This Beer? MANEATER.

Beer #80 La Trappe Quadrupel / Brouwerij De Koningshoeven, Tilburg, The Netherlands

I swear, my dear American craft breweries, that one day we'll drink a bunch of your product. I promise this. However, if it's Tuesday, then it's another offering from Europe. This time, it's the quad from De Koningshoeven, better known as La Trappe, a brewery in Holland. This amber beer brings aromas of malt and some light citrus. The taste immediately brings a sweet taste of malt and yeast, with banana and caramel present. Bottle conditioned with roots dating back to 1884, this trappist ale weighs in at 10% ABV and definitely packs a punch.

But you ask: what's a trappist ale?

I'm glad you asked that question.  Trappist ales come from monks who brew beer to sustain their monastery and support charitable causes.  There are seven officially certified Trappist breweries, and they're serious about the designation.  De Koningshoeven had their Trappist status taken away previously, and only returned back once they proved the monks were brewing the beer, not some hired hands.

To beer geeks, the Trappist label is a big deal, although there are rumors of an eighth monastery trying to gain the status.  Part of the reason why it's a big deal is because these beers are among the best Belgium (and the Netherlands!) have to offer.  To receive this designation, you need to put in some work.  From trappist.be:

 “Trappist” has to satisfy a number of strict criteria proper to this logo before it may bear this name: 

1. The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery, either by the monks themselves or under their supervision.
2. The brewery must be of secondary importance within the monastery and it should witness to the business practices proper to a monastic way of life.
3. The brewery is not intended to be a profit-making venture.  The income covers the living expenses of the monks and the maintenance of the buildings and grounds.  Whatever remains is donated to charity for social work and to help persons in need.
4. Trappist breweries are constantly monitored to assure the irreproachable quality of their beers.

These monks brew beer and help those in need?  I like it.

Thing to Think About Today:

Let's see.... A beer from Holland. Must mean its time for you to think about.... Hall and Oates. Get it? Holland Oates?  Yeah, that was pretty weak.  Anyway.

Anyone can suggest you listen to 80's pop sensation Hall and Oates, so I'll take it one step further and suggest you listen to a duo that decided to produce an entire album of Hall and Oates covers. Yes friends, its time for you to unwind, relax, kick back, and think about The Bird and The Bee!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms_xpqF7hjY

Beer 80: La Trappe Quadrupel

What a day.  A  co-worker inadvertently attempted to poison me.  I am indeed sick as I suspected yesterday.  I had medicine head for a big meeting today and had to work really hard to make sense and stay awake.  How I am still awake - hell, even alive - at this point is beyond me.

Let’s start with the poisoning.  I’m allergic to artificial sweetener and spent the entire morning powering through sugar-free (or artificially sweetened) Halls cough drops.  But I didn’t know they were sugar-free until post-lunch at which point I started feeling more off than I thought I should.  I won’t bore you with the details of how I know I’m having an allergic reaction but let’s just say I left work before the numbness and blindness set in.  It was the…longest…drive…ever.  But I managed to get home, take more cold medicine and Advil and pass out on the couch.  Now I've rallied and am drinking a La Trappe Quadrupel.

La Trappe is brewed at one of the seven remaining Trappist monastery breweries.  It is the only one in The Netherlands.  The Quadrupel comes in at 10% ABV - evidently I continue to self-medicate.  (Also if any members of my family are reading this…don’t be alarmed.  I’m typically very responsible.)  It poured a reddish amber color and smelled sweet and of malt.  Sometimes I’ll drink a beer with a high ABV and can’t taste the alcohol.  This is NOT one of those beers.  It is all up in my taste buds.  It drinks big and thick and is sweet and finishes with a bite.

According to the La Trappe’s website, it is now aged in oak barrels and you can pick up some of the flavor that the barrel imparts.  I also noticed toffee and something fruity in the flavor.  I’d probably like this even more if I weren’t so stuffed up and feeling like crap.  With a little luck, I’m going to attempt to get twelve hours of sleep tonight and will wake up a new woman.  Cheers to that.