North Coast Brother Thelonius

This is a truly great beer from a truly great brewery with a truly great label honoring a truly great musician. Truly.

North Coast Brewery’s Brother Thelonious is a Belgian-Style abbey ale, and who better to name an abbey ale after than the greatest Monk of all? The brewery even donates a portion of their proceeds from this ale to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in support of Jazz education. What’s better than supporting the arts by drinking? Nothing. Nothing is better than that. That is “Elvis eating a hot dog while riding a unicycle” cool.

Like its namesake, this beer is strong, complex, and satisfying. Pop the cork and Brother Thelonious takes over the room like some kind of lost treasure, the rich smell of yeast mingling with the souls of long forgotten jazz musicians. Don’t look directly at it or your face will melt. Or maybe I saw that in a movie.

The color is dark chestnut, almost like a polished antique dresser (or piano, if you really want me to beat this music thing to death). This is a very heady beer so pour carefully; however, no lacing remains once the head dissipates.

As for the taste? This is a beautiful beer—the blend of malts, caramelized sugars and alcohol (BT tips the scales at 9.4% ABV) negate any bitterness suggested by its 32 IBUs.

So the choice is yours: You can drink supermegabeer, or you can put on your beret and your shades, grab a Brother Thelonious, and support the future of jazz, Daddy-O.