I picked up Le Freak the last time I visited my mom up in Pennsylvania.  We get Green Flash down here in VA but we don’t get Le Freak.  I just had to try it after hearing fantastic things about it.  So last night I finally got around to opening up this brew.  I’m not a Belgian IPA expert, but for now I think I’ve found the best one I’ve ever laid my lips on and perhaps one of the best beers I’ve ever had.  I will be buying this beer once again (whenever I get lucky and find it again)

Le Freak pours a lighter amber color with a good sized head.  Good retention and a ton of lacing.  Now this beer is a mix between a Trippel and and an IPA.  The aroma of this beer definitely gives off both very nicely.  I picked up a nice grassy hops, Belgian yeast, spices, fruits such as pineapples, bananas and apples, candy sugar, and a very nice sweet malt smell.  Just friggin fantastic.

This is just a fantastic tasting beer.  But just a warning.  This beer really needs to warm up before any of the flavors really come out.  I noticed when I didn’t let it sit, all the flavors were there but they all came together into a jumbled mess.  Once I let it sit, all the flavors just exploded.  Totally different beer.  Totally awesome beer.  Up front is the grassy hops.  Then the fruits come in and they give off a really nice and big taste.  In the end you get the nice spice and Belgian yeast.  The beer is a tad bit dry and bitter all the way through but very crisp and easy to drink.  It’s dangerous.  It goes down easy, maybe to damn easy at 9.20%.  At the end of this bomber I was pretty buzzed.  The alcohol is evident just a little but mixed in well with everything else.  This is a top notch beer and I think it might of snuck into my top 10 of all time.

Found: State Line Liquors, Elkton, Maryland
Price: 6 dollars a bottle
Website: http://www.greenflashbrew.com/
What the company says: This Belgian Style IPA is an “out of the box” convergence of beer styles where American Imperial IPA meets Belgian Trippel. The end result is a zesty brew with enticing American hop and Belgian yeast aromatics that lead you to delicious malts and a complex layering of hop flavors that quench and refresh your pallet.
ABV%: 9.20%
Other beers to try from this brewery: Green Flash Imperial India Pale Ale, Green Flash West Coast IPA
Other beers to try within the same style: Stone Cali-Belgique IPA, Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel
Rating: A-