Beer Blog 5: Abbey Ale

When people think of fine Belgian-style beer, they generally think of abbey-style ales produced by Trappist monks. I think of abbey ales kind of as 3 different families: pale ales, dark ales, and the multiples. I think of the multiples (dubbels, tripels, quadruples) as the base flavour of a Belgian abbey ale. They are all quite malty, high alcohol content, relatively sweet with light hops character, sometimes spicy, and usually fruity. As the multiple increases, the implied flavour intensity goes up - more malty, more fruity, more alcoholy, and a heavier beer. Pale ales (Orval, Duvel, etc.) are a bit drier and hoppier than multiples. Dark ales (Chimay Blue, Trois Pistoles, etc.) are largely just darker; in all seriousness, I find that dark ales and the multiples overlap a lot and in some cases the distinction between a dubbel or quad and a dark ale seems largely arbitrary.

This is Rochefort 8, a true Trappist ale of the dubbel variety brewed by the monks at the Abbey of Notre Dame de Saint Remy. While this is a lighter variety in the multiple family, it’s still 9.2%, so beware. The beer hides its alcohol content by wrapping it in dark fruits and caramel. The alcohol only really comes through in a slight spice that goes well with the other flavours in the beer. It is also relatively sweet and carbonated (as you can tell from the picture [although part of that is the effect of the glass]).

This is St Bernardus 12, a quad. This is not a Trappist ale, but it is very very good. In the past, there was a close relation between St. Bernardus and the Westvleteren brewery, but that history is too long to go into here (look St Bernardus up on Wikipedia if you are curious). Anyway, this and Rochefort 10 are the two best quads I have access to currently; my personal preference is for the St Bernardus 12 over the Rochefort offering, but they are both very good. At 10% this is not a beer to be taken lightly (Rochefort 10 is even higher at 11.3%) and it is dangerously good at covering its alcohol content up. Once again, flavours are largely dark fruit with some sweetness. St Bernardus 12 has a bit of a yeasty character to it and is overall more intense and powerful than the Rochefort 8. This is probably my second most-favourite beer (the only other real contender is Westvleteren 12, but I had that under non-ideal tasting conditions).

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Froadac United States. May 26 2012 15:37. Posts 5604

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I am enjoying these blogs, even though I can't actually buy or consume any of this stuff. When I was in the UK I just had stuff on tap a couple times. What are good relatively cheap beers?

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Mango Belgium. May 26 2012 19:43. Posts 496

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And your blog just reached heaven ! By far the best kind of beers in my oppinion. And with the great variety within there is so much to taste out there.
While I don't really know which types of beer you qualify under Abbey Ale seeing that you took Duvel in the OP, I'll just post some of my favourite Belgian beers here.
Personal favourites in Trappist : Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10 and Westmalle Tripel.
Random favourites : Tripel Karmeliet, Duvel, Struise Pannepot, Pannepeut (really anything you can get your hands on of the brewery De Struise Brouwers, damn they make good beer!), Delirium

On May 26 2012 15:37 Froadac wrote:
I am enjoying these blogs, even though I can't actually buy or consume any of this stuff. When I was in the UK I just had stuff on tap a couple times. What are good relatively cheap beers?

Seeing that the abbeys do not produce that much, I don't think it will be easy to obtain one of these abroad. I think Westmalle tripel and Orval have the biggest export so that might be your best bet if you are looking for one of these, but the price might be rather high. Otherwise you should check out Duvel, I think it is pretty wellspread so the prices should be doable and damn it tastes good!

Vindicare605 United States. May 27 2012 00:02. Posts 6485

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I've had Saint Bernardus 12 a few times and it is VERY good, it's a little pricey though. Well worth it in my opinion.

I love abbey ales, when done right they are some of my favorite beers to drink.

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Froadac United States. May 27 2012 01:55. Posts 5604

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On May 26 2012 19:43 Mango wrote:
And your blog just reached heaven ! By far the best kind of beers in my oppinion. And with the great variety within there is so much to taste out there.
While I don't really know which types of beer you qualify under Abbey Ale seeing that you took Duvel in the OP, I'll just post some of my favourite Belgian beers here.
Personal favourites in Trappist : Westvleteren 12, Rochefort 10 and Westmalle Tripel.
Random favourites : Tripel Karmeliet, Duvel, Struise Pannepot, Pannepeut (really anything you can get your hands on of the brewery De Struise Brouwers, damn they make good beer!), Delirium

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Well, in general

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Cragus Canada. May 29 2012 08:25. Posts 113

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You'd actually be surprised what you can get nearby in most places, you just have to learn what craft breweries (Stone, Rogue, Great Lakes Brewing, Sierra Nevada, etc.) have fairly broad distribution and you'll likely find it has been right there on the grocery store shelf (also there might be local breweries that are good). Ignoring that possibility, in my opinion, for macrobrews commonly available in North America, I would suggest Hoegaarden (wheat beer), Guinness (dry stout), and Samuel Adams Boston Lager (lager - technically a craft brewery iirc, but it's really a macro-scale brewery run by guys that like good beer more than maximal profit margins).

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Froadac United States. May 29 2012 23:23. Posts 5604

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On May 29 2012 08:25 Cragus wrote:

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Hmm. Interesting. Thanks