Has it really been ten years now since Athens, Georgia’s Terrapin brewery first started selling beer? Apparently so. In fact, as I type, it’s 11 years now, since the company was founded in April of 2002. Still, the brewery was celebrating its tenth birthday when it released the beer in question today, Terrapin 10 Special Anniversary Ale.  

I have a habit of sitting on strong beers for a while, and Terrapin 10 is no exception. I popped my first bottle in October of 2012, and I’m enjoying my second 9 and last) a full year after its release. The beer has held up quite nicely and I can’t detect any changes since October.

The label for Terrrapin 10 features a profile of mathematician Lenard Euler along with his famous equation:

-1[x.e to the in]=10.

The back of the label sports this quote about the equation by Benjamin Pierce:

“It is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don’t know what it means. But we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be the truth.”

Terrapin sites the following stats and ingredients on their website:

ABV: 10%

IBU: 30

OG: 21

FG: 3.1

Malts: Pilsner, Malted Rye

Hops: Nelson Sauvin

Adjuncts:  Coriander, two kinds of orange peel, chamomile, dextrose

Although the alcohol content is cited as 10% (apropos for a tenth anniversary beer, wouldn’t you say?) the bottle says 9.969%. Close enough as makes no odds, though.

Terrapin 10 Special Anniversary Ale pours to a pale golden color with a spritzy, short lived head formation that fades as quickly as it forms. The palate is crisp and biscuit malty, deceptively light for its alcohol content, at least up front.  The beer does have a delicious spiciness, with rich bitter orange peel reminiscent of grand Marnier. It’s sweet and rich with warming alcohol at the last, too. Spices of vanilla and coriander come through, then spicy rye and funky Belgian yeast. I get some cotton candy thrown off from the yeast; the alcohol warmth does make an appearance in the finish. Very rich and spicy, a sipping beer for sure and a credible Belgian strong.

I do have to say I was not as impressed with this beer so much at first as I was at the last of the bottle. But this one grew on me as it warmed. Not a bad beer at all for a fitting ten bucks the bomber bottle, snap it up if you should find one.  

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft



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