Feature Beer Friday: Southern Craft's Three Generation Tripel

By Eric Ducote

Hey everyone!  I hope you have all had a fantastic week... this morning I'm featuring a beer from Southern Craft Brewing, out of Baton Rouge.  Unlike the last two from Tin Roof, this beer should (if you're reading this promptly) still be available on tap at the Southern Craft taproom out on Airline Hwy. near Barringer Foreman.  Southern Craft became Baton Rouge's second active craft brewery back in 2015 and has been brewing several flagship beers plus a few seasonals ever since.

Last night, they debuted a new specialty brew, the Three Generation Tripel which was a collaboration between the Southern Craft brewmasters and local homebrewers Blake and his father Craig Winchell.  Both of them are members of the Brasseurs A La Maison club locally and they named the beer in honor of the two homebrewers plus Blake's son Brennan.  The beer is brewed primarily with pilsner malt spiked with some Belgian candy sugar, with some noble hallertauer hops to balance out the sweetness.  The Belgian yeast gives some traditional esters and leaves the beer with 8% abv.

My first thought was that the color was spot on for the Tripel style, which trends lighter in color than the dubbel and quad Belgian styles.  Traditionally Tripels are of medium strength with lighter color and body and more floral hoppiness than the other Belgian styles.  The appearance is spot on, and so is the aroma, with some sweet notes combined with earthy and flowery hop notes.

The taste is a solid follow through on the aroma, with the sweet candy sugar notes taking a little more of a starring role along with the sweet bubble gum esters from the Belgian yeast.  All of the flavors balance together well and leave a slight lingering sugary sweetness with hints of flowers.  In my opinion, this is one of the best Southern Craft beers to date, so if you are free Friday afternoon, go check out the taproom from 5-9 and you should be able to find some of this still on tap. While you're there, be sure to check out their other current seasonal beers, the Citeaux Oatmeal Coffee Stout, and the Hyla IPA.