3 Daughters was the first brewery I found that did a coffee blonde ale.
I remember speaking with them before that beer was released, commenting about how bizarre it was that anyone would put coffee into a beer that is not a porter or stout.
But they did it, as did many other breweries around the country, to great effect. It worked quite well and now Awake Coffee Blonde is one of their year-round releases.
It was with that in mind that I happily found a crowler of their Chai Tea Blonde (Blonde Ale, 5% ABV) on my last trip to St. Pete.
I grabbed it for two reasons: One, my wife and I are big fans of chai masala spices and two, I knew that if anybody was going to be able to take those masala spices and blend them well into a blonde ale it would be 3 Daughters.
I was right on both accounts.
The beer looks, well, like a blonde ale. It’s light and yellow and shows absolutely no trace of the flavorings used therein.
The aroma is a completely different story. It is bursting with cardamom and cinnamon and nutmeg and a bunch of other absolutely fantastic smells.
The flavor brings to mind a lot of the tea qualities without being excessive. They hit the right amount of black tea boldness, cardamom, nutmeg, etc. previously mentioned, and also a nice light malt bill with just a hint of earthy hoppiness.
If their signature St. Pete Beach Blonde Ale was the base, I would not be shocked. But that doesn’t mean that you’re good at bringing in the spices to work with that base ale, and that is where 3 Daughters was able to succeed so admirably.
Will it see the release that Awake got? That remains to be seen. I think it would be a wonderful addition to their lineup, but I’m also interested to see what else they can do with their blonde ale spice-wise.
I patiently await the next iteration.
Drink Florida Craft,
Dave
@floridabeerblog
floridabeerblog@gmail.com
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