Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)

Grand Reserve is a delightful Belgian Strong Dark Ale. In the 33 cl bottle, it is called Blue. In the .75 l bottle is stamped Grande Réserve.

Brewer's notes

The beautiful, warm, dark color and compact, light brown head of Chimay Blue are a magnificent sight. This beer is undeniably the result of a divine marriage between exuberant fruit aromas and delicious chocolate. The initial taste is slightly sweet, before the creamy caramel transforms into a smooth mocha with a lively spicy character, finally developing into a delightful candied fruit finish. The extremely flavorful whole evolves into a long, pleasant aftertaste, evoking a slightly comforting feeling and a sensation of pure chocolate.

Beer Advocate: The Chimay Blue is a dark ale with a powerful aroma. Its complex flavor improves with passing time.

Tasting notes 

260226: I drank the second bottle of a four-pack. I remember that the first did not hit my spot. It was too much clove. The second bottle had evolved and was really good, a great example of strong Belgian Ale. It is complex: some figs, some stone fruits, some subtle hops.

(2311) Alex and I shared a bottle during Lisa's birthday dinner. I think that it was bottled around February 10, 2022 and has aged 1.75 years: the label reads L22-040. I did not enjoy the beer as much as I remember. It did not WOW me. I am downgrading the rating to 5 glasses.

(1106) A bottle w/ about 6-8 months on it. A delight.

(1101) Complex and difficult to describe. Not sweet as I was expecting. Musty apples, a dash of cinnamon, and a light hop bite. Complexity may merit 6 glasses. 

(0911) A bottle in NYC. Brown sugar, apple butter, and light hops. 

(0701) A delight. Brown sugar, spiced slightly sour oranges, and light hops. Winelike. Upgraded from 2/8. 

(????) Had a 12 oz. bottle. Looked for something else after the bottle was empty.May be worth another try. 

Rating: 5 glasses

Previous ratings: 2, 5, then 6 glasses

Huyghe Delirium Nocturnum

Delirium Nocturnum is a strong dark Belgian ale. 

Tasting Notes

2403: I drank a bottle with some age on it. I liked it. A lot.

Rating = 5 glasses.

2311: Ditto as below.

Rating = 4 glasses

1910: The flavor is difficult to describe. It has brown sugar and sour (chestnuts) flavors. 

0903: A bottle @ Mekong w/ L.A. Smooth and tasty. Nice caramel malt with apple butter and hints of spicy hops.

Rating = 4 glasses.

Downgraded from 5 glasses.

de Dolle Oerbier

Oerbier is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. It is deep and rich, with lots of dark fruit flavors.

Beer Advocate

Brewer's notes: 

Oerbier, brewed in Esen by De Dolle Brouwers, is dark due to the mixture of different types of malt and hours of cooking time. Only 'Golding' bubble hop from Poperinge is used and all our beers are bottled with secondary fermentation.

Slightly Fresh Acidity

The name refers to the originality and purity of the beer. The specific gravity of the wort is 1078, the alcohol percentage 9%. Oerbier has a slightly fresh acidity due to the yeast and lactic acid bacteria.

The best-before date is imposed by law: one year after bottling, this is also mentioned on the capsule. The beer will experience a slight taste evolution and will become vinous. Samples of the first brew, which are still perfectly drinkable, are kept in the brewery.

Store in a cool cellar

It is the first beer of De Dolle Brouwers and officially dates from 1980. It was brewed in prototype by two students in a copper wash bowl. Previous attempts with English ready-made kits turned out not to meet the strict beer requirements of the two brothers.

Preferably store this beer in a dark, cool cellar and pour at 12°C in a type of wine glass. There are special Oerbier glasses for sale in the brewery. This beer is for sale per 6 bottles or per 20, every Saturday and Sunday between 2 pm and 7 pm.

Tasting Notes

2401: A glass on draft at Can Can while dining at the bar with L and ML. It was delightful and, as before, deep and rich with lots of dark fruit flavors. I thought about increasing the rating to 5.5.

1310: It is deep and rich, with lots of dark fruit flavors. Rating = 5 glasses.

Rating = 5 glasses.

Trappistes Rochefort 8

Beer: 8 

Brewer: Trappistses Rochefort 

Style: #1 ranked Belgian Strong Dark Ale 

Tasting notes 

Jan 2021:Earlier review was accurate. I would add a titch of Belgian yeasty clove. 

May 2009: A bottle w/ best by date of 25 Jun 13, bottled 25 Jun 08, and consumed 2 May 2009. Complex and delicious. Sugar, apples, mild cinnamon, a tiche of sour, a little alcohol, and spicy hops. Both sips and gulps are great. 

Top 100: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 03 May 2009. 

Rating: Downgraded from 6 glasses to 5

Huyghe Delirium Noel

Delirium Noel is a Strong Dark Belgian Christmas Ale. Spices, brown sugar, molasses, and dark fruits.

Rating = 4 glasses, may be 5.

Recent beers

21st Amendment Hop Crisis is a complex Imperial IPA. The web site says, "We made the biggest, hoppiest IPA we could imagine and aged it on oak for good measure." It is one of the better barrel-aged IPA's I remember. The aging muted the hops but give a wonderful complexity to the beer. 5 glasses.

The Bruery Hottenroth is a pleasant Berliner weiss. Slightly tart and acidic with a touch of lemon, it is easy drinking and light.Still three glasses.

Trappistes Rochefort 8 is a fantastic example of Strong Belgian Dark Ale. The last bottle I pulled from my "cellar" had been aging for about 5 years and it was yummy. Easily 6 glasses and I am thinking about 7. It is complex, flavorful, and easy drinking.

Bell's Third Coast Old Ale is another beer that is improving with age. The last bottle I pulled from my cellar was about 5 years old. It had evolved into a caramel, butterscotch brew that resembled an English Barleywine. It continues to earn 6 glasses. 

Stille Nacht

Brewer: de Dolle

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (1012) Bottled 2008, in my cellar for 1 yr 4 mn since 0908. Where is the sugar? Fruity with orange zest and funk. Downgraded from 7. A bad bottle? (0811) Marvelous mix of orange zest, spices, alcohol, candy sugar, and funk. Bottle in 2006. Upgraded from 5. Initially put down 6 but could not get the beer out of my mind. (0712) A 2006 bottle. Spicy sour oranges (tangerine?) w/ an alcohol blast. Not as sweet as I remembered. Downgraded from 6. (0610) A glass at Mekong. Sweet, spices, and alcohol. Reminded me of Samichlaus, but better. Click here for a previous review.

Previous ratings: 6, 5, 7 glasses

Rating: 5 glasses

Vintage Ale 2010

Brewer: Trader Joe's
Style: Strong Belgian Dark Ale
Tasting notes: (1012) Prunes, anise, and spice (cinnamon?). A disappointment. For $1 more, Ommegang Dubbel is the buy.
Comment: A contract brew w/ Unibrue.
Rating: 2 glasses

Gulden Draak

Brewer: Steenberge

Style: Strong Belgian Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (1102) A yeasty, spicy, dubbel w/ a clove kick. Downgraded from 6 glasses. (1008) A bottle @ Joe's Inn. A clove fizzy? Thought about a downgrade. (1004) On draft @ Mekong. Yummy, complex, flavorful, and easy drinking.. Tiches of candy sugar, malt, yeast, caramel, and spicy hops. I think it tastes like a Dubbel. The brewery calls it a dark tripel. I call it good.

Previous ratings: 6 glasses

Rating: 5 glasses

2009 Vintage Ale

Brewer: Trader Joe's
Style: Strong Belgian Dark Ale
Tasting notes: (1101) Eh? Too much licorice. Downgraded from 4. (1101) Nice beer. Good value. (0912) Interesting, complex and smooth. Some clove, some chocolate, and (??) nutmeg, cinnamon, hazelnut, and licorice. May rate 5 glasses. A terrific value @ $4.99.
Comment: A contract brew w/ Unibrue.
Previous rating: 4 glasses.
Rating: 3 glasses

Calva Reserva

Brewer: Smisje

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (0912) Baked apples and very easy drinking. Purchased after tasting @ Mekong a few days earlier.

Rating: 4 glasses

N'Ice Chouffe

Brewer: d'Achouffe

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (0912) A year-old bottle. First sips were wonderful - complex, malty, and slightly sweet and malty. As I drank, the spices emerged. They were neither bad nor my cup of tea.

Rating: 3 glasses

Floreffe Prima Melior

Beer: Prima Melior

Brewer: Floreffe

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (0908) Pleasant, interesting, but not complex. Anise gives it a nice bite. Downgraded from 5 glasses. (0711) Pleasant and interesting. Sweet malt w/ fruit when cold. As it warms (better) the anise and spices come forward, sweet up front with a licorice sour/spicy bite at end.

Rating: 4 glasses

Trappistes Rochefort 6

Beer: 6

Brewer: Trappistes Rochefort

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale

Tasting notes: (0905) A pleasant dark ale w/ a tiche of hop bite.

Rating: 4 glasses

Dinner with small group

I shared four wonderful beers with good friends at a dinner with our small group. Mike T. was the primary partner in crime.

Brewer: Russian River
Beer: Temptation
Style: Wild Ale
Tasting notes:(3) Cellared by me for 15 months. Lemons and grapefruit and dry pale ale w/ oak. (2) Opened by mistake when looking for Fonteinen. A grapefruit cider? Great as an aperitif before Thanksgiving. When well with beginning of meal. (1) A smoother gueze? Lemony fruit, tart-sour, dry, with a backdrop of smokey oak. May rate 7/8. Emily LOVED it.
Comments: Temptation is a Blonde Ale aged in French oak chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces. "Bret" makes the beer wild. It gives beer sharp, tart, acidic flavors.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 28 February 2009.
Rating: Highly Recommended

Brewer: Unibroue
Beer: Maudite
Style: Belgian Dark Ale
Tasting Notes: (5) A bottle cellared by me for over 2 years: Smoooth. Caramel malt, apple, and wheaty yeast. Aging mellows the flavor. (4) Malt, wheat, yeast, funk, and clove. (3) Apple, a tiche of pear, yeast, and a dry, spicy finish, A clove flavor emerged in the finish as the beer warmed. Paired well w/ apple and cheese plate. An easy drinker. 2) Malt, light fruits, citric spices, clove, and a touch of hops. The line is fuzzy. (1) Complex malty beginning with sour bitter bite at end. Finish reminded me of Sammy Smith Imperial Stout
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005 (Not 10 March 2007 or 28 February 2009)
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Brewer: Unibroue
Beer: Trois Pistoles
Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale
Tasting notes: (5) Dark fruit and hop bite. (4) Winey (burgundy?), w/ tiche of cloves. (3) Sweet and pleasant malt when cold. Wheaty, yeasty flavor w/ a faint bite emerges as the beer warms. Best @ room temperature. (2) A bottle @ Edo Squid. Vinous, wheaty, Unibroue yeast, and a subtle bite at finish. Good w/ food, sipped, or gulped. (1) Smooth, pleasant mix of dark fruit taste with a touch of hops. Winey - a little thin and the head dissipates quickly. Good with food, alone, sipped or gulped.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005 (Not 10 March 2007 or 28 February 2009)
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Brewer: Alesmith
Beer: Speedway Stout
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: A bottle aged in my cellar for 10 months. Chocolate and coffee and alcohol and cocoa (and cherry?). Complex, big, sippable and gulpable.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 28 February 2009.
Rating: Highly recommended. Placed in top 10ish list initially and downgraded after a few days. I didn't dream about drinking this beer again.

Corsendonk Christmas Ale

Corsendonk Christmas Ale is nice Belgian Strong Dark Ale. The taste starts w/ candy and brown sugar w/ a tiche of apple and finishes with spices (nutmeg?). The alcohol clocks in @ 8.5% and is totally hidden.

Two More Favorite Beers

De Dolle Still Nacht and Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA have crept into my top 10 list based on recent tastings. The top 10 now contains 12 beers. I count like the Big 10 does.

Still Nacht is Belgian Strong Ale. The flavor is a delightful medley of candy sugar, orange zest, spices, funk, alcohol and subtle hop bite. The beer is a seasonal release and usually arrives early in the calendar year. It ages wonderfully. I recently consumed a 2-year old bottle and it was FANTASTIC.

120 Minute IPA is at least a double IPA and may be a triple IPA. It tastes like a BIG English Barleywine. Bitter hops fight to emerge from a sweet raisin mash, followed by big alcohol blast. It is a 2+ hr. sipper. It is an occasional purchase due to its price. A 12 oz. bottle goes for $9 or $10 dollars.

Chimay Tripel has earned an honorable mention. A recent glass on draft was FANTASTIC.

Inventory

I purchased Unibroue Trois Pistoles, Unibroue La Fin du Monde, Weihenstephaner Vitus, Schneider Aventinus Weizen Eisbock, and Chimay Tripel today. Trois Pistoles is strong Belgian Dark Ale. La Fin Du Monde and Chimay are Tripel. Vitus is Weizenbock. Aventinus Weizen Eisbock is Eisbock. Chimay is also Tripel.

All are wonderful beers. The Unibroue beers are great values.

Dinner w/ Book Club

I enjoyed three beers while having dinner at ML's with my wife's book club: Harpoon Winter Warmer,De Dolle Stille Nacht, and Bell's Expedition Stout. They demonstrate the variety of styles available to beer geeks.

Harpoon Winter Warmer is spiced mild ale. Cinnamon and nutmeg tastes stand out without being overbearing. This is a fine beer for the holidays and a good example of Winter Warmer that feature spices.

De Dolle Stille Nacht was FANTASTIC: a complex medley of orange zest, candy sugar, spices, alcohol and funk. It is Belgian Strong Dark Ale and the alcohol is 12% by volume. The brewer bottled the beer in 2006 and it had been sitting in my cellar for almost two years. I want to buy more and age some longer.

The Expedition Stout, while good, was a disappointment. An unsalted soy flavor diminished the beers flavor and bursts of alcohol made the beer "hot". Perhaps this is a result of oxidation? The brewer bottled the beer almost two years ago. A similar vintage a week earlier was a fantastic chocolaty treat.

The two different experiences with Expedition Stout indicate the difficulty of reproducing consistently craft beer. The brewing process is complex and the result is alive. The ability of the large brewers to produce products that are consistent across time and location is amazing.

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence is interesting but misses the mark. The taste is English Stout w/ some cocoa in the mix. Ommegang bills the beer as Belgian Stout and BeerAdvocate classifies it as Belgian Strong Dark Ale. It seems to fall between the cracks. It is too watery and thin to be a great stout. I would prefer Bell's Expedition Stout or, if I wanted chocolate in the boil, Rogue Chocolate Stout. Both are better and cheaper. It lacks the complexity to be a great Belgian Dark Ale. At 7% alcohol by volume, I am not sure that it is "strong". Ommegang makes some really good beer that are good values. Chocolate Indulgence is not one of them.