Avondale Miss Fancy’s Tripel — The Elephant in the Room and She’s Magnificent

The Review

You could spend all day at Avondale Brewing drinking their Spring Street Saison, their Battlefield IPA, their Vanillaphant Porter — and you’d have a great day. But Miss Fancy’s Tripel is the beer that makes you sit down and pay attention.

Named for Miss Fancy the elephant — a former Birmingham Zoo resident who was allegedly kept well-stocked with bootleg whiskey during Prohibition by sympathetic city officials — this Belgian-style strong golden ale carries a story as big as its 9.2% ABV. The label warns, with appropriate gravitas, that it is “brewed for humans but strong enough for elephants.”

Food Advertisements by

It pours a gorgeous hazy golden-amber with a pillowy white head. Belgian candi sugar, a proprietary yeast blend, and traditional hops create a beer that smells of ripe stone fruit, clove, and warm bread. The palate delivers banana, honey, white pepper, and something vaguely dangerous. The finish is dry, the warmth builds slowly, and the 9.2% announces itself only after the second glass.

Avondale is doing something genuinely different in Birmingham’s craft beer scene — leaning Belgian when everyone else was chasing West Coast hops — and Miss Fancy is the strongest argument for their approach. The 1885 building sets the mood, but the beer earns its own legend.

Quick Stats