Victory Golden Monkey
Brewery: Victory Brewing Company
Where: Downington, Pennsylvania
Beer: Golden Monkey Tripel
Style: Tripel
IBU: N/A
ABV: 9.5%
Today's sampling is from Victory Brewing Company. The Golden Monkey Belgian-Style Triple is a very smooth and light colored ale with a clean and crisp flavor. At 9.5% ABV, this beer definitely packs a punch as do all Belgian Tripels. It's also quite sneaky, because at even cooler temperatures, you don't notice the alcohol. The flavor and aroma of this beer are primarily products of the proprietary yeasts used to make it, but it has wonderful fruity notes in both aspects. From the website:
Strong and sensual, this golden, Belgian-style ale glows. The richness of German malts and Belgian yeasts are tempered by a sparkling approach and overall light body. Abundant herbal, fruity notes make this one to savor.
I apologize for the photo of this beer. I over exposed it as I'm testing a new camera. I'll do better next time :)
Chimay Tripel
Brewery: Chimay
Where: Abbaye Notre Dame de Scourmont, Belgium
Beer: Tripel
Style: Tripel
IBU: N/A
ABV: 8%
My recent completion of Stan Hieronymus' book "Brew Like a Monk" has me even more interested in the Belgian brews that are available to me. This Chimay Ale Tripel is going to be my first dive into what are called the Trappist beers. To get a better understanding of what Trappist means, I'll take the following quote from Stan's book on page two:
"Trappist monks and Trappistine nuns belong to the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance, with about a hundred houses of monks and seventy of nuns worldwide. Trappists make their name from a reform movement that started in the seventeenth century at a French monastery, La Trappe."
So what we have here are beers brewed by monks. However, in order for a beer (or any other Trappist product) to receive the authentic Trappist product label and logo, the following conditions must be met (also from page two of "Brew Like a Monk"):
- The product must be made within the walls of a Trappist abbey.
- The product must be made by or under the supervision of the monastery comunity.
- The largest part of the profit must be spent on social work.
This being the case, you can quickly see that a Trappist ale has a bit of uniqueness about it simply in the nostalgia of its process, not to mention that these are some of the best beers in the world. There are only six Trappist breweries in the world, and they all exist in Belgium.
Today's sampling, Chimay Tripel, is a product of Abbaye Notre-Dame de Scourmont. This beer pours with a nice golden color and rich foamy head. There is a citrus note in the nose immediately. Belgian Tripels are generally a little sweet and dry to the taste, and this one is no different. It does, however, have a nice tart aftertaste with little or no bitterness at all. At 8%, this one should be consumed in moderation, and also it seems to find a nice home at about 50° F in a nice clean glass.
Gail's Hops and Grapes happens to have beers from four of the only six Trappist breweries, so I picked up examples from each that will be coming up in the tasting queue shortly...
St. Sebastiaan Golden
Brewery: Browerij Sterkens
Where: Meer, Belgium
Beer: Golden Ale
Style: Tripel
IBU: N/A
ABV: 7.7%
Not too long ago, I picked up a St. Sebastiaan Grand Reserve to celebrate finding a new job. It was so good I decided to try another from that line. Today's sampling from Brouwerij Sterkens in Meer, Belgium, is the Golden Ale.
After looking back on the previous 104 beers I have tried in this project, I'm quickly learning that I really like some of the Belgians. I recently purchased a book called "Brew Like A Monk" to learn a little more about what's involved in the creation of these beers. I'll also be ramping up the Belgians in my tasting regimen in the coming weeks to explore it a little deeper. The Saison is a style that I'm probably going to try to brew myself in the future once I figure out a way to maintain an elevated fermentation temperature for a week or so.
This belgian tripel poured with a light golden color and a thick head. The carbonation levels in these are usually a little higher than most. The lightly sweet aroma comes through nicely and the bright and crisp fruity flavor is classic on this beer. These beers are "Tripel" fermented to create the dry and crisp finish associated with the style, and this beer falls right in line with that concept. As with the others of this style, the alcohol content will sneak up on you and should be respected in that manner. This isn't a session beer :)
Tomorrow, I plan to bottle the Hefeweizen I brewed two weeks ago. I am also considering brewing an experimental hop bomb that I have been thinking about for a while. I have the ingredients but I just haven't had the time to do it. We'll see what happens...
La Fin Du Monde
Brewery: Unibroue
Where: Quebec, Canada
Beer: La Fin Du Monde
Style: Tripel
IBU: N/A
ABV: 9.0%
Today's sample is the third of a mixed 4-banger of Unibroue beers I picked up recently. La Fin Du Monde is a big 9% ABV Tripel. I sorta screwed this one up when I poured it and got it cloudy from the yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle, but that was my stupid fault, and it doesn't affect the flavor of the beer. It just looks nicer in the glass when it's done properly... This beer poured with a nice golden color and a decent head that subsided into nothingness rather quickly in my glass. The beer has a fruity aroma with no noticeable hop presence, which is true to the style. It has a lighter body and a crisp finish. There is simply NO sense of the alcohol in this beer, so it should be consumed cautiously. This is definitely a great example of this style in my opinion. I haven't sampled a lot of these, but I plan to start working on the Belgians very soon! I have several standing by as we speak!
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