Koningshoeven Dubble

As most of you have probably gathered, I hold a special place in my heart for the Trappist ales. Something about them really makes me feel like they should be better than other examples of the same style from a non-trappist brewery. I've also mentioned before that there are 6 Trappist breweries in Belgium: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren. Of these, I've gotten to try something from all of them but Westvleteren, which only bottles a limited amount per batch, and doesn't get exported to the US. However, I recently learned about a 7th trappist abbey, this one in the Netherlands. Over there, it's labeled as Le Trappe, but in the US it's imported as Koningshoeven. I picked up a bottle of the Dubbel, chosing it over their Tripel and Quadrupel. This is mostly simply because out of the beers that I've had, I've generally liked the Dubbels best.

One interesting thing I noticed about Koningshoeven is that for a period of 5 years they lost their status as a trappist brewery. This was due to the fact that they licensed their brewery to a limited liability company. However in 2005 a settlement was reached with the International Trappist Association, which allowed them to regain the trappist label.

The beer poured a deep brownish red, with a tan head. It started to dissipate at a moderate pace, but the last bit covering the beer held on and stuck around through most of the glass. There was pretty much no lacing on the glass as the beer was consumed.

The smell was a bit faint, and I was really having a difficult time picking anything in particular out. I definitely detected a cherry fruit scent, along with some sweet malty characteristics. Underneath this was a trace of alcohol. However, I did notice a slight chocolate smell as well.

The taste was domintated by chocolate and cherry at first. However, this changed a bit as I got through the first sips, and turned a little more to the sweetness of the malt. I noticed a bit of bitterness towards the back of my mouth. There was a warming sensation as I swallowed the beer. The brew didn't have very much of an aftertaste... in fact, less than I'm used to. However I did find there was a touch of bitterness that remained behind for a few moments along with a trace of alcohol.

The mouthfeel was fairly dominated by the carbonation. This is possibly one of the highest carbonated beers I've had. This threw me off a bit as I would tend to say the beer was a medium body drink, but the carbonation made it feel lighter than I though it actually was. I didn't notice it coating my mouth at all, which is something I've become more aware of lately. The one thing I noticed in particular is that as I swallowed, the beer was extremly tingly in my throat, and had an almost burning effect, but not painful or unpleasant, just unexpected.

I'm not sure what to make of the drinkability of this beer. It wasn't the best beer I've had, and seemed to be a little unbalanced towards the sweet side. I thought that personally the sweetness dominated a bit too much and I would get sick of it if I tried to have more than one glass. However, it was still tasty, I don't want to indicate that it was a bad drink. It was definitely way better than Orval. Overall, a good drink, but not great. I'm glad Dan was around to drink the other half of the 750 ml bottle, because I wouldn't have wanted to. At least now I've tried something from every Trappist you can get in the US without trading with individuals.

- Adam

Rochefort 8

Well, after Orval I wasn't really sure what to expect. Chimay was good, Achel was good, Orval was not so great. I think I would have enjoyed Orval a lot more if it hadn't been a trappist ale, as I just had higher than average expectations for it.

Rochefort comes in three different varieties, each made with the same ingredients but of different strength. There's the 6, the 8, and the 10. The numbers are from an outdated Belgian system to measure a beer's strength based on the specific gravity of the wort. We went with the 8 which weighs in at 9.2% ABV.

The appearance of the beer is a dark, cloudy brown color. There's a slowly dissipating foamy 1 finger off-white head. As the beer is consumed, it leaves a little lacing on the glass. I've had this beer twice now, and the second time there was a good bit of flaky sediment floating in the glass. It was a bit gross to look at but, it was harmless - just some coagulated protein. It isn't harmful and doesn't alter the taste, although I admit it made me a little uncomfortable.

The taste is very malty and sweet, I didn't detect much bitterness in there at all. There's strong amounts of chocolate in the flavor, and it's a little warming. I also noticed a touch of fruitiness in the flavor, but it was hard to pin down exactly what kind. It's extremely tasty, but it's not overwhelming either. There's the slightest hint of alcohol in the aftertaste, but not nearly enough to indicate it's strength.

The mouthfeel is thick, and there's moderate carbonation. It was a good combination, since it keeps the beer from feeling too heavy. I also noted that with the second bottle, I couldn't actually feel the sediment in my mouth.

The drinkability of this beer is high. The taste is amazing, so I could see myself being able to drink more than one, but the alcohol content would make that a bad idea. I definitely wouldn't want to drink this one quickly... it deserves to be enjoyed.

- Adam

My first beer tasting event

So Dan, Solomon, and I all got together last night for our first tasting even at State Line Liquors. Solomon's wife, Lindsey, and my girlfriend Julia came as well. A good time was had by all. The event was Belgium vs North America, for which they chose 2 beers of the same Belgian style for 7 different styles, one from Belgium and the other from North America.

The event was just $20 per person, and $3 of that was a refundable glass deposit. At the end of the night you could hand your glass back in for the $3, or walk out with your own Chimay goblet. For that you got to try 14 different beers, plus cheese and soft pretzels. Obviously they weren't full glasses of beer, instead it was roughly 1/3 of a glass. Since the amount of beer you got for each was limited, I didn't bother with taking notes on anything, but it was definitely a great event.

We had the opportunity to meet some new people as well as chat with the staff of State Line a little bit. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed and friendly... not at all like most bars you'd go to around here. I got to try out some brews that I've never had before, as well as revisit some that I had tried. I even found that one bottle I'd taken notes on for an upcoming review had gone bad, so I won't be trashing what turned out to be a very good beer. All in all, it was a great event, and I'm planning on checking out more of their tastings in the future.

Pilsner Urquell

A translation of the name Pilsner Urquell is "the original pilsner". This goes along with their claim that Pilsner Urquell was the first beer brewed in the pilsner style. As the inventors of this style, the Czech people are protective of it, and go on to say that if it doesn't come from Pilsen it's not a pilsner. Consequently offerings of this style from outside this area are often called "pilsener" instead. Pilseners are a subset of the lager style, so really even though Czechvar is called a lager, it's really a Czech Pilsener like this beer.

It seems that typically, a pilsener is going to be both light in color and flavor. The focus instead is on it's refreshing nature. Distinctions between one type of pilsener and another come mostly from the changes in the hoppy character of the beer.

The beer pours a clear golden color with a tinge of red. There's a frothy white head about a finger thick that dissipated somewhat quickly, but while it was around it left good lacing on the glass. Not having a pilsener glass, we poured into our Pauwel Kwak glasses. It shares the general tall and narrow shape, so it seemed our best match.

The hoppy aroma was the first thing that hit me, but I also noticed an underlying trace of skunk. This made me nervous as I heard that skunking was a common problem with this beer. There were also some grassy notes to the aroma, but this was not very prominent.

Skunking is the result of a chemical reaction that takes place in a beer when the drink is exposed to UV rays. The chemicals in hops are light sensitive, so when they are exposed to light the hops in the beer are altered to a compound that is very similar to the scent skunks produce. See more about that here http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2001-10/uonc-ucf101701.php.

Anyway, it turns out that for certain beers a very little bit of a skunk aroma isn't considered a bad thing, and this is one of them.

The beer tastes watery, much like Czechvar did. However, there's a bitter finish to the beer that wasn't as prominent in Czechvar. I also noticed that there was an earthyness to the beer, which is something that I'm personally partial to, as long as it's not overpowering and blends well with the other flavors. Ommegeddon would be a good example of when earthyness is a good thing. In this case, since there wasn't a lot going on with the flavor other than the bitterness, it wasn't really doing it for me. There was also a bit of a metallic aftertaste that I wasn't a fan of.

The mouthfeel is thin, but nicely carbonated. It's crisp, and a bit tingly in the throat. Refreshment is definitely key with this beer, it's almost cleansing.

So the drinkability of this beer is either very low or very high depending on the occasion. I can see this being good with spicy food or when you just want something light and refreshing. However, it's not a beer to drink just for the flavor. The bitterness seems unbalanced, and a little overpowering. The overall lack of flavor makes it sort of boring. It's very smooth to drink, so it has it's place, but I can't see myself stocking it on a regular basis, or even justifying the additional expense over a beer like Grolsch. It's a landmark in beer history and worth trying once, but I don't think I'll be revisiting it again.

- Adam

De Koninck

If you pick up a bottle of De Koninck, you might find yourself asking, "What's with the hand?" Both the label and the bottle cap feature a white hand. Apparently, this comes from an Antwerp landmark, a border post with a statue of a hand, that sits by the coach house that eventually became Brouwerij De Konninck. An interesting side note on this beer - if you ever find yourself in the Cafe Pelgrim located by the brewery, they apparently have a bucket of yeast delivered daily so patrons can take a shot of it with the beer.

Not having any of the De Koninck "bolleke" glasses, we poured into our Chimay glasses, which are similarly shaped. Many Belgian establishments take the glassware very seriously for a beer, and if the proper glass type isn't available they may refuse to serve it. Dan and I aren't so picky as that, but if we have something close we like to use it. One of the reasons is that the shape of the glass effects the way the aromas are released from the beer. Since aroma is so strongly linked to taste, this also has a great impact on how the flavor of the beer comes out.

Like Orval and Leffe, this is considered a Belgian Pale Ale. There's multiple styles of Belgian Ales, so it can be a bit confusing, but I'd say the main 4 categories are Pale, Dark, Strong Pale, and Strong Dark. I'm not sure where the line is drawn between a pale and a dark right now, but the strong ales have a higher alcohol content.

The beer pours a reddish brown that's a little on the cloudy side. It's almost a copper color. There's a small white head, not quite a finger thick, that dissipated fairly quickly and didn't leave any lacing on the glass.

The aroma was a bit on the mild side. It consisted of a blend of apple cider and grassy hops. There's an underlying biscuity smell as well, possibly from the grain and yeast. From the smell I'm expecting some sweet fruity flavors and a bready quality to the beer.

The actual taste has a slightly bitter start that was unexpected, but not unpleasant. There's a muted sweet flavor in there as well, along with some grassy notes. Overall I noted that the flavor was extremely well balanced. The finish was on the dry side, so not really a thirst quencher, but very smooth and palatable.

The mouthfeel was light, and highly carbonated. There's definitely a good tingle to the beer. It had a nice medium body though, so this offset the carbonation well. As previously stated, it is a little dry.

Overall this was a very drinkable beer. Because the flavor is so well balanced, and the alcohol content is not high like many other Belgian beers, the only thing that might keep me from going through a lot of these is the dryness. I can see the similarity to Leffe in it, but not so much with Orval, other than the color. This was definitely a worthwhile purchase, and one I'd go back to try again. Between this and Leffe Blond, I'm not sure which would be the winner for me, but really you can't go wrong with either.

- Adam

Avery Mephistopheles Stout

Yesterday was Halloween, so to celebrate, Dan and I decided to pick up some evil themed beers. We both chose offerings from Avery Brewing Company, in Boulder, CO. Dan grabbed The Beast, a 16.3% ABV Belgian Grand Cru. I picked out Mephistopheles Stout, a super dark 16.1% ABV stout.

The beer pours a deep, dark brown... practically black. It has a 1 finger brown head that dissipates fairly quickly. Even the head on this beer is darker than a lot of beers out there. There's no lacing on the glass, and the head was almost completely gone by the time I started drinking it.

The aroma has a good bit of alcohol present. There's a sweetness to it though from the malt, and some traces of coffee. It's definitely a strong smelling beer, and let's you know that there's going to be quite a kick to it.

The taste is initially very sweet at first, moving to a bitter burnt coffee flavor as it moves back on the tongue. Then a strong alcohol flavor kicks in. It's definitely warming as it goes down, almost like a shot. It seems like it needs to be sipped at first. The strength of the alcohol becomes less noticeable as I continued drinking. The first bit was a bit hard to get through, but it's well worth it. I also noticed a somewhat greasy burnt bacon flavor as the beer progressed. I know that sounds a little nasty, but it actually fit well in the flavor. The aftertaste had strong coffee notes.

It was thick in the mouth, as expected from something this dark and strong. The carbonation wasn't too strong, just a mild tingle on the tongue. It fit well with the character of the beer.

As for the drinkability... not too high. It was good, it was worth having, but it was strong. Very very strong. And at 16.1% trying to session this beer would likely put you in a hospital, if you could even get that many down. Happy Halloween.

- Adam

Murphy's Irish Red

Murphy's comes from an old brewing family in the area of Cork, in Southern Ireland. The current company was founded by James J. Murphy in 1856. In 1979, Murphy's Irish Stout was imported to the US for the first time and in 1985 was released as an international brand.

The Irish Red pours a clear light reddish-brown color, with a quickly dissipating 1 finger white head. There's no lacing on the glass left from it. Still, it's an attractive looking drink, and the reddish tints add a lot to the beer's appareance.

The aroma is fairly weak. There's a light hoppiness, but it's not overwhelming. There's also a bit of sweet malt to the smell.

The taste is a little thin. THere's some malted sweetness, a light bitterness from a very muted hop flavor. A little watery. It's in no way bad, but it's not terribly flavorful.

The mouthfeel is light, and extremely smooth. The carbonation isn't overpowering in any way.

All in all, it's easy to drink, but because of the lack of flavor I wouldn't go out of my way for a bottle. Certainly good be a good accompaniment to a good Irish dinner when you desire something lighter than a stout.

- Adam