Unholy Trinity Tasting Notes

I’ve opened my first bottle of Unholy Trinity to kick off the holiday season, and if I may indulge my ego for a moment: nailed it.

It’s quite a bit clearer than the photo shows (I really need to figure out a good way to take them with a nice white light behind the glass) and a beautiful brown/copper/orange depending on the angle at which you look through it. There’s an off-white head that hangs around and laces a little better than I normally expect in a beer that’s almost 8% ABV. The 3.0 volumes of CO₂ can’t hurt.

The aroma is very clove-y, with an undercurrent of caramel and dark fruits, and a toasted, sort of biscuity backbone. The cinnamon, despite being absent in the aroma as far as I can tell, immediately comes through in the flavor, before getting shoved aside by the alcohol and a definite acidity or carbonic “bite”. There’s a raisin/plum thing going on in the back of the palate, and then plenty of warming alcohol in the back of the throat. As it warms up a little bit, the cinnamon becomes less intense and the sweet and fruity esters balance things out. Cellar temperatures for this one for sure.

Overall, it’s a bit drier than I intended, without the big chewy maltiness I’d normally go for in a dubbel. It did finish a little lower than I wanted, so that may not be a recipe issue. I’ll have to mash a little higher next time, or maybe up the Munich, or both. But this is my first stab at a spiced beer for the holidays, and based on how well it turned out I think I’ll be doing something very similar next year.