I tried the Watou Tripel from St. Bernardus tonight. I wasn’t impressed. I’ve had several other tripels that are a whole lot better. This one pours a hazy straw color with a thick white head. The aroma is almost non-existent, but there are some slight spicy notes. The taste is decent, but kind of weak. The spices are there, some banana and some malty sweetness. The biggest issue is the body. It’s very thin and watery. There’s some yeasty breadiness to it, but nothing really that great. While it’s not my favorite tripel, the regular St. Bernardus Tripel is much better. I still prefer Tripel Karmeliet or La Fin du Monde. Those are worlds better than this one.
Archive for the 'Belgian' Category
Normally, I would have grouped this with the other one so I don’t write multiple posts in a row, but this beer deserves a special post just for itself. I had bought St. Sylvester’s Flanders Winter Ale after a tasting. It was sitting on the sale rack at Nikki’s for $1-2 off. I had never heard of it, the label is blah and ugly, and all other signs would have pointed to “don’t buy”, except for the fact that the guy running the tasting said it’s good. So I bought it. I opened it today with its ghetto cork, piece of metal holding the cork, and plastic wrapper around the cork (like those found on a medicine bottle). It make a nice POP when I finally got the cork out.
Because I had never heard of it, I had to look it up on Beer Advocate. To my surprise, there were only 2 reviews of this beer. Also to my surprise, the style was said to be Saison/Farmhouse Ale. Based on the name, I expected it to be a Flanders Red Ale. So at this point, I had no idea what to expect… so I had to try it, and tonight was the night.
The beer poured a dark amber with a thick 2 finger white head. Looked like a Flanders Red Ale to me.
The beer smelled of tart/sour cherries and other dark fruit (again Flanders Red), sweet malts, and yeast (Saison?).
The taste was quite different. Tart cherry/fruit flavor up front, some spices and yeast around mid-sip, and some lemony flavors after the swallow. The beer definitely seems to be a hybrid style. Tastes like a Saison mixed with a Flanders Red Ale. It’s literally 50/50.
Its kind of bready in feel, while medium bodied. Lots of tiny bubbles are present. It’s got a nice feel. The beer is also drinkable. It’s 8.5% ABV, but I didn’t notice until it knocked me out while watching TV, long after I finished it (had to drink the whole bottle because Susan wasn’t crazy about it). I wish I had another of these.
This beer is great. If you see it, pick it up. It’s worth trying, probably more than once. The label is ugly as hell and they need to work on it. For a beer this good, the label does not do it any justice. I would also gladly pay full price for this beer. The moral of the story… don’t judge a beer by its label or ghetto cork/metal thing/plastic wrapper.
Tonight’s beer is Allagash Black. The label calls it a “Belgian Style Stout”. I assume they used Belgian yeast in the brewing of this beer, but here’s my little review.
It pours a black/brown color with a nice 1-2 finger light tan head. Smells immediately of roasted malt and a slight hint of coffee. So far it’s a stout. Tastes like a stout, a nice roasted malt flavor dominates with some coffee flavors as well. There might even be a slight smokiness to it. It’s a nice full bodied beer that tastes just like a stout. It’s a good stout.
Now, the title of this post means something… Beer Advocate calls it a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Generally, that style has a fruitiness and a little bit of some spice as well. This beer tastes nothing like that. However, my taste buds are shot after the roasted flavors kicked their butt. There could be some of those other qualities in there, and I will admit that as the beer warms, they come out, but so slightly that they’re almost negligible.
Would I buy this beer again? Probably. Susan really liked it, “It’s right up there with Stone Smoked Porter”. That’s her favorite beer. I am not surprised, this has a lot of the same qualities. What I will likely do, since this beer is on the expensive side for a relatively average beer, is buy another bottle and hang onto it for a year. I’d like to see what happens. I have a feeling the other flavors might come out a bit more. Unfortunately, it’s so new that no one has tried aging it yet. I will post on the BA Cellaring forum about it. I’m curious what might happen to it. Worse comes to worse, it may just become more of a stout. I’m hoping some of the “Belgian Style” comes out. It’s about $13 a bottle. I think I’ll pick up another bottle just to age for a year and see what happens. Until then, I rate this beer average for all the hype it got and the price (though it is a good stout, just not a good $13 stout).
Before I write anything else, I want to just say “Please don’t shoot me”. Alright, here goes…
Rochefort 10, one of the best beers in the world according to Beer Advocate, is an authentic Trappist Quadrupel. It pours a deep brown with a thick fluffy light tan head. Smells of malty sweetness and some fruit (a little banana and something else I’m not sure of). Flavor isn’t really overwhelming. Again, it’s lots of malt, some alcohol, a slight hint of banana as the beer warms, and some other fruit flavors. It’s good, but nothing special to me. The first few sips were overwhelming with lots of tiny carbonation bubbles. It was a bit much and really drew away from the experience that this beer should be. I’m not going to officially review it on BA because it may not have been 100% ideal conditions, but if I were to score it, it’d get something in the B range, not the A that it has on BA.
I have had this one before and felt the same way about it then as I did now. Perhaps I just don’t like this beer that much. Other quads I’ve had include St. Bernardus Abt 12 and Koningshoeven Quadrupel (another Trappist, but from the Netherlands, and I have a 750 of this sitting at home that has already been aged about a year and a half). I liked those much better (St. Bernardus is a lot less expensive and was a lot smoother, easier to drink, and had a lot more noticeable flavor). I imagine I would like the Rochefort 10 after it’s been aged a bit. Unfortunately, I can’t decipher the code that was printed on the label. If anyone reading this knows how to read that code, I would appreciate it.
I had an Orval Trappist Ale last night. I’ve had it before. The Red Fez serves it in bottles (and with the actual Orval chalice). Orval is one of the seven Trappist breweries and this is the only beer they make. It pours a cloudy orangey amber color with a nice white head (I mis-poured and got too much head. Luckily, it was into a huge tulip glass). Smells of spices and a little bit of funk. The taste is really good. There’s a nice blend of funky sourness, spice, and fruit in the flavor. The beer has a nice amount of carbonation and goes down nice and easy. This is one top notch beer. Look for the bowling pin shaped bottle.
As promised, here’s a post on a few of the beers I’ve had recently.
I’ll start with Dupont’s Foret, their organic saison. The beer is very similar to Saison Dupont, though it has a much cleaner and crisper taste and feel to it. Maybe that’s just what I wanted to taste/feel because it’s organic, but I really got that feeling from the beer. It was good, though there were no overwhelming flavors to it. The beer had a huge thick creamy white head that diminished fairly quickly. The taste was somewhat earthy and crisp. This would make a great summer brew (no surprise here as saisons are generally brewed to be consumed in the summer).
I’ll move onto this year’s Storm King Stout from Victory, one of my favorite breweries. The beer is dark with a dark tan head. Smells of roasted malts and some hops. Flavor is similar. Victory like their hops and this beer is no different. It’s a bit hoppy for an imperial stout. I bought a 6 pack and I’m planning on keeping 2 of them until next year (maybe even more than that). It’s a bitter beer, not like an IPA, but still bitter.
Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale is next. It’s just a regular old IPA, though I think it’s made with different hops than their regular IPA or Pale Ale, both of which are excellent. This one, however, doesn’t leave that hoppy aftertaste and has a different flavor to it. I really can’t put my finger on what it is, but it’s different, yet still very good. This is an IPA that seems better suited for the winter (go figure, as it’s one of their winter seasonals). The best thing about this year’s Celebration Ale is that it comes with a real cap, not a twist-off, the one issue I’ve had with their bottles (twist-off’s can lead to oxidation more quickly than regular caps).
The Newport Storm beers I mentioned deserve their own post. I’ll write about them tomorrow (or later today, considering it’s well after midnight). Happy 2008 and good night!
I’ve been a bit lazy and haven’t posted these, so I’ll bunch them all together. I went and bought a bunch of winter beers last week. I drank most of them and here’s my thoughts.
I’ll start with the Belgians, which were quite different from the American beers. First was Scaldis Noel, aka Bush De Noel. The beer poured a dark amber color with a reasonable sized head. Smelled of cloves and other spices and a bit of alcohol, along with some caramel and a slight fruit scent, some type of berry. The flavor was of those spices with some caramel and fruitiness mixed in. It wasn’t tart or sour, but wasn’t sweet either. It was very malty with a slight bitterness and a slight alcohol burn at the swallow (12% ABV, so that wasn’t surprising). It was drinkable, though not too many because of the alcohol. I liked it and I’d have more, but not in the same sitting.
The other Belgian I had was Delirium Noel. This one poured a bit lighter and had a more pronounced scent to it. I didn’t expect cherries, but those were bit and it had a tart scent to it. This was a nice tart and sweet malty beer with a slight caramel flavor and some spices mixed in. At 10% ABV, I would only have one per sitting, but the alcohol was not at all noticeable in the taste. This one was better than the other. I’ll definitely be buying more of this.
Now on to the American beers… First was Brooklyn’s Winter Ale. This is an amber ale with a smaller head. It had a slight spiciness to it, but nothing overwhelming. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was still quite drinkable. It had a nice malt/hops balance with some slight tastes of spices. BA calls it a Scottish Ale, but I didn’t get that impression. It tasted like an amber ale with a touch of spices. I’m not sure I’d buy this again.
The last winter beer I had (well Susan had it this time, but I’ve had it before and I had some of hers) was Sam Adams’ Old Fezziwig Ale. This is a true winter warmer. The beer pours a dark ruby brown color, like a porter with scents of caramel, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, and other spices. The beer is like a very tasty Christmas cookie. Not the fancy Italian things, but a good old down to earth cookie. It would pair well with a good oatmeal raisin or oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. The taste is of the scents. The mix of spices with the caramel and chocolate malts is fantastic. This is one of Sam Adams’ best beers. Unfortunately, this beer is only available in the Winter 12 Pack, which also has the dreaded Cranberry Lambic (not a real lambic). If you can find it in a place that sells singles, pick some up. It’s well worth it. Heck, the Sam Adams Winter 12 Pack is worth it even if you toss the lambic or give it to someone you don’t like. The Old Fezziwig is one of my favorite winter beers.
Last night was a Cantillon tasting at Nikki’s. They were tasting the Classic Gueuze, the Iris, the Vigneronne, the Kriek, and the Saint Lamvinus. Cantillon makes nothing but Lambics and Gueuzes. Needless to say, the beers were all very sour and tart, but that was the fun part. I was a bit surprised to see that they weren’t crowded considering the beers they were tasting, so it was a nice intimate tasting with a bunch of the regulars.
I actually liked all of the beers, though the Iris, the only unblended Lambic of the night, was my least favorite. It was a bit dry and more champagne-like. The others, all fruit Lambics I liked equally for various reasons. The Kriek was very tart cherry flavored with a lot of the mustiness that goes along with the spontaneous fermentation. The Vigneronne is brewed with Italian white grapes and the flavor of those was very present. This was the most sour of all the beers, though that doesn’t mean it was bad. In the case of Lambics, sour is a good thing (or a normal thing). The Saint Lamvinus was nothing like any of the others. It was the least sour and had a very vinous flavor to it. It’s brewed with merlot and cabernet grapes, which account for that wine flavor. It was very smooth and extremely delicious.
Unfortunately, these beers are all on the expensive side ranging from $15 to about $30 for a 750 ml bottle (the Saint Lamvinus is the expensive one as it’s a bit rarer). Check out Cantillon’s website for a good description of each beer and how they’re made.
Tonight was a special tasting at Nikki’s, the fully line of Allagash beers (at least those available in RI). For those who don’t know, Allagash is a brewery in Portland, ME that specializes in Belgian style beers. They have a few standards that are standard Belgians, but they also have a series of barrel aged beers. All of these were available at the tasting, and in true form, I tried each of them.
The first was their White, a Witbier. It was one of the best Wits I’ve had. I’m not normally a fan of this style, but this one was excellent with flavor of orange peel and coriander. Following that was their Dubbel Reserve, obviously a Belgian style Dubbel. The only other Dubbel I have tried was the St. Bernardus Pater 6. I wasn’t overly crazy about that one, but the Allagash Dubbel was excellent. It had a malty flavor with some raisins and other fruit mixed in. Next was the Tripel Reserve, again obviously a Belgian style Tripel. This one was a bit less smooth with more of a dry flavor to it with a little bit of Belgian hops mixed in. The last of their regular lineup was the Grand Cru, a Tripel brewed with spices, making it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale. This is their winter seasonal. It was one of my favorites of the night.
Following those were their special barrel aged beers. The first of these was Fluxus. It’s a Strong Pale Ale made with rye malt and flavored with yarrow. I wasn’t overly crazy about it. It had kind of a piney flavor, but not something I really enjoyed. It was definitely different and interesting though. Then came the 11th Anniversary Ale. This is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. Unfortunately, having had so many beers, I just don’t remember this one. Perhaps it was because the others were just better. Following that was the Musette. This breaks away from their Belgian style beers and is actually a Scotch Ale aged in Jim Beam barrels. This had a lot of the Jim Beam flavor and was really smooth. I liked this one and if you’re a fan of whiskey or bourbon, you would like this one. Next was the Curieux, a Tripel aged in Jim Beam barrels. I had tried this before. This was one good Tripel. The flavors worked really well together. Finally, we had the Interlude. This one was the most different, and my favorite of the night (I even bough a bottle for about $21). The flavor was a little tart, almost like a Flanders Red Ale, with a little of the oak flavor from the barrel aging and some winey fruitiness. Beer Advocate calls it a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, but it doesn’t really taste like most other beers in that style.
This was one of the busiest tastings I have been to, but I wasn’t surprised by that. We bought a whole bunch of beer that I’ll most definitely be writing about. It was another great night at Nikki’s.
I think I have a new favorite Flanders Red Ale. It’s a sister beer of one that I didn’t particularly enjoy. Rodenbach Grand Cru is the same style as the Rodenbach Classic, but a whole lot tastier. While the latter lacked the smoothness and flavors I would expect from a Flemish Sour Red Ale (aka Flanders Red), the former had all that and then some. The Grand Cru is basically the same beer (though I would disagree) aged for 18 months in oak barrels.
I poured the beer into a large red wine glass. It pours a ruby brown color with a creamy tan head that lingered for a little bit, but quickly disappeared. Smells of fruitiness (cherry) hit the nose. The beer is very smooth and had ample carbonation (not too much like the Classic had). The flavor was of that fruitiness (again, cherry mostly) and tartness that I have come to expect from this style. I didn’t detect much of the vanilla oak sweetness that the label said I would. I expected it to be a bit more pronounced than it was, but it was there. The beer is only 6% ABV, but it seemed like more (not through the taste, but through my feeling buzzed after drinking it). It’s a very drinkable beer, something I will most definitely buy again.
Recent Comments