Those of you that have been paying attention probably already know that the Three Taverns Brewing Company of Decatur, Georgia is one of my new favorite Georgia brewers. They’re relatively new to the game, having only opened in July of 2013. Despite the relative novelty of Three Taverns, they’ve managed to impress me with almost every beer I’ve tasted from them, and more often than not they’ve really wowed me. Not an easy task with a beer enthusiast of 33 years’ experience and counting.
I think in this case much of that is because of their brewmaster. Straight from Belgium comes Three Taverns’ brewer Joran Van Ginderachter, who the company says is one of only three Belgian brewers in America. One of those is his uncle-Peter Bouckaert of New Belgium. You’ll understand then that most Three Taverns beers have a Belgian flair to them.
Most, I say, but not all. Take one of their latest brews, A Night on Ponce IPA. As I type, this beer will soon be hitting store shelves in bottles (June 5th release date), but I got a preview recently on tap at Taco Mac. The beer is an Americanized version of their popular A Night in Brussels IPA (a very popular beer with me I might add and the first beer I tried from Three Taverns). Basically, they’ve swapped out the Belgian ale yeast from A Night in Brussels and replaced it with an American Ale yeast. That’s the only difference.
Here’s what they say about it on their website:
A Night On Ponce is the result of curiosity run amok. What if we switched out the Belgian yeast in A Night In Brussels IPA for an American ale yeast? We did, and the result was an entirely different beer, one that brings out the lush notes of citrus fruit inherent in this hop-forward style before tapering to a clean, dry finish. It’s an American IPA for lovers of American IPA, yet crafted with the same painstaking attention to detail that’s a Belgian hallmark.
Three Taverns a Night on Ponce IPA has an alcohol content of 7.5% by volume with 69 IBUs. I paid $6 for a full 20-ounce mug pour at Taco Mac. The name of course is derived from Atlanta’s famous Ponce de Leon Avenue.
My mug of Three Taverns A Night on Ponce IPA arrived a bright golden orange color with a thick and creamy head formation and notes of citrus and passion fruit in the nose. Taking a sip, the malt is biscuity with a hint of caramel. There are rock candy-like sweet malt notes in the palate as well, followed by more citrusy and soft fruity hops and a long lingering grassy bitterness.
This is a very nice beer indeed, perhaps not as hoppy as today’s crowd likes but there certainly be hops here, and the beer is wonderfully balanced as well. Though I do miss the delightful funky notes A Night in Brussels features, the milder American strain here does allow the hops to come out more fully. This is definitely a beer that I will buy again, and with the introduction of bottles it will be showing up in my beer fridge quite soon.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
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