Type: Beer – Dubbel Ale/Belgian Ale
Name: Ommegang Abbey Ale
Price: $6.99 – 1 pt.
Made: Cooperstown, NY
Alc/Vol: 8.5%

I seem to have found another corked beer, and again this one is a good one. Maybe those who cork their beer give a little more into it to produce a better quality beverage? So what does this beer have to say for itself?

“Is a Belgian-style abbey dubbel yielding a rich, fruity, and aromatic, Burgundian brew…

Ommegang abbey dubbel is inspired by the centuries-old brewing traditions of Belgian Trappist monks. Named after Belgium’s oldest medieval fest, every bottle of Ommegang is cause for celebration.”

A celebration indeed, for a beer is worth a cheer in most if not all occasions. At least, that is for me and this one certainly brought along a whole party. The flavors were rich and complex, mixed with cinnamon and spice. The beer poured a deep chestnut color, so much so that I held it up to the light just to see if I could see through it…and I couldn’t.

The nose wouldn’t give away the complexity of this drink, there is something there but not in a sense of cheap spice casually tossed on top. Once you take a sip of this beer the first reaction is wow. It is different and not something I can easily compare it to however I can say that their inspired Trappist beer did not falter in quality and complexity.

“Brewery Ommegang is 3,264 miles from Brussels, but its heart is right in Belgium. It was created out of our devotion to the unique ales brewed by the county where brewing is an art and partaking is a passion.”

As a beer with 8.5% alc/vol you would expect a bit of that to come through in the taste, but instead you taste the rich malts, deep fruits and I don’t know why but I was getting a coffee-ish like taste. It wasn’t coffee or toffee, a rich oatmeal – deep creamy texture of a taste that I just can’t name. Due to the complexity it is hard to pick out all the characteristics. However there is a hint of sweetness masked in the complexity of this beer before the rich aftertaste comes through. It has a thick mouth feel with a lingering aftertaste and semi-dry finish.

And remember “the most profound joy has more of gravity than gaity in it” -montaigne

Overall this was a wonderful beer, however 1 pint of this beer had me feeling the alcohol. It is a deep rich creamy beer with a sweetness to it that is not something I can see myself sipping on all night, let alone on a hot summer day. This is something I can see myself enjoying as I sit next to a fire, or out camping at night. I give this beer 4 1/2 bananas out of 5. It is an amazing beer, which coming from the Duval family of ales that shouldn’t be a surprise.

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Image taken from LaTrappe.nl

Type: Beer – Quadrupel or Belgian Ale
Name: La Trappe - Quadrupel Trappist Ale
Price: $4.99
Made: Holland
Alc/Vol: 10%

First off I’m sure you are thinking, “What is a Trappist beer?” Well my furless friend, that is a certified beer made by Trappist monks, now that’s my kind of holy water. There are only 7 beer producing Trappist monasteries in the world and after reading up about how my fellow traveling and drinking blogging buddy from Brazil was exploring rich flavorful beer made from monks in Holland, I had to see if it was all André hyped it up to be. I mean this man tracked down a special Trappist beer and spent 100 Euros just so he could get a free bottle of this beer from a store because it is illegal for anyone but the monks to sell it.

Since I’m not in Holland I had to settle for what I could find locally and that is what I did with La Trappe. The scent of this beer is mild, I can barely smell anything coming off of it yet I quickly learned this was not an accurate read of this beer. Many times a quick sniff of your beer can give you a clue of what you are getting into, maybe a bit of hops or a dash of cinnamon, but not this beer. It is deep and rich, malty flavored but with a bit of a back spice. It almost reminds me of a winter warmer but better. It had a caramel sweetness to it, almost rum like. There is little presence of alcohol in the flavor of this beer even though it is 10%, however after a single bottle you can definitely feel the presence of alcohol

I liked the thick and creamy mouth feel that leaves a nice spiced aftertaste. Supposedly it is a sign of quality beer when the head sticks to the class, and this beer did just that. I can’t tell you the reason for this but it is something I’ve heard quite often. Overall I give this beer 4 out of 5 bananas. It is a delicious well crafted beer but a bit too malty for my liking to give it a full 5 banana rating but don’t tell the monks that because I’m thinking of converting. @(^_^)@

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