Monk's Blood; or A Can of Belgian

Tonight it's a can of Belgian for me. Weird huh? Well the can revolution is sweeping the craft brewery world, as you all must know, if you're reading this. So when I saw a Belgian beer from 21st Amendment (repeal of the 18th amendment: Prohibition) from San Francisco, California I had to have it. It's aged with oak chips and black mission figs, and has stuff like cinnamon and vanilla and stuff. This is a 12oz can and is 8.4% alcohol by volume.
The color upon pour is a dark brown with a hint of red, like many of the dubbels I've had. And had a very quick head (dissolved as I was describing the color.)
To the nose it smells like alcohol and cinnamon and just a touch of bananas - Bananas Foster anyone?
Tasting it! This beer is sweet, not very carbonated, a little syrupy, alcoholy, and tastes like dessert. If you close your eyes and breathe in through your nose as you drink, it tastes like an uncooked cinnamon roll or sticky bun, only more runny and without that uncooked flour flavor (not that I've eaten any uncooked cinnamon rolls in the past...) I promise. This is a very tasty beer.
If it isn't too sweet for a beer it's delicious. It is a great dessert beer and I recommend it as such. It may also go well with a good smoky barbecue. I'm glad it comes in a 12oz can because a 22 would be too much and a pint & 9 would be downright gluttonous.

1. Duvel
2. TJs
3. Damnation
4. Piraat
5. Ommegang Abbey
6. Monk's Blood
7. Chimay Blue
8. Orval
9. Brother Thelonious

Piraat Pics

Piraat

A Piraat's life for me? We'll see.
It's one of those cute stubby bottles. A manageable 11.2 oz. A cartoon illustration of a ship at sea, a glass of ale, and a foppish pirate who looks like he's never spent a day at sea (reminds me of me, sans foppishness I can only pray.) It is a magical 10.5% alcohol (do I like Belgians because I like feeling tipsy? or, do I like feeling tipsy because I love Belgians? No time for philosophy now, I must push on with the mission at hand!)
This beer, when poured, has very little head and is a dark golden liquid. It is sparkling from the bottom like a champagne, or a Duvel.
I am surprised at how it smells, like the smell toward the end of a hot summer in Rancho Cucamonga when all the fruit we could not eat had fallen from the apricot, peach, and plum trees and begun to sour and swarm with bees and flies. A real memory, but wrought with hyperbole given the beers actual smell: simply that of slightly sour apricot. But I am surprised at it's sourness, the dominant smell.
Gotta taste it. It is sour and bitter, but palatably so. It is dry with hints of alcohol. It is sweet and delicious.
This really is a delicious beer, it lingers on the tongue and won't really let me forget it. I mean that, and I'm still drinking it. It is really good, I repeat, and is extremely hard to pin down. It is not like any other Belgian I have tried. It's perhaps a cross between one of those Russian River sours and a mild ESB/Red Ale and a dubbel. Quite tasty, but I'm afraid it will not rank as high as it could have if it had only played by the rules.

1. Duvel
2. TJ's by Unibroue
3. Damnation
4. Piraat
5. Ommegang Abbey Ale
6. Chimay Blue
7. Orval
8. Brother Thelonious

Ommegang Pics

OMG! Ommegang Abbey Ale

Ommegang is a brewery in Cooperstown, New York. They claim this to be a "True Belgian-Style Dubbel."
I've got a Pint & 9 here and it is a 8.5% alcohol ale. And I did not know this until thoroughly reading over the label but apparently Ommegang is part of the Duvel family of fine ales. So I bet we are in for a treat, given Duvel's deliciousness.
I pop the cork and pour myself a tulip glassful. I immediately smell a fruitiness and the color is what I would expect from a double: a dark auburn with a decent off-white head of foam. To the nose it smells fruity, like a reduced plum with the slightest hint of banana, burnt caramel with just a touch of evergreen. If the scent is any indication, this should be a flavorful ale.
It is. It is malty and sweet, slightly spicy, there is an astringency in the foreground, and there is that fruitiness on the tongue. I don't taste alcohol (must be masked completely by the sweetness). The finish is nutty. This is a good beer.

1. Duvel
2. TJ's
3. Damnation
4. Ommegang Abbey Ale
5. Chimay Blue
6. Orval
7. Brother Thelonious

Duvel Pics (thanks iPhone)

The Duvel and Jim Liddle

"The pilsner malts, Bohemian hops, and unique yeast strain combine to create Duvel's intensity, aroma and allure. And the unusually long maturation process at our brewery ensures a mellow, balanced and beguiling flavor."

We'll see about that.

A Pint & 9 Belgian Golden Ale, registering in at 8.5%. A forceful pop as I loosen the cork, as if I let something out I shouldn't have. (get it like the devil, or one of those bad genies.)

I am instructed to pour unhurriedly, but I pour how I damn-well please - fairly unhurriedly, and it produces more of a head than expected. A lovely pure white head, atop a pale golden ale - reminiscent of a Pabst Blue Ribbon, or other clear Golden american beer - that is effervescent like a Champagne (active stream of bubbles from the bottom.) So far so good. Alluring: as they told me.

It smells like Belgium! bananas and wheat. I am dying to drink it (which I have sipped it but I must continue the narrative as if we are traveling together, chronologically...)

Wow! Now that I have sipped it, it is delicious. And I don't use that descriptor lightly.

It is light but flavorful. Sparkling in the mouth. Does not taste too much like alcohol, and is not too sweet. It is slightly bitter, but dances all around the tongue. It loses it's head pretty quick, but who needs a foam mustache on top of a their current hair mustache? Not me - maybe the stranger, one mister Sam Elliott, but I digress.

This is it.

I think on the back of the label they say it best: "Refreshing and Golden like a pilsner but with the flavor, depth and complexity of an ale. This Belgian favorite has been brewed by four generations of the Moortgat family. Enjoy chilled with discerning friends or good looking strangers."

Thank you Moortgat family. This is what Damnation wanted to be.

1. Duvel

2. TJs Dark Unibroue

3. Damnation

4. Chimay

5. Orval

6. Brother Thelonious

Russian River Road Pics

Belgians On The Road vol. 1

Travel vol 1

Russian river
Santa Rosa ca

On Saturday before the wedding in Hopland, I had a bite to eat and a couple of beers at Russian River in Santa Rosa, while Tempa was at the mall buying a last minute sweater. What an absolute treat! I sat down as soon as a bar table became available, which took a minute, and I had to vulture it, because they were packed on a Saturday afternoon. I ordered beer bites immediately (the greatest garlicky, sliced up, cheese pizza with warm marinara dipping sauce in the world. On a limb I say they're the best thing on the menu, better than their regular pizzas. They have a notoriously slow kitchen (I just think it's smaller than it needs to be.) but I also ordered a consecration, because it's one of their Belgians I have not had. Tasting notes:


Consecration 10%
dark sour aged cab barrels

Dark brown
No head from the draft
Smells like sour cherries
Tastes tart, but smooth (not like vomit ;))
Tartness masks the alcohol completely
Drinkable but barely
More of an experience than anything else

So that was something. The beer bites were exquisite, both because they are and because I had already enjoyed most of the 10% beer on an empty stomach. Tempa had not arrived yet, so I ordered another beer:
Temptation 7.25%
barrel aged sour blonde
No head, again, honey colored
Not much of a scent, smells a little sweet, not sour
Surprisingly tart, not so much as Cosecration.
Certainly more palatable but just beyond, again, what I would call an everyday beer, just a tad too tart

In the mean time chatted with some dude named Gary, nice fellow, about baseball on beer (Giants/A's game on - A's winning.) But Tempa finally arrived and helped me finish off the second beer and the beer bites. It was a beautiful time. Maybe not the most complete post of all time, but then again this is about me, and the beer. I will not rank these two beers for a couple reasons, but mainly because as Belgians go, with regards to my mission, the were out there. Wonderful experiments in the limits of Belgian Style Ale!

Monk's Pics

North Coast: Brother Thelonious

Another small bottle (12oz), another bottle opener, and it's back across the pond (and the North Sea) to North America in Northern California: North Coast Brewing from Fort Bragg. They also make the glorious Rasputin, which if you have not, have it! Dare I say it's the best stout out there? Can't, that's for another blog.

It's named Brother Thelonious, who as we all know was a Monk, and it is advertised as a "belgian style abbey ale". It weighs in at 9.4% alcohol.

The pour produces very little head, and the fluid is dark, a burnt umber that gives way to hints of red when held against the light. The nose is very heavy, syrupy. I am having flashbacks to Chimay Grande Reserve. It smells spicy, like coriander, and sweet, with only a hint of alcohol.

It is like a big Chimay Blue, believe it or not. It is like drinking a cold, thinned out bread pudding that is warming once it hits your stomach. It is malty and so sugary and thick.

I mean it is good. But it may be too sweet even in a 12 ozer. If I can say this without being disrespectful, I think this would be a great beer for dessert after a long night of drinking, where you can just sip it slowly, and then fall asleep; when you can sleep in in the morning and head down to Pine State Biscuits for a Reggie Deluxe and a few cups of coffee. (Which I am not tonight)

1. TJs

2. Damnation

3. Chimay

4. Orval

5. North Coast's Brother Thelonious

Orval Pics

Orval: Trappist Ale

Pics are up. Who isn't excited?

Back to Belgium! Mmm another Trappist Ale. This time Orval. And another thing I am excited about is it's not a Pint & 9, it is just a manageable 11.2 fl oz. And it's a chugger at only 6.9% alcohol. I'm kidding but it is on the lower third of a Belgian style ale (which we are normally talking about doubles and triples - meaning basically, it is fermented 2 or 3 times.)

So I rustle around for a bottle opener, which I have not needed so far and I have had no need to keep one in my Belgian Beer Blog Staging area. Because if you weren't paying attention the others have all been corked (super classy.)

After the pour, the color of Orval in the glass is a slightly golden, I'd call it a light amber I guess.

The nose is somewhere between phenolic and fatty acidy. No but seriously (I just looked up a beer tasting wheel at http://www.alabev.com/taste.htm, I learned phenolic, which means band-aidy, at an Epic tasting in Seattle at the Holubs) it does smell a little soapy and "clean." It smells like a soapy Damnation. As I keep smelling, it's odd that there is such a lack of scent.

So I guess I'll dump some down my gullet and see how it tastes. It has no real sweetness to it, which I have come to expect from Belgians. It is also slightly watery by comparison. It is more bitter than the others, which is not a bad thing. It appears to have only bitter hops as it lacks that floral nose and flavor. This is such a different beer.

It is good. And apart from this 'competition', it is a tasty little beer, and turns what I've believed to be a Belgian style ale on its ear. I applaud the Orval monks for being different (and I may find all these Belgian beers to be drastically different from one another) but perhaps they need to get out of the monastery and taste some of their peer's beers. ;-)

1. TJs

2. Damnation

3. Chimay Blue

4. Orval

pictures

Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale by Unibroue

Before I begin, I apologize for not posting photos of the Chimay, I've got them, but my camera is all the way across the room, and I can't bring myself to upload them now. Sorry. I'll post them just before the pictures for the TJ's beer pics.

Unibroue is a great brewery in Quebec, Canada, they make some delicious Belgian style ales. And every holiday season, at least for the last few years, they have made a special beer for Trader Joe's. A plus for that, is TJ's sells these great beers for only $4.99, so I've started stocking up on them because Unibroues usually run between 7 and 10 dollars a bottle.

This Pint & 9 advertises itself as a Dark Ale on Lees at 9% alc./vol - great! (The on Lees refers to that fact that there is remaining yeast in the bottle.)

This is a dark beer. Looks almost like a Guiness in the glass and had a tremendous head when poured it. This beer is unusual. On the nose it smells almost exactly like the Damnation, a much lighter beer if you recall. You get the sweetness and the bananas, which are much more pronounced then they were in the Chimay. There is not strong caramel or coffee scents like you would expect from a stout. I feel like the color is caused by a black hole, because it doesn't seem to be perceptible to my olfactory. So let me taste it and see if I get sucked inside. I may end up in an alternate universe or even in the future or past... Worm Hole humor.

mmm... Huh. Baffling. Seriously, it tastes like a blonde trippel. But wait, there is some coffee on the aftertaste. Let me take a few more sips and I'll get back to you.

This beer is so good.

It's pretty much everything I loved about the Damnation with an added complexity in the flavor. It's as if Unibroue took the damnation recipe, dyed it black and toasted it for a little while. Oh and of course I'm afraid it may be too sweet to finish a 750, which officially I will stop saying that so just expect it to be a rule (unless there is an exception I will not bring it up again.)

Lead change alert!

1. Trader Joe's 2009 Vintage Ale by Unibroue

2. Russian River's Damnation

3. Chimay Grand Reserve (Blue)

ps I don't really want to say what's up next because then I have to drink that. Come what may.

Chimay Bleu

Now; when you think of Belgian beers you probably think of monks, and Chimay is one of a handful of Trappist beers produced in Belgium, which means it is brewed within the walls of the monastery. In the dictionary there's a picture of Chimay, and their Grande Reserve in the blue bottle is the crown jewel. It comes in both their stubby bottles, and a big Pint & 9 bottle and weighs in at a very respectable 9% alcohol, which is what I am drinking this evening. This bottle is probably only six months old, even though Michael Jackson suggests it to be aged for 2 or more. (By the way I am drinking these beers at cellar temperature: and mine is about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Pour it!

Much darker, I would call it a brown ale (or an auburn ale.) It doesn't have the head that the Damnation poured.

It is malty and spicy. Almost like a winter ale. It is sweet, almost syrupy. You can smell the alcohol on your nose hairs, but can hardly taste it over the sweetness. I think it has more sugar per percentage than the Damnation. There is nearly zero hops detected and the banana yeast is deep below everything else happening. Sugar, malt, spice, then yeast.

Again this sucker is gonna be too sweet if you're drinking the whole Pint & 9, by yourself, without food, but damn-it! it's my job. So here I go, I'm going to enjoy the rest, watch some American Idol, and get slightly less than enough sleep for tonight. To sum up, this is a delicious beer (despite being less "Belgian" than it's North American rival) and seems to serve as a fine Winter Ale, falling comfortably in that category; I believe.

1. Russian River's Damnation

2. Chimay Grande Reserve (Blue)

...next up Trader Joe's Holiday Ale by Quebec's Unibroue

Damnation photos

Had trouble posting the photos in the post itself (formating issue) so here they are.

"Start at the beginning"

To kick off this competition, I decided to begin where I started: Damnation. Russian River is fairly widely distributed, at least in Nor Cal and the North West. It's $9.99 at New Seasons Market (a local whole food market - it's $10.99 at our local Whole Foods) for a 750 ml, corked bottle. It weighs in at 7.75% alcohol (about a middle weight for a Belgian Style.) Enough with the "How's Your Father?" let's try the stuff.

Ahh. Lovely. See to me, blasphemy or not, Damnation is the quintessential Belgian (but then again, that's what this whole project is about.) A beautiful golden blonde. Smells sweet and fruity, with just the slightest kiss of floral hops. Light, sparkling, and sweet on the tongue; only barely bitter. The alcohol is masked by the sweetness and an absolute smoothness. That taste of Belgian yeast, that has always been bananas to me. And I don't mean crazy!

Smoothness is absolutely important to me, I'm not going to say the end all, but close. Now don't get me wrong I enjoy a little funk in my beverage from time to time, but it's more of an experience than something I consider amongst my favorite drink. Damnation is smooth, and refreshing, and sweet, and alcoholic; and a beautiful blonde to boot.

My only complaint is after "a pint & 9" it may become too sweet if being consumed entirely by itself.

So far Damnation is my favorite Belgian style beer I've tried in the competition. Ha! Right? But seriously I will try to keep a running ranking as "we" go along.

1. Russian River's Damnation

...next: Chimay's Grand Réserve (Blue)

Let the Battle* Begin!

I plan to sample and rank Belgian style beers from Belgium and North America.

*the Bottle Battle concept stolen, modified, and used without permission from Gibson Holub