In the back yard of the house in which I grew up was a little plum tree. Before the bears and racoons moved into the neighbourhood, the tree would bear more fruit than our family could harvest and consume, and plums would fall off the branches and pepper the grass around the tree. In the late days of summer, a younger me would play soccer in that back yard and the sweet smell of the fallen plums would be my constant companion.
There is a deep, sweet, over-ripe plum smell in North Coast Brewing Co.’s Brother Thelonious, named after jazz great Thelonious Monk, that takes me pleasantly back to this memory. It is complemented by roasted malt, burnt sugar and subtly spicy aromas. It pours a dark mahogany colour, with a smallish head and thick lacing.
The taste is deep, deep, deep—chocolate, burnt sugar, a teasing spiciness (not as strong and yeasty as in many Belgian-style ales) and, of course, those late summer plums. A rising alcohol warms and the finish is very sweet and very long for a beer with no strong hop taste.
Like all of the NCBC beers that I have reviewed, Brother Thelonious is complex and wonderful and masterfully created. Actually, I am getting tired of hearing myself gush over them but I think that they are really great beers. Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale is no exception.
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