Chimay Blanche (Belgium)

Chimay Blanche (Belgium) 8.0%

Sweet, clear, subtle nectar aroma with light spice, tones of pear and light wood. Somewhat cloudy gold with a white, resilient head of foam.

The flavour is quite spicy, flowery touches to the nectar, hints of alcohol with similar light flavoured fruit touches (pear, white grapes) as were found in the aroma. This is an interesting Belgian Tripel as it has the lighter, flowery sweet flavours without that very sweet flavour and somewhat heavier texture of other Belgian Tripels.

La Trappe Tripel - Koningshoeven (Netherlands)

La Trappe Tripel - Koningshoeven (Netherlands) 8.0%

A lovely dark gold in a glass, this trappist ale (the only Trappist brewery outside of Belgium) has very mild honey and apple blossom aroma. Cloudy also and worth swirling to get a taste of the sediment.

The taste is strongly floral and sweet with a bitter backing that is powered by the distinct punch of cloves. Strong tasting for beer but actually quite mild for a Trappist tripel. Perfect for introducing non-initiates to the Trappist style of ale.

Trappistes Rochefort 6 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 7.5%

 Trappistes Rochefort 6 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 7.5%

Big, frothy but very quickly fading head (more like a soda), which is a little unexpected.

A cloudy, deep gold and amber colour in a glass. A pleasant herbal, yeasty aroma; sweet, roasty and malty too. A delicious, rounded malt flavour; lots of biscuit and honey. Very nutty with only mild herbal tones, a little apricot and something like green grape raisins; just a little bit of hops too. The alcohol comes through a little but all the flavours work really nicely together. This is a sweet little Trappist number but also more similar to mainstream ales than other Trappist beers and its stronger brethren Trappistes Rochefort 8 and Trappistes Rochefort 10.

Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 9.2%

 Trappistes Rochefort 8 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 9.2%

A dark, but not opaque, reddish brown colour in a glass. Sweet, toasty, honey and nectar filled, slightly herbal aroma; a little roasty and very appetizing.

Richly malty taste with touches of barley candy but very sweet with an interesting spicy herbal quality; strong tones of dried dark fruit (prunes and raisins). Some faint milk chocolate but mostly dark fruit and herbal yeasty flavours - typically Belgian Abbey beer and delightful. This Trappist ale has a certain vegetal, herbal quality that is appealing and though it is different from other styles of beers it is not entirely unique amongst Trappist beers and reminds me a little of a young Orval (I typically try to age an Orval a year before drinking it). Quite a bit of sediment that seems determined to remain at the bottom of the bottle: not much of it ends up in your glass without a swirl or two. From past experience more than a little of the sediment can make this type of beer more yeasty than ideal/more yeasty than the brewmaster (brewmonk?) intended.

Rochefort 8 reminds me a bit of an herbal liquore except with a few more dark fruit flavours. Very nice, as you'd expect from a Trappist beer, and, like all Trappist ales, something every beer geek and aspiring beer geek must try along with Rochefort 6 and Rochefort 10.

Trappistes Rochefort 10 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 11.3%

 Trappistes Rochefort 10 - Abbaye St-Remy (Belgium) 11.3%

Dark cherry and oak aromas. Touches of caramelized sugars and just a touch of alcohol. The taste is very sweet, a bit of high alcohol, lots of chocolate, some light and smooth molasses flavours and a touch of hops coming through with light wooden tones - faintly cedar. It tastes like a gourmet, rum soaked milk chocolate cake. At first all you taste is the sweetness followed quickly by alcohol and definition to the sweetness: molasses, milk chocolate. Then comes bitterness, some wood tones and finally a long sugary and roasty, baked finish like brownies with a continued alcohol hum that fades slowly and compelling you to take another sip. This one is awesome. Opaque brown with an red or amber hue and well carbonated with a substantial amount of dark sediment on the bottom of the bottle.

La Trappe Quadrupel (Netherlands) 10.0%

La Trappe Quadrupel (Netherlands) 10.0%

Cloudy orange and amber colour in a glass with a big frothy just off white head: it's very carbonated. Very perfumy, sweet, honey/nectar aroma - just a little bit of alcohol. Sweet, malty, boozy, thickly honeyed and nectar flavour with an alcohol burn. Overall La Trappe Quadrupel is very approachable for a beer this strong: it's taste is mostly honey, but not too sweet, with some yeast flavours, but not too strongly floral. But why should anyone be surprised that a Trappist ale manages to be complex and interesting without being overwhelming? These beers are the class of the world and this Quad is no exception.

La Trappe Quadrupel is a lot much like any other top notch Trappist Blonde Ale though it's flavours seems a little more in-synch, as though the flavours have been able to mingle better with the other flavours through the extra fermentation. Although, the yeast flavour on the mild side for a Trappist ale, I've had Belgian style beers made in the United States that had a stronger Belgian yeast flavour that didn't get along so well with others. This is a very nice, honey toned lightly floral extra strong beer definitely worth picking up.

Chimay Red - Peres Trappistes (Belgium)

Chimay Red - Peres Trappistes (Belgium) 7.0%

Fruity, sweet and thick. Strong flavours of apricot with a smooth finish but with a bit of bite. Apricot red and cloudy in a glass with some light sediment but the sediment is so light it doesn't present a problem to drink.

Orval Trappist Ale (Belgium)

Orval Trappist Ale (Belgium) 6.9%

The first one I tried was VERY bubbly - probably because I served it right out of the fridge instead of at 12 to 14 degrees Celsius as they directed: word of warning!

The second was very bitter, spicy, sweet, floral with some wood tones: this is a beer that won't go unnoticed. This is much as I expected from a Trappist ale though I do find it to be more bitter than some of the other Trappist ales I have tried. A fun, exciting and exotic beer to try for anyone interested in a taste adventure.

A cloudy orange amber colour in a glass. Trappist ales always cloudy with natural sediment because they are bottle fermented.

Also of note, this beer has a "bottled on" date and a "best before" date - five years later! Like many Trappist ales this one can be aged essentially like wine.