Westmalle Tripel

Beer: Tripel

Brewer: Westmalle

Style: Tripel

Tasting notes: (0907) Not what I remembered. Spicy, phenolic, and lemon zest. Apple emerged as beer warmed. Downgraded from 6 glasses. (0712) A 1 wk old review and I have forgotten some details. My favorite triple to date. White raisins, a touch of banana, w/ spices and light hops. As it warms pear (and apple?) flavors emerge. Ed wants more.

Comments: This brewery is one of only only seven that may carry the name “Trappist". Also, the monastery's web page states that the .75l bottle matures differently than the .33l. My first bottle was .75l. The second was .33l. I need to investigate further.

Top 100: 29 December 2005 (not 10 March 2007 or 12 July 2009).

Rating: 5 glasses

Koningshoeven Tripel

Beer: Tripel

Brewer: Koningshoeven

Style: Tripel

Tasting notes: (0906) Apple juice syrup w/ some spices. Missed my mark.

Comments: This brewery is called La Trappe outside of the US and Canada. It is one of only only seven that may carry the name “Trappist”. The other six are: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westvleteren, and Westmalle. La Trappe is the only one in Netherlands. The other six are in Belgium.

Rating: 3 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

Bell's Expedition Stout, Chimay Tripel, and Tröegs Nugget Nectar

Beer: Expedition Stout
Brewer: Bell's
Style: Imperial Stout
Tasting notes: A bottle from 1.5 years ago. Massive bittersweet chocolate and coffee w/ alcohol, and hops in background. Upgraded from recommended w/ qualifications. Previous review.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate.com rated the beer as one of the top 100 beers on the planet: 29 December 2005 and 10 March 2007. (Not on 30 January 2009.)
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Beer: Tripel
Brewer: Chimay
Style: Tripel
Tasting notes: (4) Orange zest and hop bite. More assertive and not a fruity as I remember. Downgraded rating from highly rated to without reservation. (3) Draft @ Belga Café. Wonderful. Funky, light, flavorful, cleansing, hoppy sour bite @ end. Upgraded rating from no reservation to highly rated. (2) A bottle @ Can Can. Very nice, I remember the draft as being fruitier and funkier. (1) A glass @ Daniel's rehearsal dinner. Wonderful, light, funky, w/ hoppy sour bite at end.
Comments: Chimay is one of six Trappists brewers in the world.
Rating: Recommended without reservation

Beer: Nugget Nectar
Brewer: Tröegs
Style: Red Ale
Tasting notes: (3) Ditto, A tiche too much pine and perfume. Downgraded rating. (2) Flavorful, hoppy, red ale w/ just a tiche of perfume. Upgraded rating from good to with reservation. (1) Better. No perfume. Previous review.
Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the top 100 beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 1007, and 30 January 2009.
Comments: This is a well crafted beer whose flavor profile misses my mark.
Rating: Good

Dinner @ Mekong

Brewer: Trappistes Rochefort

Beer: 10

Style: Quadruple

Tasting notes: (3) Complex and quaffable. Massive, dark, sweet malt, w/ dark fruits alcohol, and wonderful sourish bite at end. A malty Baltic Porter? (2) A complex assortment of tastes. A little sweet, some fruit, a little sour, and some spicy bite at end. (1) A complex medley of cream brulee, sweet belgian candy sugar, brown sugar, hops, sour, funk, orange, and dark fruit. Dangerously quaffable. Would be great with beef and sweet chutney. Better than Orval.

Comments: One of six Trappist brewers and the only one in Belgium.

Dates on which reviewers at Beeradvocate rated it as one of the best beers on the planet: 29 December 2005, 10 March 2007, and 5 March 2009.

Rating: Top 10ish. The rating has varied but the last bottle pushed the beer back into my top 10ish list.

Brewer: Sierra Nevada
Beer: Celebration

Style: IPA

Tasting notes: (4) A bottle @ Mekong. Well crafted but too much pine. (3) A year-old bottle. Some age has improved the taste. Some sweet malt and hops. Still a piney bitter aftertaste that is not my favorite. (2) A fresh bottle. Spicy hops. Too much pine. (1) Well crafted but too much pine.

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 5 March 2009)

Previous review

Rating: Good. It is a well-crafted and highly-regarded beer but does not appeal to my tastes.

Belga Cafe

I tasted three beers during and after a wonderful dinner at the Belga Cafe in Washington, D. C.: Chimay Tripel, Rodenbach Classic, and Unibroue Maudite. I was attending a conference and found a "Belgian restaurant" with Belgian beer on tap.

The glass of Chimay Tripel was great. Funk, lightness, fruitiness (apples and pears), and a sour bitter hop finish combined to produce a flavorful and refreshing beer. According to style, Chimay Tripel clocks in @ 8% by volume. I am thinking of adding it to my list of top beers.

Chimay is one of 6 Trappist breweries in the world. This means that the beer is brewed by monks as a means to sustain their monastery. The Cistercian Trappist monks of Chimay have produced world-class beer and cheese since 1862.

Chimay Tripel is sometimes called white (blanche) label or Cing Cents. The label on the beer is white. The labels of the other two beers produced by the monks are red (rouge) or blue (bleue). The label on the 750 ml bottle contains the words "Cing Cents".

Rodenbach Classic was a tasty refreshing treat. It is Flanders Red Ale. The flavors are a mix of apple, cherry, sweet, sour, and vinegar. It is extremely refreshing and cleanses the palate wonderfully. The flavors seems "brighter" and more vibrant and the vinegar flavor seemed more pronounced than I remembered from bottles I had tasted. The waitress said that I would either like the beer or hate it. I liked it a lot.

Unibroue Maudite served as the nightcap back @ the hotel. It was a wonderful assortment of wheat, funk, yeast, malt, apple, clove, and "bite". I was in food heaven after I added a few slices of stinky cheese and sections of apple. I classify the beer as Belgian Amber Ale. BeerAdvocate calls it Belgian Strong Dark Ale.