Real Ale Devil’s Backbone Trippel Finally at the Bar

Texas is a big place; we have shore lines, high plains, wide valleys and a beautiful hill country. In amongst the green trees and white rock outcroppings of Texas’ hill country lays the small town of Blanco, the home of Real Ale Brewing. Real Ale is one of Texas’s smaller breweries offering only 4 beers year-round in 12oz bottles and draft, but small size can be a useful trait if used correctly. Although I like all of Real Ale’s year-round beers, they put out some of the better seasonal beers in the state. One of the most appealing aspects of Real Ale’s brewing style is there mix of local Texas attitude and international flavors. Their most recent seasonal brew is a great example of this philosophy; The Real Ale Devil’s Backbone Belgian-Style Trippel. This beer takes its name for the narrow ridge line running from the brewery’s home town of Blanco to Wimberley officially known as RR 32.

This Belgian beer weighs in at an ABV of 8.1% and 36 IBU’s . The beer pours a hazy fall color with hints of yellow amber and orange. The white head is made up of small fizzy bubbles that give it a creamy texture. The head is lasts for a decent amount of time; it pours thick at first then settles down into a thin body that stays with the beer until you take the last sip. This beer has good lacing that follows the head to form about an inch further up the inside of the glass. The body of the beer is what you would expect from a good Belgium beer; hazy with a medium body and tiny particles. This beer had “pick me up and drink me” written all over it.

Upon diving in, the beer simply explodes with aroma; the olfactory experience is intense. The nose on this beer is firing on all cylinders, and I can pick up on malty, hoppy, yeasty and spice flavors. The brew has a moderate malty nose that hints of lightly baked bread and fresh grains. The Belgium yeast nose was very complex giving off the feeling that I was standing in old bakery with a rich clay wood fired oven and fresh dough being kneaded. While the hoppy component of the nose was not on the forefront, the Czech spaaz hops make their little green presence felt - a light hoppinness mixed with fresh citrus. The brew also had a very clear spice factor to it; the most prevalent smells being coriander, honey, and vanilla.

If the smell is the foreplay then the flavor was worth the buildup. At first taste, there is no denying that this is one complicated woman. As the, medium body of the brew hits the tongue the spice and malts are the first things you get. The carbonation pricks the tip of the tongue as the roasted coriander and malty graininess hit your taste buds backed up by a moderately sweet and lightly acidic secondary flavor. The watery mouth feel of the beer helps transition the flavors from the tip of the tongue to the back of the mouth. The finish is all about yeast; the earthy overtones play nicely with the freshly active yeast flavors. The finish flavor is short lived, but tastes of toasted malts and fresh yeast with a hint of indisputable coriander and honey.

Overall this is a very complete brew; the appearance and the nose make a promise that the flavor kept. While I am admittedly a big fan of the Real Ale line of beers, a line that consists of a great barley wine that will cellar very well, this might be my favorite beer by them to date. Beers like this one make it is easy to understand why sometimes we in the beer community can pass over lighter styles in favor of something big and Belgian.

There has been a lot of talk in the community about America’s lightning fast move to the front of the beer world in the last 10 years. It could be said that this move is thanks in part to the increased globe popularity of the “American Light Lager”. Other beer brewing regions have shifted their flavor profiles away from their regional specialties and more toward the flavor trend of lighter is better. The movement in the American micro world has been in the opposite, moving away from the American Light Lager towards deeper more full bodied styles. That’s not to say that there are not good Dobblebocks coming out of Germany or good Trappist coming from Belgium anymore, that would be ridiculous. But what is happening is that the old division in the American beer market between many imports and domestics has become imposable to make. Consequently, beer lovers everywhere have supported their local microbrews with greater vigor.

I am glad that we have both Real Ale and St. Arnold’s here in Texas, both creating what will certainly develop into nationally recognized beers. While I won’t be able to make it out to the Hill Country any time soon to take that great drive along Devil’s Backbone, the landmark’s namesake beer will more than make up for it in the time being. Real Ale only sent a few kegs of this great Belgium to the Houston market, and we are really fortunate to have gotten one. So if you’re in town, swing by the bar and let me or Robert pour you one on draft while our only keg lasts. It does make Texas seem just a little more beautiful.