T.S. Ponche

Style: Belgian Dark Strong with fruit and spice

ABV: 10.0%

Grain: Pale, Munich, Special B, Aromatic

Hops: Magnum

Yeast: Trappist

Extras: Belgian candi syrups, guavas, dates, tamarinds, oranges, ceylon cinnamon

Tasting notes: dates, plums, cinnamon, caramel syrup

Pair with: The Gift of Bacon, Asian Pork, TSB Hot Waffles

Brewer's notes:

I'm always looking for new flavors and new ways to involve non-brewers in the brewing process. I was able to do both with this one. Earlier this year when I brewed the tepache T.S. Bocce, one of our bartenders told me about a ponche he would mix around Christmas time. I'd never heard of that before and honestly didn't even know what a tamarind was, but I knew I wanted to brew it. Fast forward to December and I happen to have a whole bunch of Belgian Quad in a tank, ready to be ponchefied. I enlist our head chef Juan to make some ponche and we blend it all together and add it to some of the beer and it's delicious.

I don't want to give too much away about the base, un-ponchefied beer, as that will be its own release soon enough. But I will say that it's over 10% ABV and incredibly sneaky. In other words, it's the perfect punch to finish off a year that's a bit of a sucker punch itself. Salud!