Beer Rant

Okay I have another rant about one of Big Sky's limited edition bottle condition like the Ivan the Terrible Imperial Stout. This one is Buckin' Monk a belgian tripel style ale. After trying Ivan I was amped, and giddy as a school girl to try this, and was left a bit dissapointed. The other specialty ale I had was so good, maybe it left my expectations running a bit to high, but the best I can say about this tripel was that it tasted completely ordinary. There was nothing about this tripel that screamed extraordinary, or unique, my tongue simply felt the equivelent to hopping on a bus to ride to work, completely unsatisfied. It didn't taste bad, but simply a baseline style belgian tripel. All the usual tastes are there, the belgian yeast, barley, hops, etc., but I definitely would not classify it as special which the presentation and bottle seem to scream, and after Big Sky's last ale I tried, fully what I anticipated out of this ale. It does have a very strong fragrance to it, so as far as smell goes you will be satisfied. I don't know about anyone else out there, but smell is reletively low on my reasons for choosing the style of ales I like. The reason for the fragrance though, is something I deeply dislike, I equate it to clown paintings, and driving past a dairy farm, and that is carbonation. This is hands down the most carbonated ale I have ever had! Drinking belgians, especially tripels, I fully expect to have a carbonated effect, it's part of what makes them what they are, and adds a fullness, and enriching factor to the entire palette of the beverage. Buckin' Monk made me feel like the Big Sky brewing company was trying to inflate me, it was so bad I could taste more air in each gulp than actual liquid. Now it does have a wonderful "Where's Waldo" type cartoon on the front depicting a bunch of Belgian Monks, drunkenly riding a rodeo training barrel. Which is kind of cool, but other than goofy artistry I don't see a sensible reason not to have a better tripel and probably at a lower price, oh but if you are looking to get tipsy the 11% on the bottle can help you accomplish that I guess. There were only 3000 of these made, THANK GOD! Would I recommend this, no, but would I stay good with Big Sky, yes. There Ivan the Terrible stout was so good, they deserve to have more than a couple screw ups. So let's just chalk this one up to bad batch, and I'll toss em a do over on this time. For this one though I'll have to say Big Sky should do the brewing equivelant to the walk of shame back to Missoula.