial taste followed by a citric acid taste and finishing with Belgian yeast flavors and some noticeable herbal hops. Decent.

3.2 Cloudy yellow colour with a snowwhite head. Malty, grainy sweet aroma with fruity notes and hints of alcohol and perfume. Malty, sweet flavor with fruity and light alcohol sweet notes.

3.5 Bottle. Spicy with some fruit. Not sure I detected coriander as advertised, but I like the spice regardless. Overall I’d rate it an above average belgian, but it is definitely clear that "Organic" means nothing when it comes to beer (at least as far as taste goes)

3.4 2007-11-02, Papsoe Blind Tasting Cloudy blond color. The aroma is strange, with white sugar, spices, a bit herbal; very light bitter oranges and a bit soapy too. Medium body; some sweet malt flavor, with a quite evident spicy character (coriander and more), light residual sweetness; it ends quite dry, and with a warming alcohol feeling. Original.

1.8 From bottle, blind tasting at Papsoes - beer no 5. Pours clear yellow with a fully deminished white head. Grassy and cardboardish aroma, somewhat spiced. Flavour has whiff of malt. Ends with bit of bitterness. Boring

3.1 Bottle. Clear yellow coloured with a white ehad. Aroma of fruits, citrus, rubber and spices. Sweet flavour of fruits, spices, citrus and hops. Hoppy and light alcoholic finish.

3.3 (Bottle 65 cl) Slightly hazy, pale golden with a white head. Fruity, lightly perfumy nose. Medium body rich in sweetish, pale malts. Some citrus and a perfumy spicyness. Warming alcohol in the finish but not much bitterness. 021107

2.0 Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy golden colour. Sweet fruity and grainy aroma. Rather flat mouthfeel. The flavour is caramellic, grainy and hoppy with some spice. Sweet grainy and hoppy finish.

3.4 Bottled. A hazy golden beer with a thin biege head. The aroma is hoppy and flowery combined with notes of peaches. The flavor is sweet and very fruity and with an alcohol burn on the palate towards the end. A quite simple beer. Thanks to Papsoe for sharing.

3.3 Bottle. A golden beer with a big white head. The aroma and taste is caramel, grass, flowers, perfumed, citric. MEdium to full body with a light sweet dry finish.

3.5 #5 [Blind tasting @ Papsoe] Average to large egg-white head that mostly lasted. Clear flat looking body with a golden colour. Fair lacework. Abbey Triple like and fruity in the initial feel. Some underlying citrus feel. Caramel and mix of floral / hoppy notes as well. Maybe some coriander and / or spicy notes as well. Peach / apricot notes as well. Medium to full bodied with a light alcoholic texture and a soft carbonation. Moderated sweet fruity flavour with light acidic notes. The finish is somewhat short and sweet. Quit nice. 4 / 7 / 7 / 3 / 14 = 3.5

2.9 smells of lemon zest and a dusty attic. tropical notes on the finish, some banana and pineapple. feels flat but tastes ok

2.8 22. Pours crystal clear medium gold with a thick, fluffy platinum blonde head. Minimal lace. Looks almost still. Light dust and very faint lemon on the nose, along with some bubble gum. Light body, gently fizzy. Dry. Bits of cardboard maybe? That’s a shame. Acetic alcohol twang toward the finish, lots of white sugar knocking around. Sticky, stale finish.

3.1 Clear golden orange, moderate head with decent lacing and retention. Aroma is very clean with some fruity notes, sugar, lighter peppers, honey, touch of hops. Flavor is more sugary with some alcohol in the finish. Somewhat sweet. Promising nose, but after that meh.

3.3 Date: 09/17/2004 Mode: Bottle Source: Bullock’s clear golden yellow, whispy white head, sweet malt aroma with a hint of citrus, rich malt flavor, lots of sweetness, good orange and coriander character, no bitterness Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 13/20 Rating: 3.3/5.0 Score: **+/4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

3.9 I was only able to have one bottle of this, but from that limited sample, this appears to be greviously underrated here. The brewery succeeded where so many U.S. breweries fail with trippels--the thing had real body, almost a soft texture and no unseemly acidity. It was terribly well-integrated and a real treat.