FE 15 Anniversary Ale
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant

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From:
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
 
United States
Style:
Tripel
ABV:
15%
Score:
77
Avg:
3.06 | pDev: 25.82%
Reviews:
7
Ratings:
15
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Mar 12, 2015
Added:
Nov 19, 2011
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  3
A full-bodied American Imperial Tripel. Gold in color. Huge malt character is balanced by complex fruity character of plums, spice and bananas. Generous addition of American hops imparts a citrus, tropical fruit and pine aroma and flavor.
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Ratings by orangesol:
Photo of orangesol
Reviewed by orangesol from Pennsylvania

2.78/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
Served on-tap at Iron Hill - Lancaster into a small flute glass.

A - Pours slightly hazed amber orange with a small one finger tall white head leaving very little lace down the glass.

S - This one smells like liquid sugar with hints of oranges and light hop bitterness. I can not get over how sweet this beer actually smells. Kinda smells like 120min honestly.

T - Starts off with a HUGE sugar rush that never really goes away. There are hints of oranges and other fruits, dulled hop bitterness, and a decent sized alcohol burn after each sip. The finish is all sugar and burn, lingering on the pallet.

M - Medium-Heavy body and flavor with moderate carbonation. Sweet, boozy, feel that lingers long after consumption.

O - Another one? No thanks. I could see where this one was going the second I smelled it. The amount of sugar in this beer is staggering. I could see where they were taking it but it didn't get there for me. I may give it another try from the bottle but I surely won't be paying for it.
Nov 23, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of BeerImmediately
Reviewed by BeerImmediately from Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev +7.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
Clearing out the cellar... must have had this one for about 3 years now.

Cork had big pop. Poured into snifter at high 40's temp. Large, foamy off-white head over a thick golden-orange body.

Aromas lead w/a huge hit of alcohol, followed by thick citrus - oranges, mostly. Some sweet spices and some white pepper finish it off. Worst part of this beer, IMO.

Mouthfeel is thick and oily, somewhat hard to swallow, and fairly high cloying feel on the tongue afterwards - not your father's Tripel. Flavors are lower on the alcohol level than the aromas, and are crazy sweet for a Tripel. But it IS 15%... so...
Lots of ripe apricot and orange flavors. Spice quality from the yeast is muted (or choked out).

I love sweet beers, and this one takes it to the limit as far as a Tripel can go. They pushed the limits for this anniversary beer, and I'm ok with that.
Mar 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.5 by DrBier from Pennsylvania

Jul 27, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by Mlitesonata from New York

Jul 09, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by Jason1337 from Pennsylvania

May 06, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by tapbit from Pennsylvania

Dec 13, 2012
Photo of tewaris
Reviewed by tewaris from Minnesota

4.16/5  rDev +35.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Shared by Yulles, thanks!

Excellent looks: golden color, great fluffy head and great retention. If you take into account the ABV, the looks are nothing short of perfect!

Very sweet, very estery aroma with hints of lemon. Slightly cookie dough-y at times. No alcohol whatsoever.

Tastes very sweet with a strong note of honey and some citrus. Warms as it goes down and yet doesn't seem boozy at all. Furthermore, the finish is nowhere as sweet as the taste would lead one to believe.

Oh yeah!

5, 4, 4, 4, 4.5
Aug 09, 2012
Photo of akorsak
Reviewed by akorsak from Pennsylvania

1.96/5  rDev -35.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
A 750 mL corked and caged - probably paid around $25 for this one. Shame on me.

A: The American imperial tripel is appropriately hued, a golden straw color that is translucent. Well carbonated, the ale supports a plentiful white head - dense and craggy as it dissapates.

S: Sugary sweet, the fruitiest tripel I've ever stumbled across. The hops, citrusy, are present in the undertone. The cloying sweetness is, well, disappointing.

T: More sweetness, the candi sugars completely dominating the ale. The spicy flavors of the tripel get lost behind that sweetness, overprimed and not QC'ed, perhaps? Either way, it isn't good. The hops that come through are powerful but they can't resurrect the start. By far the worst Iron Hill beer I've ever had. Enough to make me re-think my mug club membership, if only for a minute. I didn't drink enough of it to have the alcohol register. Likely you won't either.

M: Drain poured. Half the bottle went to marinate a flank steak (one damned expensive marinade); the other half, save a few sips, went into the Lower Swatara municipal system. Shame on me for shelling out the big bucks for this one.
May 06, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by ububru from Pennsylvania

Mar 08, 2012
 
Rated: 1.5 by MerkurKing16 from Pennsylvania

Feb 02, 2012
Photo of pitasoup
Reviewed by pitasoup from Tennessee

3.2/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5
review from blind bif #6. Thanks to hophead101 for this bottle.

Cork pulls with a significant pop and is immediately poured into a NB Globe.

A: slightly hazy golden yellow. fairly clear towards the edges and one finger of head that while slow to subside, can't be called billowing. sticky foam and a bit of lace. 4.0

S: pears and alcohol. uncertain if this is dust or brett b. after a few deep sniffs and some swirling, lemons, orange peel, soap and acetylaldehyde come through. if forced, i could also say grape and tropical fruit. floral notes come through after a few sips and as it warms. after a few more drinks, prob just initial carbonation/oxidation and not brett as expected from the smell. belgian yeast for sure, dustiness makes me want to guess french saison (3711) or a tripel, certainly not 3724. 4.0

T: oof, alcohol is strong to start. lemon and citrus, along with both candi sweet and that hint of tartness sit on the middle of the tongue. there is a faint lingering bitterness as well as but more and more growing floral sweetness, honey or honey malt perhaps? hibiscus and dandelion mingle in. if you ignore most likely saison yeasts and the initial bitterness, this is very nectar-like, lots of subdued floral and sweet notes. 3.0

M: medium bodied at first, but lingering sweetness makes it feel thicker than it is. alcohol is fairly significant, warms the tongue and throat. 3.0

O: gorgeous in complexity, but unbalanced for my tastes. way too sweet on the finish, also significantly solventy and alcoholic. i very much enjoy the floral aftertastes and the yeasty/sweet smells, but tastewise, it is a scattershot. 2.5

i'm going to blindly guess some sort of orange-blossom honey based saison. i really like all of the elements, but this beer is way too strong and significantly unbalanced as is. i'd like to hope that a few years would help mellow it out, but it will only get sweeter and i'm not sure that's a good thing. won't be pouring this out b/c i'm sharing the bottle but ow, it is painful to finish in quantity.
Jan 11, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by InspectorBob from New Jersey

Jan 02, 2012
 
Rated: 3.5 by larryi86 from Delaware

Dec 22, 2011
Photo of ShanePB
Reviewed by ShanePB from Pennsylvania

1.6/5  rDev -47.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 3 | overall: 1.5
Bottle purchased from the Iron Hill Lancaster location. This was meant to be a Christmas present but the cork actually popped while it was sitting on the table, so we were forced to drink it. A bit too much carbonation, watch your bottles...

A: Medium brown/copper colored body, fairly clear with an absolutely enormous fluffy off-white head. The gentlest pour yields a massive four finger or more head that takes quite a long time to dissipate. It's annoying and a bit ridiculous.

S: Immediately you can tell where this beer is going. It's full of massive residual sugars, bright sugar-coated citrus fruits, orange and pink grapefruit. There's a substantial amount of a caramel malt backbone but instead of adding to balance the sweet front of the nose, it just adds to it. Certainly not entirely inviting.

T: Wow. This is sweet. This is too sweet. This is disgustingly sweet. I've never had a beer before that was this off-putting with its sweetness. It tastes like the beer didn't ferment down to a proper final gravity. This is pretty much horrible. Tons of sugar, citrus, sweet caramel malt that does nothing to help balance. There's nothing that cuts through this flavor profile, and I'm not sure if any amount of hops would help. I'm choking this down because it was so damn expensive.

M: Highly active carbonation, slick and oily on the palate. Not a bad feel overall but too carbonated even for an "Imperial Tripel." No alcohol detection however.

This beer flat out sucked. I have the bottle corked with another glass left and I'm not sure if it will get consumed. I mean, for $24.50 this is the absolute worse purchase I've ever made. This beer is vile and should not have been released in its present form. Honestly, time might be the only help for this beer, but certainly not worth the price in its current state. Total drain pour.
Dec 17, 2011
Photo of JAXSON
Reviewed by JAXSON from Pennsylvania

3.97/5  rDev +29.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Iron Hill's 15th Anniversary beer, $24.50. Classified as an "Imperial American Tripel" on the bottle. Pours a slightly hazed copper/orange with a small creamy head and rich lacing. Totally different than the black beer they use in the promo pic for this. Nose is fresh orange marmalade, lemon peel, grass, flowers. Very bright and fresh. Mouth is super sweet upfront, orange candy, super sweet orange marmalade, segueing into a bitter orange peel finish accentuated by some alcohol heat. 15% is pretty subdued other than on the finish. Nice mouth feel, creamy and rich, bubbly enough. This is a pretty interesting beer and though I'm not a fan of really sweet beers, they did a good job with it.
Nov 19, 2011
FE 15 Anniversary Ale from Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant
Beer rating: 77 out of 100 with 15 ratings