Tasting Panel: Boulevard Brewing Co.

I convened my regular group of friends and a twelve pack sampler of Boulevard along with a bottle of their Tripel.  Tripel was the favorite of the night.  We all thought the name Long Strange Tripel was humorous and Nelly liked the “strange funky” of it.  This beer had a great golden color with a little bit of suspended sediment with flavors and aromas reminiscent of orange and clove.  We all agreed it was crisp, balanced, and perfect for a little bit of a warmer day.

After the Long Strange Tripel we dived into Zōn, Unfiltered Wheat, and the Amber.  Unfortunately, no one felt that these three were standout beers and Bro referred to the Wheat as a palate cleanser.  We were all in the mood for beer that made a statement and none of these did it for us.  We switched to the Pale Ale and this beer had a much better reception.  I want to be clear we are not a group of hop heads, but the hops of the Pale were a pleasant surprise.

When we made it to the Single-Wide IPA we were even more pleasantly surprised.  This beer had a floral and grapefruit aroma with a very balanced malt caramel flavor against a hoppy finish.

My personal favorite of the night is the Porter.  I do not know why, but more and more I am being drawn into porters.  Bully! Porter poured a deep brown with a nice head.  There were aromas of coffee and chocolate followed by similar flavors with a bit of bitterness.

Overall, I was impressed with Boulevard.  Our biggest complaint is every neck label except for Zōn had the exact same statement on bottle conditioning.  I wish the brewers would have taken the time to tell me something about each one of their beers making them stand out more.