Trappist beer is very nice but, as has been said, you really can't drink too many of them.
The thing is they are also very, very similar to a lot of UK breweries specialist "Barley Wine", which is also top-fermented. Frankly, a good one of these is just as good as the Trappist product from Belgium.
Our praise - and I'm including myself here - of Belgium beer is rather typical of UK consumers for pretty much all products. Somehow we seem to be drawn to the exotic foreignness of other countries' produce and our own stuff gets overlooked and marginalised. For Trappist beer, read Brazilian footballers, German cars, Italian clothes, French cheese, etc, etc.
I disagree, to an extent. Belgian beer is generally different to British beer, the Trappiste / barley wine similarity notwithstanding. So we can appreciate Belgian beer for what it is without forgetting how good our own product is.
Similarly with French cheese, they do some great ones, but that doesn't stop a good Stilton (e.g. Colston Basset (spelling?)) or Cheddar being amazing and certainly one of the best cheeses in the world.
Boon marriage pafait geuze (sour) is nectar made in heaven. Try drinking beers from midday until after midnight, brews that range from 6% to 12%. Just back from Leuven.
After that session I'm amazed you made it back to the right country, let alone the right house.
Belgian beer is indeed lovely, Rochefort 10 is heaven, but not exactly something you have a session of!
For an evening in the pub, you cant beat a nice selection of ales, especially with the incredible growth in new breweries in this country. My only criticism is that sometimes a pub can stock 5 ales, from, 5 different breweries, but all can be samey, and fall in the same 4.2% golden ale niche, so there's no obvious progression up the ladder of strength and darkness you get from a traditional tied regional pub
As a real ale bore, I have always disdained fizzy beers; aren't all draught Belgian brews carbonated, or served under pressure? That said, the recommendations on this thread are very enticing. My only experience of Belgian beers are bottled Leffe and Chimay. Is De Hems, the long-established bar in Macclesfield Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue, still open - and is it any good?
Belgian beer is indeed lovely, Rochefort 10 is heaven, but not exactly something you have a session of!
For an evening in the pub, you cant beat a nice selection of ales, especially with the incredible growth in new breweries in this country. My only criticism is that sometimes a pub can stock 5 ales, from, 5 different breweries, but all can be samey, and fall in the same 4.2% golden ale niche, so there's no obvious progression up the ladder of strength and darkness you get from a traditional tied regional pub
What winds me up most as a bitter drinker is the number of places, often restaurants, that offer half a dozen beers, and every single one of them an over-priced, fizzy, branded lager. Is it really so hard to stock one half decent beer in bottles? (Boddingtons/John smiths do not count!)
As a real ale bore, I have always disdained fizzy beers; aren't all draught Belgian brews carbonated, or served under pressure? That said, the recommendations on this thread are very enticing. My only experience of Belgian beers are bottled Leffe and Chimay. Is De Hems, the long-established bar in Macclesfield Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue, still open - and is it any good?
De Hems still well worth a visit Viewfinder. Also, give Sleemans 'Honey Brown' a try in the 'Maple Leaf' bar in Covent Garden, eh!
Went to the Orval Abbey the past weekend - always thought Orval only did one beer - but they actually do three - the normal one at 6.2, then there is the viel (the same beer but older than 1 year, which comes out at 7.2 somehow), but there is also an Orval Vert which is only consumed within the Abbey or the abbey run bar/resto directly outside the Abbey on draught which is 4.6 per cent. TBH, didnt particularly like it. Also went to La Chouffe, which is a strange place - think Hobbit village.
Went to the Orval Abbey the past weekend - always thought Orval only did one beer - but they actually do three - the normal one at 6.2, then there is the viel (the same beer but older than 1 year, which comes out at 7.2 somehow), but there is also an Orval Vert which is only consumed within the Abbey or the abbey run bar/resto directly outside the Abbey on draught which is 4.6 per cent. TBH, didnt particularly like it. Also went to La Chouffe, which is a strange place - think Hobbit village.
I tried Leffe Blond last night, as we are going to Bruges in a couple of weeks time and are just bamboozled by the number of beers they have available there. I really didn't like the Leffe. It had an awful copper taste to it which was really unpleasant. Even my wife only took a few sips. I was expecting everywhere to sell Stella, but looking at the restaurant and bar menus online, that certainly isn't the case. So, I'm not sure on what I will be drinking. It will be fun trying some of them out but expensive if we don't like them after a few sips.
Comments
Similarly with French cheese, they do some great ones, but that doesn't stop a good Stilton (e.g. Colston Basset (spelling?)) or Cheddar being amazing and certainly one of the best cheeses in the world.
For an evening in the pub, you cant beat a nice selection of ales, especially with the incredible growth in new breweries in this country. My only criticism is that sometimes a pub can stock 5 ales, from, 5 different breweries, but all can be samey, and fall in the same 4.2% golden ale niche, so there's no obvious progression up the ladder of strength and darkness you get from a traditional tied regional pub
Also went to La Chouffe, which is a strange place - think Hobbit village.
Well worth a visit; if you're passing!!