Alright folks, time for a quick review of a beer that should be available in Baton Rouge, only I've never seen it here. I used to drink a LOT of the La Trappe Tripel and Quad from the Koningshoeven Trappist Abbey in the Netherlands, but I've never seen the Bockbier locally and picked this one up in a 750ml bottle at Spec's in Houston. Koningshoeven is already unique as the only Trappist brewery outside of Belgium, and this beer is even more unique as the only official Trappist beer to be lagered as opposed to a top fermenting ale. Now on to the beer...
I split it among a few friends and totally forgot to take a picture, so I'm stealing this one of the label from the internets... hope no one minds! The color is a brilliant ruby reddish brown, decent head, off white with some good retention and lacing. So far so good, another good looking brew from the monks.
The aroma is very complex... roasted caramel, dark fruits, a little bitterness from the hops, more roasted malt flavors, all blended together well. It definitely tastes more Belgian than German, and yes I know these guys are Dutch, but they brew Belgian-style.
The taste is a lot of the same flavor as the aroma. Very complex and layered, with different sweet notes combining with bitter hops flavors over a nice toasted malt base. Man, a really interesting and good beer.
The mouthfeel is pretty solid too... not quite as good as the previous categories, but it's a full bodied easy drinking beer for 7% with little alcohol taste to it.
Overall, it's an interesting Belgian-style take on this German style. It definitely varies from traditional bocks that I remember with much more rich flavors.
The aroma is very complex... roasted caramel, dark fruits, a little bitterness from the hops, more roasted malt flavors, all blended together well. It definitely tastes more Belgian than German, and yes I know these guys are Dutch, but they brew Belgian-style.
The taste is a lot of the same flavor as the aroma. Very complex and layered, with different sweet notes combining with bitter hops flavors over a nice toasted malt base. Man, a really interesting and good beer.
The mouthfeel is pretty solid too... not quite as good as the previous categories, but it's a full bodied easy drinking beer for 7% with little alcohol taste to it.
Overall, it's an interesting Belgian-style take on this German style. It definitely varies from traditional bocks that I remember with much more rich flavors.
My Rating: A-
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