Saturday, January 27, 2007

Last of the Belgian Triplets

Over the course of the last few weeks I have cleared out my Belgian beer stash. It was a bitter sweet moment when I drank my last as I knew it was the end of a pretty good experience trying a lot of beers that I have never had, and probably won't have again, at least not until I am able to come back to Belgium. This triplet consists of an Abbey style ale, a brune, and a another Trappist Ale.
Grimburgen Tripple Abbey Beer: I have tasted aGrimburgen beer before in Belgium. This beer weighed in at a hefty 9.0% abv. It poured a honey golden yellow with a two inch head capped by a fluffy stark white head. The nose had some petrol and hop flavors with hints of citrus and honey. The mouth was tart and tangy, with notes of white raisins, brown sugar and a lot less of alcohol than I expected. The beer finishes beery smooth. Low carbonation and low effervescence, so the beer coats the mouth nicely. An above average beer.
Ciney Brune: I liked the Ciney Blonde I tried before and rather enjoyed it. The beer weighed in at 7%, and poured a nice dark chocolate, that was almost opaque, with a thin bubbling taupe head. The nose was choclatey, caramel, and raisins. Low carbonation. The mouth was smooth chocolatey, caramel and notes of raisins at the finish. Thick rich, comforting. Smooth as silk, a very nice beer.
Rochefort 8 Trappist Beer: One of the few Trappist breweries that still exist. I tried a trappist ale previously and it was great so I popped the top off this one, my last beer from my trip to Brussels eagerly. The beer weighed in at 9.2% the highest alcohol of the three. Poured a rich chocolate brown, with a thick pillowy taupe head. Nice carbonation. Loads of raisins, caramel, cocoa, roasted almonds, and molasses. Thick mouthfeel notes of chocolate, and ending in raisins, and figs. Smooth and thick, would make an awesome desert beer. The only thing that didn't make it a top notch beer was the bit of alcohol burn that showed up as the beer warmed up. Still an amazing beer, and not only my favorite of this trio, but also one of the top beers that I had from Belgium.

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