Beer of the Week

Summit Brewing of Saint Paul is now on the fourth installment of their "Unchained" series.

Judging by the strength of the series, Summit should have come unchained long ago. While some of the Summit fleet seem like afterthoughts (IPA, Grand Lager), you can taste the passion in the Unchained series. The Koelsch is particularly good and has been receiving praise from across the beer community.

This week's BOTW is Unchained #4, a Belgian Style Golden Ale. It pours a straw color with a small white head somewhat smaller than other Belgian Golds (which tend to have giant heads).

The smell is fruity, yeasty and sweet. What are those fruits in there? Pear? Grape? There is definitely a hint of banana. There is a lot going on in the nose of this beer.

The taste is like the smell: fruity and sweet. Besides the sweetness, the beer has a complex yeast taste that is true to style. I think I can pick up subtle toffee notes from time to time.

While some Belgian Golds have a strong aftertaste, this one is relatively crisp. The pleasantly mild aftertaste makes this brew go down quickly.

My main complaint with this beer is that it is too sweet. Did the yeast not eat enough of the candi sugar? A little extra fermentation might add to the strength (literally) of this beer. Overall, another worthy effort in the Unchained series. I can't wait for #5.

Beer of the Week - Summer Beer Edition

Summer has finally arrived in full: sunbathing, BBQs, vacations. And nothing makes these activities better than a refreshing beer in hand. With that in mind, BOTB presents its Summer Beer Guide.


Spaten Lager - Munich, Germany

A delicious lager in the Munich helles style, Spaten's Premium lager is a standard setter. It's malty enough to have deep flavor, not overly hopped, but slightly lemony and grassy, making for a smooth body, and clean enough to chug on a summer day; it's really all about the high quality malts in this one.


Haacker-Pschorr Weisse - Munich, Germany

Another beer from Bavaria, this Weisse is good year round, and great in the summer. All wheat beers ring off the palatte a little bit more in the summer months, and Haacker-Pschorr's is no exception. Lemony fruitiness all over this one, so you don't even need the lemon garnish. It has the most beautiful head you've ever seen, a gorgeous cloudy body, and smooth over everything. Clean, crsip, and highly sessionable, this is the epitome of a summer beer.





Saison Dupont - Tourpes-Lueze, Belgium

A farmhouse ale brewed in a style that was meant to hold up during the warm summer months prior to refrigeration, Dupont is heavier than the previous two beers. Brewed with ample malt and hops, this beer pours with a heavy white head, but flows crisply and smoothly over the tounge. There are certainly yeast notes in here, with earthy fruit flavors like pear. Dupont isn't spiced, letting its malts and hops stand out, which they do, competing with any food pairing (so a simple paring like cheese would be ideal). Sip this Belgian treat in your back yard on a starry night.

Beer of the Weekend

Due to another action packed week, I did not have time to write a proper BOTW, so you'll just have to accept another BOTWE in its place. Rest assured, this BOTWE was worth the wait.

Due to an anti-clerical attitude in France in the 19th Century, the Catsberg Abbey Community relocated into Belgium, just a few kilometers away from their original home. The monks acquired some land in the village of Watou, and set up shop worshipping God, and also making cheese. Apparently the monks missed their native soil, however, because when the religious climate improved, they decided to abandon the Belgian operations and return to France in 1934.

The cheese making had required the monks to set up a factory in addition to their abbey. When the monks left, the cheese factory was acquired by Evarist Deconinck and expanded.

After World War II, the monks of the Trappist monastery St. Sixtus, decided they wanted to commercialize their beer to reach a greater audience, and happened to meet with Mr. Deconinck. After some negotiation, they reached an agreement where the monks would brew beer within the abbey for themselves, and a few taverns in the immediate area that were associated with the monastery, while Mr. Deconinck would contract brew their recipe for consumers under license for a period of 30 years.

A brewery was constructed next to the cheese factory, and with a little help from the brewmaster of Westvleteren, the Sixtus beers were born.

The brewing agreement was renewed in 1962 for another 30 years, but was ultimately terminated in 1992 following the formation of the International Trappist Association (ITA). The ITA, an association of Trappist Abbeys insisted that to bear the Trappist name, the beer must be produced within the abbey. Rather than adopt the changes necessary to be labeled "Trappist" the commercial beer was renamed and is marketed under the St. Bernardus name in reference to the name of the Abbey founded by the original fleeing French monks, "Refuge de Notre Dame de St Bernard."

A recent addition to the St. Bernardus cannon is the Witbier. Created by legendary brewmaster Pierre Celis (the creator of Hoegaarden), the beer pours a cloudy light yellow color with a fine white head.

It has a distinct yeast smell mixed in with whiffs of lemon zest and coriander. The smell is actually quite noticeable, even after the initial pour.

The taste is an earthy spice in the front and malt and yeast in the back. I'm not sure exactly what the spice is, other than to say it has an earthy character like clove, but not exactly.

It's medium to light bodied and really smacks off the palette, almost too chugable. The carbonation is airy and the tartness is just enough to really notice before being smoothed out by the yeast.

This beer is new to me, and I've only had it in a bottle. I look forward to finding a bar with a beautiful patio and drinking this beer the entire summer. Cheers to St. Bernardus and Pierre Celis!

Links of Interest:

St. Bernardus

Beer of the Weekend

Being that there was no Beer of the Week last Friday, we have to make it up to you loyal readers with a beer of exceptional quality from this weekend. To do so, I reached once again into the Belgian section of the local liquor depot and pulled out a selection that is both delicious and easily attainable.

Located in the town of Dinant, the Leffe Abbey was founded by the Premonstratensian Fathers in 1152 and was originally named the Abbey of Notre-Dame. The Fathers changed the name of the Abbey in 1200, drawing the name from the river near which the Abbey sits.

The monks have brewed ales on this site at least as far back as 1240, the date of the first written record mentioning the brewing activities. The brewing operations continued unabated until 1789, when French revolutionaries declared the Abbey property of the state. Although the Abbey was sold off here and there, brewing mangaged to continue on site until 1809.

After years of scraping by selling ink, incense and other trinkets, Father Abbot Nys met with brewer Albert Lootvoet and decided to restart the Abbey's brewing operation in 1952. Although since acquired by international brewing giant InBev, the Abbey still receives royalty payments for their famous brews.

Our BOTWE is probably the most easily procured of the Leffe portfolio, Leffe Blond.

The Blond pours a light Amber-Orange color with a nice tight white head. The smell is yeasty with a sweet smell reminiscent of ripe bananas.

This Leffe has a full mouthfeel, smooth, almost oily with the perfect amount of carbonation. I would call this medium-bodied, about where you'd expect a Belgain blonde.

The taste is slightly sweet, with a definite yeast presence; although, not to the extent of say, Unibroue offerings. You taste those bananas and perhaps pears, with a slightly bitter and spiced finish.

While some may not consider this a session beer, its relatively reasonable ABV (6.5%) and easy drinking medium-body make it ideal for sipping in the crisp spring air. It's not the best Belgian blonde you will ever have, but it definitely sets a standard.

Links of interest:

Leffe

Beer of the Weekend

It was a good weekend to stay in here in the Midwest. After having to drink my sorrows away after the Packers lost to the Evil Empire (the Cowboys), and the bilzzard that hit Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, I needed some time to relax in the house.

Our BOTWE was definitely good for the described scenario; we chose Brother Thelonius belgian style dubbel from North Coast Brewing in California.

Brother Thelonius, so named for the legendary jazz musician, definitely comes in on the "big & sweet" side of Belgian brewing, with 9.2% ABV, and abundant sweet malts. It pours a dark reddish-brown color with a minimal head and minimal lacing. It has a dried fruit aroma typical of this style: a very nice nose actually. The mouthfeel is thick, but not as thick as some actual Belgians and has an alcoholic dry finish. It does lack some of the creaminess of the greats in this style, but it is damn good overall.

Congratulations to North Coast Brewing; Brother Thelonius is good company on a cold winter day.

Links of Interest:

North Coast Brewing

Beer of the Weekend

Now that you have some background on Trappist beers, allow us to get personal with one in our "Beer of the Weekend" segment. BOTWE won't be a regular feature like BOTW, but it does give the authors a handy excuse to chug different beers at the end of a long work week.

Chimay is one of only six Belgian breweries that produce Trappist beers. Chimay is brewed by S.A. Bières under the supervision of the Abbey of Scourmont. Established in 1850, the beer is still brewed within the walls of the abbey and is bottled a few miles away.

Chimay produces three different beers as well as a smattering of cheeses. Of these beers, the nod to BOTWE goes to Chimay Grande Réserve, a.k.a. Chimay Blue. Chimay Blue is a strong hearty beer, clocking in at 9% ABV, with notes of roasted malts. The brew has a nice, somewhat floral bouquet, but it is not as pronounced as I would expect from a beer of this style. Blue is top-fermented (ale-style) and refermented in the bottle, and for ideal tasting, the beer is not pasteurized. Chimay blue is slightly sweet, but it has a nice acidity and bitterness on the back of the tounge, making it less sweet then some other similar Belgians.

Chimay is best served in a chalice-style (a.k.a. "Gourmet") glass, so that you can enjoy the aromas and color of the brew; however, if you're out hiking on a beautiful fall day with good friends, please don't hesitate to take our amateur advice and pass the bottle around.


Links of Interest:

Chimay

Put La Trappe in La Bouche

With all this talk of Belgians and Tripels, I thought maybe I would shed some light on a part of Belgium’s rich brewing tradition: Trappists. Not all Belgian beers are Trappist, and not even all Trappists are Belgian. Trappist beers are named for an informal term referring to the monks that brew them.

Trappists are named for the abbot Armand Jean Le Bouthillier de Rancé, who became abbot at the abbey of La Trappe in Soligny (France) in 1663. Rancé rebelled against the liberalization of the Cistercian order of monks. He advocated for a more austere lifestyle in the tradition of Saint Benedict, and a return to monastic traditions (ironically originally insisting that only water was drunk). In 1666 this led to a splintering of the Cistercian order and the “Trappists” were born.

In the Benedictine model, monks were to work: "back to God by the labour of obedience, from whom they had departed by the idleness of disobedience". Some monks took to agriculture and others to crafts; cheese making was common trade. Being that there was no ban in the order of alcoholic beverages, some made beer or wine.

Trappist and Belgian beers increased greatly in popularity in the late 20th Century and lead to abuse of the term “Trappist” in reference to beer. In response, 8 “Trappist” monasteries formed the International Trappist Association (ITA) in 1997. The ITA laid down criteria for what it takes to be labeled “Trappist,” and developed a logo to be displayed on products signifying that the criteria had been met. The ITA apparently takes these rules quite seriously, going so far as to eject one of the original abbeys (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven, a.k.a. La Trappe of the Netherlands) in 1999 for signing a brewing agreement with an external company that did not give the monks sufficient supervision over the process (one of the criteria). La Trappe was allowed to use the ITA logo again in late 2005 after sufficient modifications were made. La Trappe is marketed in the US under the name Konigshoeven, although during the interim the brews could be found labeled under their La Trappe name.

Trappist beers should not be confused with Abbey beers, which often take their name from monasteries that no longer brew. Even those few that are made within the walls of an abbey are not necessarily Trappist. Like Abbey Beers, Trappist doesn’t actually refer to a particular style of beer, as the monasteries can brew various varieties. Most are top-fermented, and the “Single, Dubbel, Tripel” designations are common (loosely referring to alcohol content), but there are also witbiers, bocks and blondes.

Currently there are 7 Trappist monasteries that brew beer: six in Belgium and 1 (La Trappe) in the Netherlands, but the possibility of other Trappist monasteries beginning to brew or restarting brewing does exist. More to come on Belgian beer and Trappist ales later in the week.

Link of Interest:
La Trappe
Press Release regarding La Trappe's ban
St. Benedict