SevenPack Beer Blog » Blog Archive » Green Flash “Le Freak”

Unfortunately, tonight I ran into a case of the ‘bad 6-packs’. I bought a few tasty bottles of a local brew that I especially love, and I was psyched to crack open a couple. But, woe is me, it appears said brewery may be having some issues, as every beer in the 6-pack was undrinkable, forcing me to tumble them all down the drain. What better way to drown your sorrows than to open something so wild, so CRAZY, that I couldn’t possibly keep dwelling on some sour ales? Well, that’s what Le Freak promises to be. It’s a hybrid of a west coast IPA and a Belgian tripel. I don’t really know what to expect. Did I mention it’s called “Le Freak”?

So, this one pours a very cloudy medium golden color that seems just chock full of dense debris. The head on this is very thick and soapy, full of chunky big bubbles. In the nose, the aroma is interesting in that it contains lots of hop and that tripel candy sweetness. However, it isn’t TOO crazy, just a surprising combination. Most of what we get here is the hop, though, so you really need to look for that sweetness. In the mouth, this gets a little wild. Initially in the mouth, there really is a lot of hop. And, true to the west coast, it’s all fresh and floral and very aromatic. So, up to here it’s just a big IPA. However, about the middle of the tongue, that candi sugar kicks in, and we get a totally misplaced combination of very bitter and very sweet. It’s an interesting thing. It isn’t bad, it isn’t great, it’s just bizarre. These are two flavors that, even in other similar hybrid brews, I’ve never seen displayed with such individual strength that played in such contrast – it really tastes like you made an IPA/tripel suicide and took a big swig. This sweetness quickly is displaced again by that floral hop bitterness as it hits the aftertaste, travels up into the nose, and sticks around for quite some time after the swallow. Even in the aftertaste, though, there is still a vague interplay of the sweetness around the roof of the mouth, like a little doormouse running through the big house of hop. I am noticing, however, that, as the beer warms, the hop gains strength and the candi sugar loses oomph. So, while some sweetness sticks around, the hop definitely takes centerstage after the first 15 minutes has passed. So, for the real boxing match, tune in while this beer is still quite cold. Altogether, this is definitely worth a try. Don’t get me wrong – this is not a daily drinker, at least not for me. But, it’s the best job of such a hybrid I’ve yet tasted. It’s tasty and very interesting, and it is certainly enough to take my mind off of the aforementioned bad brews…