There seven Trappist breweries in the world. I’ve managed to drink four prior to today: Chimay, Westmalle, Orval and La Trappe. Today I’m knocking #5 off the list with a Trappist Achel Extra.
#6 should be pretty easy -- Rochefort. Gary managed to drink this one and we’re not quite sure how I missed it. #7 will be more challenging as one can only purchase it at Brouwerij Westvleteren in Belgium. But it's only really challenging in the sense that I have to wait until next year‘s beer-cation when we hit the road - air? - and head to Belgium for a bicycle trip through the Flanders region…cycling from brewery to brewery and adventure to adventure. And now onto the Trappist Achel Extra. It poured a walnut brown liquid with a thin light tan head. The smell was sweet -- honey and figs. The taste was complex. Burnt sugar, a slightly grape-heavy wine flavor. A very strong presence of alcohol -- not surprising for a Belgian strong dark ale coming in at 9.5% ABV. It is also very malt dominant. Despite all that flavor happening, it drank surprisingly light. Achel is brewed at the Brouwerij der St. Benedictusabdij de Achelse. (Spellcheck just blew up!)
Cheers!
To really enjoy a beer, it must be the right temperature, have a good head (foam at the top of the glass) if appropriate, and still have proper carbonation as you begin to drink. It cannot be watered down from ice, or flavor tainted from a glass that smells of dish soap. Also, a clean glass is really the only way to fully enjoy a beer as it was intended, no plastic party cups!
ReplyDelete