Rochefort is Back!

While Texas has been getting many new brewery's crossing state lines to enter our fertile market, few have been more anticipated than one that is re-entering. After a multi-year absence, Belgian Trappist brewery Rochefort is back in Texas. Rochefort is a Benedictine monestary brewery in Namur, Belgium, and is one of the 7 Trappist breweries in the world. Rochefort makes 3 different beers, the 6, 8, and 10. Many folks think that these numbers correspond to the percent alcohol however that is incorrect. Instead these numbers corresponds to the Original gravity: 6 corresponds to 1.060, 8 to 1.080 and 10. 1.100. Originally these numbers were close to the percent alcohol, however that was no longer the case, and never the actual intent of the numbers.
When I first heard that Rochefort was back in Texas I went out and picked up two of the 3 available beers.
Rochefort 8: The beer weighs in at 9.2% abv and pours a copper reddish brown color with a thick dense head of taupe colored foam. Very malty nose with notes of candied sugar, caramel and fruit. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, dried figs, raisins and other dark fruits concentrated. Finishes dry. Notes of chocolate, spicey. There is an interesting flavor here, that took me some time to place. Its like burnt sugar, with some brown sugar notes and caramel as well. The best analogy I came up with is the burnt sugar crust on creme brulee. Its a chewy beer, notes of cherry as it warms, very effervescent. No alcohol notes. A great malt forward sipping beer.
Rochefort 10: This is the big brother beer weighing in at 11.3% and pours an almost black color with a thin taupe colored head that dissipates quickly leaving a thin film capping the beer itself. Very malty nose, fruit esters almost grapey. Thick chewy mouthfeel, figs, plums, tobacco, sweet rich. Red wine like quality. Raisins, chocolate, rich chewy malty goodness. I love the fruity tobacco notes of this beer. Its like sitting in a big comfy over stuffed leather chair smoking a pipe. Notes of cola as well as it warms. This is one amazing complex brew.
For those wanting to try Trappist beers and see what all the fuss is about you must seek out Rochefort.

More Holiday Beers

I said in my previous post how much I love this season for beers and so its time for another installment of Holiday Beers.
Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper: A favorite of mine from this gypsy brewer weighs in at 10.9%. The beer changes its recipe every year tweaking each time striving to reach perfection. An ale brewed with spices this one pours a dark brown almost but not quite black with a thick tan colored head. Spicy and herbal on the nose. Notes of spruce and sweet malt. Low carbonation with a full creamy mouthfeel. Rich sweet malts up front, notes of spruce, spice, candied dark fruits, rye bread, ginger, caramel all blend together to create a Christmas experience. Santa's Helper indeed. If you left this out next to your fireplace you might wake up on Christmas morning with Santa happily asleep the empty bottle clutched in his hands. This one gets a strong A from me.
Delerium Noel: From the makers of Delerium Tremens, the last time I had this brew was back in 2008 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A 10% Belgian dark ale that pours a light hazy brown with very little head. Candied sugar, fruity esters on the nose. Medium bodied, some notes of alcohol, fruity, plums, candied sugar, fruity, slightly sweet. Some brown sugar and vanilla notes show up as it warms. Its a little sweet for me and I'd love to see how this changes as it ages. Very plummy some sour cherries as well show up. A good beer that gets a B+ from me.
Samichlaus 2009: This leads credence to the theory that Christmas seasonal beers are the best for aging. Samichlaus is an original "extreme" beer from Austria, weighing at at a robust 14%. Unlike others though this one is a lager, not an ale. Brewed once a year on December 6th, aged, and only then is it bottled. So this one bottled in 2009 was actually brewed back in 2008. The beer pours a rusty brown color with a thin and quickly dissipating head of foam. The nose is of cherries, and alcohol, dried fruit, sherry, dark bread, chocolate. Medium body with very little carbonation. Cherries and prunes, notes of alcohol. I close my eyes and think I'm drinking a fine port. The liquid coats the tongue begging to be paired with a strong cheese or chocolate. This is simply amazing and shows what beer can be. If you have a bottle of this, keep sitting on it, as I think this one can age for many more years. A great A beer.

A Plethora of Holiday Beers

This year for the first time in a while there seems to be some new Christmas or winter seasonal beers on the shelves. At the very least they are new to me. Instead of filling numerous posts I'm combing my thoughts on a few of these beers. They'll be more of these in the next couple of weeks as I make my way through as many as I can. This is my favorite season for beers because so many beer during this time are cellar worthy as are each of the ones I'm posting about today.
Ommegang Adoration Ale: A Belgian Style Christmas ale from one of the best American brewers of belgian ales. This one has been around for a few years but its the first time I think its been available in Houston in bottles. A 10.% beer brewed with spices like coriander, cardamom, Mace, and grains of paradise. The beer pours a chestnut brown with a thick taupe colored head. Malty, fruity, spicy on the nose. I can smell cardamom and coriander. The mouthfeel is thick and chewy. Flavors of sweet malt, figs, prunes, candied oranges, fruit cake. Spicey, chewy, dark bread, dark fruit. As it warms qualities of scotch show up. Sweet but finishes dry. A very gog complex beer to sit in front of a warm fire with on a cold winter night. An A- from me.
Duvel Triple Hop: While not a true seasonal like others its been released around this time so I included it in this round up. Its your traditional Duvel recipe kicked up a bit. It weighs in at 9.5% and is brewed with Saaz, Amarillow, and Styrin hops, then again dry hopped with Styrin. It pours a pale golden color as expected with a thick pillowy white head of foam. The nose is of pale toasted malts, spicey yeasts. Medium mouthfeel, lots of carbonation, slightly sweet toasted malts, spicey and floral, yeasty bready notes. Letting it warms helps to bring out notes of pears and apples. A great beer that does great honor to the Duvel tradition. An A grade.
Gulden Draak Vintage Ale 2010: A vintaged version of the popular Gulden Draak Belgian age. Weighing in at 7.5% it pours a hazelnut brown with a thick dense head of taupe colored foam. Malty caramel notes on the nose. Brown sugar. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, god carbonation. Notes of Raisins, sweet caramel, malts, a slight hop bitterness. Carbonation is high giving this dark beer an effervescence. Notes of cherry as the beer warms, yeasty notes, figs. Spicey. A good beer that gets a B+ from me.
Golden Carolous Noel: We finish this round up as we started: A Belgian Style Christmas ale, except this time from an actual Belgian Brewery. This one weighs in at 10.5% and pours a rich copper color with a dark taupe colored head. Malty and spicey on the nose. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a good level of carbonation. Flavors of sweet malt, spice, Christmas bread, candied sugar. Dark fruits, raisins figs, rich, rich, malt. Ginger bread, sprucy, slightly sweet. This beer tastes like Winter, it tastes like Christmas. If someone asked me to think of a scene to compare this beer to it would be traipsing through a snow covered forest in search of the perfect Christmas tree, then back at a cabin by a fire sipping on a fine beer. In a nutshell that's what this beer is. This may be my new favorite Christmas beer. A strong go out and get this grade of A from me.

Gulden Draak

Texas is becoming a great place for craft beer. Not only does it seem that some brewery from around the states is coming into Texas but we are getting new imports as well. One of the newer ones is from Brouwerij Van Steenberge in the Belgium. We are actually lucky to get mutliple different beers from this brewery. This particular one is a dark brown Triple Ale, which as their website says is the exception to most triples. Most triples are golden in color.
The Beer: This triple weighs in at 10.5% and pours a rbuy brown with at hick pillowy dense head of slightly off white foam. The nose is fruity and yeasty, brown sugar, raisins, malty. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, good carbonation, sweet, figs, malt, raisins, caramal, fig tart. A slight earthy hoppiness. Candied figs. Good beer, slightly sweet. This one gets a B+ from me. Here's what the folks at BA have to say.

Gingerman's Belgian Beer Tasting

If you follow me on twitter you know that last Saturday I was at the Gingerman's Belgian Beer tasting. I have to say I went to this tasting extremely excited, but at the same time unsure of what to expect. On one hand I knew that Gingerman would have a great selection of Belgian beer's available for tasting. On the other hand, this was a Belgian beer and FOOD tasting, and for anyone that's been to Gingerman, you know they don't have much food available beyond cheese, some chips, and a meat plate. So what kind of food was it going to be? And how is this Michael O'Connor the chef that was going to cook the food? And how was he going to cook it?
Well you'll be happy to know the event was amazing. The food was for the most part excellent, the chef O'Connor is the chef at the Houston Country club (you can also follow him on twitter), and also surprisingly elegantly plated. There were a total of 8 courses, each paired with a small sample of beer and a small plate of food.
Course 1: Chimay White paired with Chimay Cheese and beer soup w/ sausage: This may be been my favorite dish over all. Chimay White is a Triple that weighs in at 8.0% and has flavors of oranges, floral perfumey hops, spicy cloves, honey, along with some bready and yeasty notes. The soup was served in a tall shot glass, the sausage was Italian from Central Market. The soup was creamy with just a bit of spice from the sausage, and small bits of onions and carrots that added a nice texture. The Chimay really paired well with it, marrying the flavors in the beer and soup, also cutting through the fat in the soup since the beer is so effervescent it wiped the fat off the tongue. The fruitiness of the beer also was a great match for the slight spiciness of the sausage.
Course 2: Stella Artois paired with Sezchuan Peppercorn Shrimp:
From one of my favorite dishes to my least favorite. The plate came out and looked very nice, with two shrimp covered in a light sauce with some peppers. Stella of course is the ubiquitous Belgian Lager. Initially I thought this would be good pairing the crispness of the Stella against the spiciness of the shrimp. Unfortunately the shrimp were cold by the time they were served and there was very little if any spice to the dish. It was a nice pairing from a shell fish standpoint, but I was really hoping for more.
Course 3: Houblon Chouffe paired with Black Eyed Pea Cake w/ smoked trout and IPA mousse:
Does the title alone get you excited? Houblon Chouffe is an IPA Tripel with flavors of pineapple oranges, spice, fruity esters, and bananas. The dish came out with the Blacked eye cake (looking for all the world like a little crab cake) topped with the salmon IPA mousse. Again this was a really solid pairing, my only issue was that I didn't get much of the IPA in the mousse. The smokiness of the black eye peas worked well against the fruitiness and spiciness of the beer, and at the same time, the IPA didn't overshadow the salmon. It was really a nice almost perfect pairing.
Course 4: Hoegaarden paired with beer steamed thai mussels: Ah yes the classic Belgian pairing, mussels steamed in beer paired with a Hoegaarden. Of course the there is a Thai twist here. Hoegaarden is THE wit and weighs in at a light 4.9%. The mussels were served two to a square shaped bowl with a slice of bread sitting in a rich brown Thai sauce. This was another really great pairing. Of course the mussels and beer paired well together but the surprise here was how the wit stood up to the spiciness of the Thai broth (a broth by the way that was sopped up by the bread and any leftovers were drank. I wish I could bottle it!).
Course 5: Maredsous 8 paired with a honey mustard marinated pork loin w/ Maredsous 8 sauce:
Again doesn't just the name of the dish get you excited? Maredsous is a dubbel that weighs in at 8%. It has flavors of caramel, raisins, toffee, and chocolate. The dish came out on a small plate with 4 slices of the loin with the sauce drizzled over them. Again the sauce here was amazing and I think you could actually taste the richness of the Maredsous. The pork was a little dry, but having it with the beer really brought out the flavors with the sauce marrying everything together, really enriching the dish flavor wise.
Course 6: St. Bernardus ABT. 12 with beef short ribs carbonade:
This beer is a Quadrupel that weighs in at 10.5%. This is your big cab to go with beef. There are flavors of raisins, figs, licorice, brown sugar, and a slight alcohol burn. The short rib was served simple with a side of potatoes. Again the slight effervescence of this beer cut through the fat of the short ribs, opening up the flavors of the beef bringing the dish together. Really nice pairing.

Now on to our two desert courses.
Course 7: Kasteel Rouge with Chocolate Truffles: Kasteel Rouge is new to the Texas market. Its a top fermented cherry beer and weighs in at 8%. There are flavors of honey, cherry, Cinnamon, with very low carbonation. The chocolates are served two to a place, one lime chocolate the other just chocolate. The Kasteel paired amazing well with the regular truffle. The slight sourness of the beer feeding off the rich dark chocolate. I thought the lime Chocolate was a little off putting.
Course 8: Lindemans Framboise paired with raspberry topped pound cake with Framboise Foam:
I think every knows of this beer, even if like me they had never had it. The beer pours a bright rose color and weighs in at a light 4%. Sour raspberries is the flavor here. The cake came out on a small plate topped with the raspberries and then the nicely pink tinted Framboise foam. This was a pairing made in heaven. Everything really worked and fed off of each other. I'm not a huge lambic fan but this was a really nice pairing.

Overall I thought Gingerman's hit a home run on this tasting. It was there first time to do something like this and there plans are to do one once a quarter with the next one being in July. There were about 14 or 15 people participating and everyone that reserved showed up even with the horrible weather. It was a really fun time, the people all talked to eachother about the dishes, and someone even brought along some extra beer to share with everyone which was quite a treat (the beers were a 2004 Chimay Reserve and a 2003 Cantillion).
Joe from Gingerman gave a little back ground on each beer a little history, and was a very gracious host. A knowledgeable way to spend a wonderful afternoon. If you get the chance to go to the one in July I would highly encourage it. The topic will be Beer Vs. Wine.

De Proef Imperial Saison

My previous experience with De Proef has only been through their collaborations with US brewers, so this is my first standalone brew from this very experimental Belgian Brewery. A saison can be a great thing, its probably one of the best beers to pair with foods. This one is an Imperial version which means what exactly? I'm assuming just a bigger, more flavors, more alcohol, just MORE....
The Beer: This one weighs in at 8.5% and its mixed fermented. It pours a cloudy brown with a thin taupe colored head. Malty and bretty on the nose, funky with a tartness. The mouthfeel is chewy with notes of honeysuckle, fruity, earthy, floral, and spicey. This is very funky with copious amounts of brett, kind of overpowering everything else. However as it warms, subtle chocolaty notes, and white fruits start to show up. A very interesting beer, a beer to have with some strongly flavored cheeses that could stand up to the funk. This one gets a B from me. Here's what the folks at BA say.

The Session #24

Its the first Friday of February, and that can mean only one thing....its Session time! A quick recap: The Session is a monthly virtual beer tasting. Each month hosted by a different beer blogger, with a different theme. The host this month is David from Musings over a pint. The theme is Tripels, more specifically a tripel you would choose to share with a good friend or that special someone. My beer is definitely one I would share with that special someone especially since we are coming up on that day of days....Valentine's Day.....So which beer did I choose?
St. Bernardus Tripel: St. Bernardus brewery is located in Watou Beglium, a village in the West Flanders area. They are pretty well known for making some exceptional Belgian Ales. Note that they are not a Trappist Brewery (although they were at one time. In 1992 when the definition of Trappist changed, so too was this beer not longer able to call itself trappist).
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 8.0% and pours a cloudy golden honey color with a thin frothy white head. A million tiny bubbles like a fine champagne spring up from the bottom of the glass to the top. The nose is fruity, yeasty, notes of honeysuckle, floral. The mouthfeel is effervescent, honey, pears, fruity, yeasty. Its really bubbly. To continue the Champagne comparison there is a really nice toasty bready flavor here, very similar to an aged Champagne. An incredible beer that would make a wonderful pairing with strawberries. One of the best of this style I've had. Forget surprising your special someone with a glass of bubbly. This will do the trick and then some. This one gets a solid A from me. Here's what the folks at BA think.

Stay tuned as I'm sure Dave will have the full Session round up posted shortly.

De Proef Reserve Signature Ale Collaboration with Port Brewing

I picked this large Belgian beer up at Spec's for many reason's. The first is that I'm a big fan of brewery collaboration beer's. It's an interesting concept seeing two different brewers teaming up together taking their individual styles and entwining them into something new, and hopefully delicious.. One of the few that I have tried Collaboration not Litigation from Avery and Russian River is delicious so I'm always on the look out for more. The second reason is that this is a collaboration that involves Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing and Lost Abbey fame and so far this is the only way to taste anything he does in Texas. Lastly this particular collaboration is a limited time sort of thing. De Proef has decided to do a number of collaborations with American Breweries. This was their first I believe, and their second is with another California brewery, Alesmith (and yes I'm incredibly excited to try that one when its released). This particular beer is an ale made with American Hops and Belgian Brett yeast.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 8.5% and pours a pale golden cloudy orange with a frothy white head. The nose has citrusy hops, with a barnyard sourness. White fruit. The mouthfeel is tongue coating, bretty, white grapes, apricots and grapefruity hops. Notes of lychi. Very yeasty and funky a very enjoyable beer. Very good with a barnyard funk, giving the beer a tart/tanginess to the mouth. Incredibly complex there's so much going on, I need another bottle to just sit, drink and contemplate. This one gets a strong B+ from me. The folks at BA love it.

Koningshoeven Quadrupel

I start my second week of the year craving something complex, something soul warming, something that I can sip and contemplate. I go to my local Spec's seeking something out that would satisfy my requirements, my eyes darting from shelf to shelf seeking something anything to settle the quench....finally my eyes rest upon a large bottle, focusing on the words Quadrupel..then the brewery Koningshoeven, and it was then that I knew this beer would give me want I desired. You see Koningshoeven is not just any old brewery, it's a Trappist Brewery. And to be even more unique its the only Trappist brewery located outside of Belgium, instead residing in the nearby Netherlands. Its a unique Trappist brewery that only recently regained the ability to display the Trappist symbol on their beers. Luckily the monks have taken a bigger role in the brewery and they are producing some excellent beers. Koningshoeven is also known as La Trappe in other parts of the world.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 10% and pours a copperish red with a thick slightly off white head. The nose is fruity, spices, vanilla, and caramel malts. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy coating the tongue. Sweet caramel, grapes, vanilla, spices dance around the mouth, and all these flavors hide the high alcohol. Smooth and delightful I start to get notes of orange peel, plums as the beer warms and I sip, contemplate and sip some more. Notes of candied sugar. The last glass of this large bottle had bits of yeast floating as I swirled it around, concentrated flavors that reminded me of creme brulee. Yes this is exactly what I wanted and it gets an A from me. How do the folks at BA feel?

Scaldis Noel

Continuing my study in Belgian Christmas beers, I found one that I had actually tried before, when I was in Belgian a few years ago. Of course there, its called Bush Noel, where as over in the states its called Scaldis. This is one powerful Christmas beer.
The beer: Powerful I said? Try 12.0% and while I tried it in Belgium on tap, this one came in a tiny 8.48 fl oz bottle. It pours a cloudy brown with a thick taupe colored head. The nose is figgy, malty, fruity, yeasty. The mouth is thick and chewy, low carbonation that sits and coats the tongue. As with a lot of Belgian beers, the yeast seems to be the strongest characteristic with bready and fruity notes. Some other notes include apricots, figs, dark fruits, vanilla, and candied sugar. Surprisingly you don't get a lot of alcohol here, its just malty rich and spicy. Very very nice. This one gets a strong A from me. Here's what the folks at BA say.

Belgian Christmas Beers

One of the great things about Christmas and beer is that every country seems to have a style for the season. They are all different, unique and wonderful in their own way. I've been lucky to try some amazing US, British and German versions. Now I'm diving into some Belgian Christmas beers.
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale: This one is from the popular St. Bernadus brewery that makes some fine Belgian ales. This one weighs in at 10% and pours a dark amber with a thick white head. The nose is malty, musty, figgy. The mouth is chewy and rich, with a little alcohol burn to warm up the soul on a cold night. There are flavors of fig, prunes, raisins and other dark fruits. Slightly sweet after taste, slight sour undertones. Dried fruits coming through as the beer warms adding richness and almost cola type flavors start coming out. This one's very nice and gets an A- from me. The folks at BA seem to like it as much as I do.
Delirium Noel: This one from the great Brouwerij Huygh, makes of Delerium Tremmens. This one also weighs in at 10%, but pours a cloudy brown with a thin film of a head. Nose is rich, malty, fruity, and yeasty. The mouth is powerful, thick and chewy with a light sourness. Fruity and malty, with notes of figs, dark grapes, apricots. Smooth with a little alcohol burn. Slightly more sweet than the St. Bernardus, carmaley and effervescent like pop-rocks. This one gets a B+ from only becuase its a little too sweet for me. Again, it seems like I'm on the same wavelength with the folks at BA.

Lost Abbey Devotion Ale

I had the opportunity to pick up this beer during my recent trip to the brewery (along with a few other, but we'll get to that later). Lost Abbey specializes in unique Belgian style ales. Many aged in oak, many with different ingredients, and some infected with bacteria. Sounds like my kind of place! The Devotion Ale is Lost Abbey's version of a Belgian Blonde ale.
The Beer: This one weighs in at 6.75% with the only adjunct being dextrose. The beer pours a very hazy orange color with a thin head that dissipates to a film along the top of the beer. The nose is of hops, honey, and orage. The mouth is effervescent, with more hops and orange, apricots and honey. Lots of white fruit. A great summer beer with some good hop bitterness. This one gets a strong B+ from me.

Collaboration NOT Litigation

I'm a pretty big fan of Avery Beers, and I wish I could have a taste of a Russian River Beer, but this will have to do. What's become a yearly release this beer combines both Avery's beer called Salvation as well as Russian Rivers beer of the same name. Last year's was pretty dang good so I was excited to see it on the shelves of my Central Market.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 8.72% and pours a hazelnut brown with just a little taupe colored head. Very cloudy. Fruity, yeasty, white fruits, peaches, apricots. Low hop profile, sweet malty flavors in the mouth. Very much a Belgian as are their two namesakes. Some strong alcohol notes, but they actually add to the flavor not detract.. White grapes explode on the tongue. Really this is just an amazing beer, so much flavors and so many layers, I just can't place it all. Great Beer, this one gets an A+!

Floris Chocolate Beer

Cologne has a lot of Museum's. One of my favorite's is the Schokolade Museum, and the incredible gift shop they have. I have a weak spot for very dark chocolate and they have that in abundance. This past week I was visiting the museum with a friend of mine and came across a stash of Chocolate beer. Now this isn't a typical Chocolate Stout, but an actual straight up Belgian Chocolate Beer.
The Beer: The beer weighs in at 4.2% and is made with real chocolate. It pours a nice light cloudy copper color, with good carbonation, and no head. There is a thin film skimming over the surface of the beer. The nose is full of chocolate, almost like a yoohoo, and a tad bit of bitterness. The flavors are chocolate, and a tangy tartness that tasted like very rich almond extract, very overpowering. Over all it tasted like carbonated milk chocolate with a bottle of almond extract poured in. Not a good beer at all. I think this is something that could have been very good, even excellent, but this missed the mark by quite a bit.

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.

More Belgian Beers

I finished my latest trio of beers that I brought back from Brussels. It was a little sad as I only have three more left, but I guess that's appropriate as I only have a couple of more weeks here in Germany before I come back to the good ole U.S. of A. Of the three beers, one was a trappist, the other was a pretty common beer from Belgium, the other a nice Tripel.
Palm: Palm is a pretty big brewery from Belgium. Its a top fermented beer, and came packed in a bright green can. The beer weighed in at 5.2% the weakest of the three beers. IT poured a nice clear amber with a three quarters of an inch head, and little carbonation. The nose was spicey, fruity oranges, a bit of petrol and hoppy bitterness. The mouth was surprisingly mild a bit metallic with just a bit of bitterness and malty sweetness. It was just there, nothing spectacular, and OK beer, but not one that I would go out of my way to try again.
Achel Blond Beer: Achel is one of the smaller of the Trappist Breweries. Along with Chimay, Rochefort, Westmalle, Orval, and Westvleteren. It is the newest member of the Trappist community. The beer came in a bottle and weighed in at 8.0%. It poured a cloudy hazy golden yellow with a THICK Duvel like head. Hops spices, oranges, petrol, white raisins were all in abundance in the nose. The mouth was fruity, full of hoppy bite and white grape sweetness, finishing off with just a bit of alcohol burn. A very nice blond indeed.
Karmeliet Tripel: Again this was a beer at 8%, and the final fermentation took place in the bottle. The beer's ingredients included the typical wheat, hops, and yest, but also oats. The beer poured a nice bright cloudy amber with a two inch frothy pillowy head. Sweet honey, hops, orange, brown sugar, cinnamon on the nose. The mouthfeel was robust, full of brown sugar, hoppy bitterness and twang. Very strong beer but smooth at the end. Low carbonation, but some natural effervescence due to the final fermentation. I picked this as my favorite beer from this group. It was excellent.

Another Trio of Belgian Beers

Since I have a good sized stash of Belgian Beers due to my trip to Brussels during the holidays I thought that I would just continue to put a few in one post instead of doing a single post on each beer. My first trio was early last week and this will be my second go around. Two Blonds and a Gueuze.
Belle Vue Gueuze: This one was my first gueuze that I ever tried so it was something I have been looking forward to since I got back. Now in an effort of full disclosure I am not the biggest fan of Lambic's so I had a bit of trepidation when opening up this beer. The beer weighed in at a nice 5.5 %. It poured a cloudy light brown with hints of orange streaking through the body. Capped by a cream colored stable foamy head. The nose was tart, tangy, citrusy, small notes of floral hos. The mouth had an amazing effervescence, fruity, tart. It reminded me of the Smartie candies I ate as a kid, but the super tart ones, maybe with a little granny smith sour apple taffy thrown in for good measure. It was quite good actually. Not something I could have a lot with, but a good beer none the less.
Cuvee Des Troll: This beer is produced by Dubuisson, the same brewer that puts out the Bush beers (I had the Bush Noel while in Brussels that was quite good). Their website calls this beer a 'Cloudy Blonde', I'll buy that. The beer weighs in at 7%. Pours a golden yellow (but light on the cloudiness) capped by a thin very dense looking white head. The nose was full of lemon zest, yeast, fresh baked bread. The mouth was lemony, with some bananas, a big of vanilla and ended with a taste of big doughy bread. Very nice, but I would put this more of a witbier than a traditional Blonde. A thoroughly enjoyable beer.
Gordon's Finest Gold - Strong Blonde Beer: They aren't kidding! I had tried the Gordon's Xmas beer in my last posting and had enjoyed it so I opened this super large Can (yes CAN!) with some excitement. The beer weighed in at a hefty 10%. Poured a bright orange with a thick pale cream head. Sweet malts and a lot of honey in the nose. Unfortunately the mouth was all petrol, and alcohol. Really almost overpowering initially. As I drank a bit, and my tongue I think somewhat became used to the alcohol, and the beer warmed, notes of honey and caramel began to show up. I think this is a beer that had some promise but it was just too much alcohol and not enough hops or malt to hide it. Disjointing.

A trio of Belgian Beers

As promised I began this past weekend digging into the stash of beers I brought back from my recent trip to Brussels. They were random selections based on what I felt like that day. There are two blondes and a Christmas ale mized in for good measure. All are from different brewery's and one I can actually get in the states but have never picked it up (I will in the future):
La Chouffe Belgian Blond Beer: This is the one that can be picked up in the states, I've seen it as a pretty standard selection at my neighborhood Spec's. This was a big beer both in size (750 mL) and alcohol (8%). The beer poured a deep honey golden color with an inch or so head that quickly dissipated into a thin film topping the beer. Strong hoppy notes, flowers, honey, melon, citrus and some spice filled the nose. The same flavors filled the mouth with cinnimon and coriander adding to a full mouthfeel. The flavor profile ended with some yeasty bread notes that created a smooth brew that hid most of the alcohol. Very nice beer.
Ciney Blond: My fiance tried this beer while we are in Brussels, liked it so I picked it up. It was a single small beer that weighed in at 7%. The same color of golden honey with hints of orange streaks showing through. Capped by a strong thick white head. Hops, orange peel and spice filled the nose. Same flavors in the mouth, with a bit of alcohol warmth at the end. Amazingly different from the La Chouffe, but something that I liked more.
Gordon's Xmas Ale: Ahh a sad day as this will probably be my last holiday beer of the season. Gordon's is a pretty large commercial brewer in Belgium brewing everything from traditional Beglian beers, to Sweet Scotch Ales. This one is a Strong Brown Ale and it weighed in at 8.8%. The beer poured a dark rich coffee brown with a thick foamy taupe head. Roasted sweet caramel, a bit of toffee and a hint of floral hops on the nose. The mouthfeel was thick with coffee bitterness, light on the carbonation, a bit of chocolate and toffee. Right at the end there were notes of sweet figs. I didn't feel any warmth at the end either so the beer did a great job of hiding its robustness. A very nice beer.

My Christmas Vacation

Well I am back at home (my German home that is) from a fun filled Holiday of traveling. I went to two very different places so over the next day or so I will cover both of my trips. The first was to Brussels, the home of mussels and some of the most unique beers around. I went with my fiance and had an incredible time. Our first stop in Brussels was to the Brewers guild in the Grand Place and the beer museum. Very cool and I got my picture taking with a statue of Saint Arnold's of Metz the Patron Saint of Beer and the namesake of my favorite Texas brewery. (I'll post the picture when I get them all downloaded). As we toured the city we of course stopped for a few beers. Here are my down and dirty quick notes on them:
Grimburgen Brune: Weighs in at a nice 6.5%. Draught in a 33cL glass. Reddish brown with a thin taupe colored head. Lots of lacing. Sweet malt with some light caramel flavors. In the mouth there was some good caramel, chocolate and coca. Very nice first Belgium ale.
T Kelderke House Flanders Brown: Our first dinner we went our for mussels and the restaurant made their own beer so of course I had to try it. The beer weighed in at the same 6.5% alcohol. Thin head with minimal lacing, but the beer was thick looking, cloudy and unfiltered. The nose was fruity and hoppy, citrusy even. The mouth had a nice taste of brown sugar, citrus, and a lot of bitterness rounded out by some yeasty and bready notes. Very nice.
Kasteel Blonde: Draught. Poured a nice bright gold with a giant pillowy almost cotton like head. Floral hops and a citrus nose. Notes of lime, lemon, and copious hop bitterness at the end of the taste. Very little malt balance but that was OK with this beer. It would make a great summer beer. There was some banana flavor at the finish to round out the flavor along with a bit of burning from what I believe was a good amount of alcohol.
Bush Noel: Ahh yes a Belgium Christmas ale, love it! The beer poured a deep dark chocolate brown with almost no head. Malty sweetness was abundant, loads of caramel and even a bit of chocolate notes. The same in the mouth with a nice level of hop bitterness to go along with the flavors. A great winter beer, low carbonation it sits, coating the mouth, very nice.
Gordon Scotch Ale: Weighed in at 8.6 %. This is a Belgian beer company that makes Scottish ales. A reddish Amber color with a thick tawny head. Thick malt sweetness and heavy bitterness throughout. As it warmed notes of caramel began to show up. The alcohol definitely showed through as well which was a bit of a disappointment on this otherwise very nice sweet ale.

Well that was all for my beer tasting notes. I did come home with a nice large stash of Belgian ales and over the course of the next few weeks I'll do my best to drink as many of them as I can and share the experience.

Caracole Nostradamus

As I mentioned earlier this week I made a recent excursion to Spec's on a beer run of sorts. Tonight I decided to pop open one of these beers that I have never tasted.
The Style: The style of Nostradamus is a strong Belgian Brown Ale. This is a high alcohol beer with lots of complexity, most likely high in malt and low in hop bitterness with some sort of spiciness usually associated with the palate.
The Brewery: The brewery Caracole was founded in 1990 in the heart of the Ardennes mountains in Falmignoul which is a small village in the South of Belgium. All of Caracole's beers are made in the an 18th Century copper kettles. All ales are bottle conditioned and double fermented.
The Beer: This is by far one of the most unique ales I have ever tasted. I bought it in a four pack of smaller beers not a BIG beer. It pours a nice deep russet brown with streaks of red and nice tan pillowy head. The smell is of sweet fruity malts, and some spice. Initially when I tasted it, I felt only the high alcohol with an underwhelming sickly sweet malty flavor. However as the beer warmed in the glass I could taste the complex sweet malts and cinnamon aftertaste and caramel undertones. This is a s malty beer, the antithesis of American IPA's and their superleaded hops. Unfortunately I am an avid Hop head, so I didn't exactly fall in love with this beer. The first 15 minutes or so I thought I was going to hate it, but I ended up liking it, if not thoroughly enjoying it. At 9.5% alcohol this must be a sipping beer and maybe that's where I initially mess up trying to pair this with some food. Here is what the folks over at BA had to say.