"Trouble" - Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

BuckeyeNation

Iowa

4.08/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

"Trouble brings experience, and experience brings wisdom."

--Anonymous

Murky orange-caramel with bright tangerine and amber accents at the margins. The small, pale gold crown lasted several minutes at least and left mere smatterings of sea foam lace that followed the receding beer down the glass.

I've mixed up my notes about aroma and flavor, but I do remember that "Trouble" smelled like the beer equivalent of caramel apples. It was also floral in an 'apple blossom' kind of way (that was better than it sounds).

In addition to the usual malt, hops, yeast and water, the brewer used orange peel, flaked corn and cane sugar. Germans may be big on the Reinheitsgebot, but Belgian brewers (and, thankfully, Americans) decided long ago to use whatever makes good beer.

Taking a big mouthful of "Trouble" was similar to biting into a big, juicy, caramel-covered apple. To be more specific, the caramel had a small amount of melted chocolate swirled through it and the whole thing was flecked with orange zest. Other flavors included toasted brown bread and dark honey.

Obviously, then, this is a sweeter than usual Belgian dark ale. Although purists might have a problem with it, I thought it was just right. A subtle clove-like spiciness was a perfect complement to the above flavors and gave the beer that authentic Belgian vibe that it needed.

Things changed in an interesting way as I drank the final third of the pint with my lunch. The subtleties went into hiding (naturally) and the beer's spiciness seemed to increase to keep pace with the spiciness of the food. I love versatile beer.

Given the ingredients and the description of the flavor profile, it wasn't surprising that the mouthfeel was medium-full. The end result was a moderate amount of mouthcoating and a light lipstickiness on the finish.

I don't normally go looking for trouble, but you can be damn sure that the next time I'm in my local Rock Bottom, I'll go looking for "Trouble". Good stuff!

Serving type: on-tap
@ Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 4508 University Ave, West Des Moines

01-21-2008 20:43:42 | More by BuckeyeNation