Beer- #283 - Rochefort - Trappistes 10

Companion to the 8 - the Rochefort Trappistes 10

Brewed by Brasserie Rochefort in the style of a  Abt/Quadrupel they are of course in Rochefort, Belgium

Simple 330 ml bottle, containing  2.94 standard drinks as it's a whopping  11.3% ABV  beer,  and it's a podgy 339 calories!

The top product from the Rochefort Trappist brewery. Dark color, full and very impressive taste. Strong plum, raisin, and black currant palate, with ascending notes of vinousness and other complexities.

An opaque dark brown beer with a creamy off white head that dissipated quite quickly providing fair lacing. Rich malty aromas of dark fruits (cherries, plums), banana, toffee and dark chocolate. The palate is thickish and fruity finishing with a gentle spicy hop presence and a soothing alcoholic warmth. The finish reminds me of an after dinner port wine. There is definitely candy sugar in there but it is not too sweet and the flavours are wonderfully integrated. Top class. Definitely one to sip and savour.

Muted aroma, but you get malts/caramel. Really pops to life on the pour, hight rich fruits and warm malts. Thin head that disperses. Pours a dark brown muddy could and looks somewhat flat in the glass, but isn't.

Nicely carbonated  and  bit hit of rich sweetness, lots of  rich fruit style,, and pleasingly and not intrudingly bitter.

This is more pleasant that the Rochefort 8, in my opinion,  more rounded, mellower, less intrudingly bitter.

The pdubyah-o-meter says this is very good an should get an 8 as that. It's not a beer that I would rave or go on about, it's very nice, and I like the Belgium style of beers a lot.

This though is a style that is becoming more popular with brewers, it seems, and there are some very very good variants available.

I'm going to enjoy watching the tennis, and enjoy this in the sporadic sunshine.

ABT/QUADRUPEL

Abt, or quadrupel, is the name given to ultra-strong Trappist and abbey ales. The name Abt was pioneered to describe Westvleteren and the beer that would become St. Bernardus. Quadrupel was pioneered by La Trappe. Abts are the darker of the two, with more rich, deep fruity notes. Quads are paler, with corresponding peachy notes. Neither have much in the way of hop, and both are very strong and malty. Though both are bottle-conditioned, abts trend more towards yeastiness. Alcohol is very high (10+% abv) for both.

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Beer - #132 - Tuatara - Belgian Tripel

Tuatara Belgian Tripel  Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company in the style of a : Belgian Strong Ale and that's all done in Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

8.5%ABV (4.65 Standard drinks) contained in a 650ml bottle.

Develop an active interest in Belgium’s monastic Trappist brews and it’ll quickly become obvious that the Low Countries weren’t named after the alcohol content of their favourite beers. Tuatara Tripel is is brewed in that same intense style, rich on the nose with esters and hop aromas balanced to perfection. It’s possessed of a sustained and lively body that instantly fills the mouth with flavour. Meanwhile a smooth aftertaste ensures the kind of drinkability that by rights no 8.5% alc/vol beer ought to possess.

This wasn't my first choice tonight, but if you buy beer at lunch time and leave it to get warm then what can you do, except stop and buy another beer from the cold room.

Expectations are of golden/chestnut , malty sweet, and alcohol present but not making a big deal about it.

Ok it pours golden syrup golden, it fizzes like an alka-seltzer, but delivers no head, and now appears to look very flat. Slightly bittery yeasty aroma.

And then heaven on the tongue! All the malty sweetness floods you with a tearful hug.  There's plenty of length in this too the lingering taste on the lips and back of throat. They're fairly docile tastes though, and I didn't get the same enjoyment second or third mouthful. Bit disappointing, I do still get the back burn of something though.

For me there isn't enough sweet malt taste, the alcohol is masked but bobs it's noise in a bit, it might be just over carbonated, and it still looks like a flat beer poured a day ago.

Taking stock though, as you must. This isn't bad. It stands on it's own merits and is doing what it says on the label. There isn't much indication that this is an 8.5% beer, and that you should be paying more attention to that.

Overall the pdubyah-o-meter things that 8 on its arbitrary scale means that this is accomplished, and well mannered, unlikely to disappoint, and also unlikely to make it to the top table.  I like it a lot more than I thought I would, you know the bar is high when it comes to trying to make a standard your own thing. Fair play and well done.

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Beer - #104 - Wanaka Beerworks - Zar

Wanaka Beerworks Zar -Brewed by Wanaka Beerworks in the Style of an Imperial Stout, and they're doing this trick in Wanaka, New Zealand.

Trick, well yes, Russian Imperial Stout meets Belgian Trappist Monk. Shutup!

A dark hoppy beer that is balanced by a strong hop flavor, this is a beer you enjoy in front of an open fire with friends. A beer created by the English for a Russian tsar adjusted by a Belgian Kiwi team. Wort filtered to 16 plato, either 30 or  65 IBU bitter hopping (depending where you read) and it's bottled conditioned.

This then a 330ml of a 10%ABV beer, which is about 2.6 units. Nothing by way of head but an interesting aroma mix greets you, Chocolate or cocoa powder, and a spice that's quite peppery and took me a bit by surprise. It's deep dark black too.

The taste does not disappoint, a lovely rich set of flavours, with length and depth, and just the right amount of carbonation. I could wax eloquent about this for a while.  This is a little bit of magic in a bottle.

There is no alcohol tinge or backwash, and each mouthful is a pleasing and pleasant experience, a man could easily get carried away with just how nice this is. The character of the taste is very complex, and not in that challenging way there are a bunch of things working together.

The pdubyah-o-meter effortlessly gives this an all but full house 9.4 and only because I wish it had a head. As a Imperial Stout in the Belgium Trappist style this is in a field of it's own. Of the beers that I've drunk this is in the leading pack and holds it own merits.

Superb!

Beer - #45 - Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue)

 

Pushing the boat out a little tonight then. Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue)

Which is an impressive 750ml of a 9% ABV Belgium beer in a bottle that has a cork and wire trap. It's a bit festival.

Chimay, brewed at the Notre-Dame de Scourmont Abbey, is one of the 6 Belgian beers that can carry the logo, "Authentic Trappist Product",

That means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service. When they say within they mean close walking distance. and I also found out that there is an International Trappist Association.

This is a dark beer, and as a  top fermented Trappist beer, is re-fermented in the bottle, and is not pasteurised.

So then, the big question it really will it pour with a head, and I'm picking yes, I've not been let down on that front with a  Belgium beer before. The cork is excited to be free for a start, a pleasant pop. And you can hear the carbonation and see how fizzy it is in the glass. It's a noisy beer. You can smell yeast too.

That's a dark deep taste, quite sweet, deep, and I was surprised how the deep chestnut colour matched a taste I was expecting. I don't know if that made sense though. It's like there are raisins in it, which Isn't unpleasant and this does have a nice length to it too, Licking my lips, trying to remember that this one comes with a well hidden 9% behind it.

I'm a fan of Belgium beer, and for that reason the arbitrary pdubyah-o-meter will score a high 9 from 10 arbitrary things for this. It's fantastic, I've been looking forward to it and I'm pleased that I'm drinking it. Nothing bad to say except I was expecting some lacing on my glass which I didn't get. The monks however did good with this one, and I'd suggest they keep their day jobs.

 

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