Lickinghole Creek Bad Hombre Three Chopt Tripel
Lickinghole Creek’s Three Chopt Tripel is one of my favorite examples of the style brewed in Virginia — the bourbon barrel-aged version of that same beer is outstanding. Any time I see another variant of that beer, such as Bad Hombre, I’m both eager and hesitant to purchase a bottle. I don’t want two of my high prized brews to take a hit in my own little world by a version that doesn’t live up to my lofty expectations.
This particular version of Three Chopt is aged in tequila barrels with additional orange peel and cherries. I certainly get more than enough of citrus aroma and flavor, as well as a solid barrel influence, but the cherries are hard to pin down in Bad Hombre. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as I’m not entirely sure how they would have interacted with everything else. As it stands, however, Bad Hombre is a pretty decent brew. As stated in previous reviews, I’m not a fan of tequila in general, but I do particularly enjoy its influence on certain beer styles and this is one of them.
Lickinghole Creek has created some interesting variants based on their Three Chopt Tripel. This one, Bad Hombre, isn’t half bad. I thoroughly enjoyed the treatment the tequila barrel aging provided, but not sure that additional orange peel and cherries were really necessary. That said, those items, didn’t stop me from downing the bottle this past June.