Triton Brewing Company - B-Java Brown

Getting back to beer has been somewhat hard for me and pretty much it has been all March's fault. The storm of dates, St. Patrick's day, and wonderful weather requiring cheaper mass quantity beer has really pulled me away from my roots. I'm here to say though faithful fans that I'm back and here to provide you all with some brew information.

It's been a hot minute since I've visited the boys at Triton, so when my friend who lives on the Northeast side invited me over, I had to jump on the opportunity. Final Four basketball and a couple of growlers couldn't fail in any circumstance.

The only bad part about spring and the warmer weather is that I can't get the dark beer that I love so much, it's all transitioning to pale ales, blondes and saisons. Walking into Triton though they still had a couple of options left on the menu, of which the B-Java Brown caught my eye.

Typically browns are a good middle ground between your thick porters and stouts and lighter options. I'm used to getting that dark coffee flavor with a thick ale, but with the warmer weather outside having a lighter beer is somewhat of a necessity. The B-Java Brown solves this problem; really heavy on the coffee / nutty flavor but with a crisp light body. And, since this is a variation of their sweet Brown beer, it came off smooth and seet on the end instead of the normal coffee bitter. Honestly one of the best beers I've had in some time.

Triton Brewing Company - Gingerbread Brown Ale

Gingerbread Brown Ale

ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 20
SRM / Coloring- Deep brown, though fairly low and translucent

Most holidays have a specific identifier associated to them.  New Year's eve is riddled with confetti and partying with an occasional splash of smooches if you 're in the right place.  Valentine's day has everything arranged in pink and red heart shapes, and I tend to think of those chalky little hearts everyone hates to love with dumb little phrases like 'UR 2 Cute.'  St. Patrick's Day (which will be amazing this year with all the breweries celebrating) has green, irish, and booze to go with it; perfect for a ginger such as myself.  The fourth of July has heat, hell yeah Americana, and of course the bevy of sparklers, snakes, and other fireworks.

Yes all holidays are marked by touch, smell, sight, and feel, but strangely enough though, only a few holidays universally have the fifth sense associated with them; taste.  Halloween of course has chocolate, sugary sweetness.  Thanksgiving is undoubtedly turkey mixed in with stuffing and mashed potatoes.  The other holidays are more generalized with how people may celebrate, but these specifically focus on a few key flavors and tastes, and Christmas is marked with eggnog, turkey, and of course gingerbread.

It starts to get cold outside and the holidays begin to fully rev up, lights go on the houses and the malls become packed with frantic shoppers, and for whatever reason I crave that spicy sweetness of gingerbread.   My mom always made intricate gingerbread houses when I was younger covered in candy and frosted icing, and despite how nice the presentation was you always just wanted to rip it apart and snarf it down.  I get the same feeling when drinking Triton's gingerbread beer, this time it's just liquified.

The gingerbread brown is a deeper brown lager infused with that spicy characteristic associated with gingerbread cookies.  It's a medium bodied beer, which is nice because most winter associated beers are ales and thus full bodies and super thick.  This one has the spicy smell and gingery taste of gingerbread and comes off sweet and clean just like the cookie.  It's not likely to top egg nog as the pure christmas drink, but it'll do everything but disappoint.