Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week": Brother Thelonious Belgian Style Abbey Ale

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Sep 1, 2006 2:20PM

Labor Day weekend usually finds Chicagoist dashing on our bike between Jazz Fest and the African Festival of the Arts. So we have to pick between Charlie Hunter at Grant Park or Slick Rick at Washington Park tonight; or Jason Moran and the Bandwagon versus Rhymefest tomorrow. At both festivals we're guaranteed of some good living, whether it's a picnic with friends at Jazz Fest, or sampling the best delicacies of the African diaspora at the African Festival of the Arts.

The one constant in all this is that we'll be drinking good beer. The Fort Bragg, California-based North Coast Brewing Company is best known here for its Old Rasputin Stout, Blue Star Wheat Ale, and Red Seal Ale, which all may one day see their moment as a "BotW". Their latest offering is an Belgian-style abbey ale, named after the mad wizard of jazz piano, Mr. Thelonious Sphere Monk.

The 750 ml, corked-and-caged Brother Thelonious pours a malty brown in color, with a rich head that lingers, and leaves prominent lacing rings on your glass. On the nose, you'll pick up hints of caramel, anise, and yeast. The caramel also leads the parade of flavors crossing your palate, along with bread, black cherries, raisins, and some faint chocolate malt. Brother Thelonious is a smooth drinking beer, with a slightly dry finish.

It's worth your while to hunt down a bottle of Brother Thelonious. In addition to it being a good beer, North Coast Brewing donates a portion of every case sold, as well as a portion of all Brother Thelonious-branded gear - to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which offers promising musicians college-level training by jazz masters and hosts public school-based jazz education programs for young people around the world. It's this combination of classic craft brewing and charitiable spirit that makes Brother Thelonious Chicagoist's "Beer of the Week".