/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.20210718]

What's the best Trappist beer? Had a pint of pic rel last night and it was pretty good.

[Anonymous No.20210726]

>>20210718
Beer is for fags

[Anonymous No.20210731]

real trappist or just the style?
merry monks is great but its not even a little bit authetic

[Anonymous No.20210745]

>>20210731
The more authentic stuff I suppose. Gotta wonder if there's a noticable difference to regular abbey.

[Anonymous No.20210897]

>>20210718
Best is subjective, but Westvleteren 12 is often regarded as the best. This is near impossible to get if you live outside of Europe though. St.Bernardus Abt 12 is supposedly very close to it.
I prefer Westmalle Tripel and Rochefort 10.

[Anonymous No.20210898]

Chimay, Koning and Westmalle are all decent, each making good representations of dubbels, tripels and quads, sometimes patersbier
I personally prefer Westmalle
Orval and Rochefort are a bit more unique
Orval only makes one type of beer which is not like your typical abbey ales since it uses brett yeast
Rochefort has beers that are similar to the abbey styles but definitely stand apart from the 1st 3 imo
Westvleteren is almost impossible to get, it's probably pretty good

>>20210745
if this is what you are curious about I do recommend trying St Bernardus as well as Corsendonk and Gouden Carlous
they all make great beers in the abbey style tradition

[Anonymous No.20210999]

>>20210897
>>20210898
Westy 12 is really good, but as anon said...St Bernadus is virtually identical. It's not worth going through the trouble to get Westy unless you are there.

[Anonymous No.20211108]

>>20210897
I read somewhere, might have been here, that Bernardus 12 was actually the original West 12 recipe. Fantastic trappist style beer either way.
I actually prefer the lighter trappist brews, the Chimay Blonde is top shelf. Orval is probably my favorite out of the bunch but like >>20210898 mentioned it's definitely unique among it's cousins.

[Anonymous No.20211117]

got a chimay in the fridge, shall i open it bros

[Anonymous No.20211148]

Another thing you may want to consider trying with trappist (or any Abbey style beer) is letting it age for a couple years. If stored at the proper temperature, the flavor can change significantly. I've found that it tends to mellow out the flavors a bit and makes it a lot more enjoyable. Keep in mind though, letting it age for more than around 5 years will most likely ruin it.

[Anonymous No.20211614]

>>20210718
I prefer Westmalle, but I enjoy Chimay, Westvleteren, Rochefort, but dubbels and tripels are usually fairly similar. Not a huge fan of Orval, but I'll drink it if it's offered.
These days I'll usually buy some Unibroue, or make my own in Hacker Pschorr fliptops.

[Anonymous No.20211656]

>>20210897
I love Bernardus 12

[Anonymous No.20211660]

>>20211148
bottle ageing can work great for imperial stouts too. it makes them smoother with some rum-like notes

[Anonymous No.20211712]

>>20210718
Man that shit is so sweet and so rich, what do you like about it?

[Anonymous No.20211861]

>>20210718
hell yeah trappist beers are my favorite in the world, with westmalle dubbel my favorite among them. always wanted to try westveletern but have never had the opportunity.

[Anonymous No.20211986]

>>20210718
The one without added sugar.

[Anonymous No.20212016]

For me, it's

[Anonymous No.20212053]

>>20210718
Orval is my favorite. It's also fun to age.

[Anonymous No.20214087]

bump

[Anonymous No.20214109]

>>20211656
+1

[Anonymous No.20214194]

Orval is my personal favourite, the most unique of the bunch imo. I also enjoy Rochefort and Chimay (the Blue and Tripel)

[Anonymous No.20214196]

>>20211117
What color is the label? I like the Blue the best.

[Anonymous No.20214197]

>>20211656
I have seen this one a lot but have never bought it. I'll have to try it since so many anons in this thread are speaking of it highly

[Anonymous No.20214779]

picrel isn't really a trappist by definition, but similar style and very nice. they only sell it around christmas though.

[Anonymous No.20214855]

have a four pack of delirium tremens in the fridge. may take a bath later and drink two or three therein.

[Anonymous No.20215005]

>>20214196
Blue is the best Chimay and the best of the trappist ales imo.

[Anonymous No.20215026]

>>20215005
I do like blue the best, but a cold 750mL red after shoveling the driveway late at night in preparation for shoveling it again in the morning... god damn. If I had a fireplace and a harem of plump maidens, I could still not declare my abode the comfiest without that 3/4 liter of Chimay dubbel... Maudite as a satisfactory substitute.

[Anonymous No.20215128]

>>20215026
I have 3x Red in the fridge and they'll get smashed for sure, but if I'm going for lower ABV range dubbels I'd have to go Westmalle. Did a recent taste test on tons of Belgian ales and my fav was Chimay blue. St. Bernardus and Gulden Draak were top tier as well, but nothing seemed to top the Blue for somehow.

[Anonymous No.20215139]

>>20215128
It's a very pleasant tripel. It doesn't have the OH FUCKING GOD ethanol hit that other tripels like DT and Fin du Monde do.
I'll have to order some in, but Schloss Eggenberg's Urbock might be something you'd enjoy.

[Anonymous No.20215146]

>>20215139
I just realized I forgot about the white cap... The Blue's Chimay's quad, isn't it?

[Anonymous No.20215376]

>>20211148
Cellar stays an ambient 50/55F year round. Is that good for storage/aging of this monk beer?

[Anonymous No.20215744]

>>20210718
I think I have tried them all, as there aren't many actual Trappist breweries. My favorite is La Trappe Quadrupel. Westvleteren makes great stuff, but isn't worth the hassle of getting. I have a buddy who gets a few bottles a year at the brewery because he is a fanatic.

[Anonymous No.20215761]

>>20210718
Hah! I've got pic related in the fridge. I'm actually planning to drink it tonight.

[Anonymous No.20215936]

>>20210718
Last one I had was Vlierbeer Grand Cru. It was pretty good.

[Anonymous No.20215948]

>>20214197
1 in 1000 of the bottles has a winking monk on it.

[Anonymous No.20215956]

>>20215936
*Vlierbeek lol

[Anonymous No.20216007]

>>20215376
The closer to 40, the better, but yeah. 55F will keep the yeast alive without making it do too much weird nonsense. You might find that your beer takes on more of a banana, chamomile, or even a fruit punch/bubblegum note vs the same beer stored colder (depends on the beer and the yeast).

[Anonymous No.20217407]

I used to get trashed on new belgium's tripple because it was the best by bum math and still pretty good. Anyway while I am talking about not real trappist beers, three philosophers is pretty good.

[Anonymous No.20217653]

>>20215761
That's a beautiful Bottle.

Monks aren't even allowed to drink.

[Anonymous No.20217713]

>>20215026
Oh God I am so glad someone mentioned unibroue, I know the thread is about Trappist ales and I respect them, but unibroue used to make such good ale. Maudite, trois pistole, and fin du monde. I can only find fin du monde, but trois pistole was my favorite.

[Anonymous No.20217720]

>>20210718
I've only had Chimay and Orval as far as Trappist beer goes on the regular, I've tried many of rochefort numbered beers, but I don't remember them much. Is kasteel an abbey ale? I remember liking their blond and their red. Is leffe or Delirium Tremes an abbey ale?

[Anonymous No.20218032]

>>20217713
They started pushing Blanche de Chambly here... in cans... it's good, but it's very average compared to some of the other beers they make. I'll order a case in sometimes, but for the most part I've just been making my own. Belgian/Abbey yeasts are very forgiving.

[Anonymous No.20218040]

>>20217653
They sure as hell are.

[Anonymous No.20218045]

>>20217653
They can drink, just in moderation and they don't drink to get drunk

[Anonymous No.20218066]

Floreffe > Westmalle and all the other memes from Belgium. Sadly not easily available around here.

[Anonymous No.20218379]

>>20218040
>>20218045

How is this possible? Which monks?

[Anonymous No.20218385]

>>20218379
All monks. They have the different beers for a reason. They drink the lighest table beers daily, and the stronger ones are drank in small amounts on special occassions.

[Anonymous No.20218394]

>>20218379
Anon, watch this video, or anyone else wanting to know more about Trappist ales and monks
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2U4vCjEbxHI&t=25s&pp=ygUaQmVlciBodW50ZXIgb3VyIGRhaWx5IGJlZXI%3D

[Anonymous No.20218398]

>>20217653
the whole Belgian abbey ale tradition was fueled by the fact that the monks had some hardcore fasts where they could not eat any solid food. so they drank beer instead. chugging beer all day long was the norm in Europe back then, it was generally weak so no one got hammered. basically everyone was knocking down bud lite tier or weaker beer like it was water if they could afford to
with time they started making the beer stronger and selling it to outsiders to make a profit

[Anonymous No.20218399]

>>20218379
Do you really think they just spent several hundred years making beer, not to drink it?

[Anonymous No.20218468]

>>20217653
Drinking alcohol is a Christian sacrament. You literally can't be Christian if you don't drink.

[Anonymous No.20218606]

>>20218385
This is just great

>>20218394 thanks, I'm looking forward to watching this.

>>20218398 fucking interesting!

>>20218399 I've been ignorant.

>>20218468 I though being Christian meant the opposite

[Anonymous No.20218641]

>>20218606
They literally make you kneel down and sip some wine anon. Muslims are the ones who can't have fun.

[Anonymous No.20218668]

>>20218641
Hmm I guess, I've stayed away from religion. I enjoy being ignorant

[Anonymous No.20219439]

>>20210718
Ive had em all and pic rel is the best imo

[Anonymous No.20219496]

is it gay if I prefer rochefort 6? The rest is just too intense for me

[Anonymous No.20219735]

>>20210718
hi, homebrewer of 15 years who hasnt bullshitted around but has continued to improve through thousands of hours of pathetic research, discussion and doign etc.

everyones taste buds are physically different ive learned, even to the point where some beer people i know and respect HATE any phenolics ie. clove, pepper in POV+ yeasts. (this is just a little segue to indicate i know what im talking about). but best trappist (i will ignore belgian in general cause im not going to look up my fucking spreadsheet for this post) imho would be
-westmalle dubbel - simply kingly, balanced, flavourful, amazing body, hits all the notes of dark fruits distinctly and fully.
-st bernardus 12 - used to have stronger anise notes, which were probably divisive but its still an intensely flavourful unique quad that hits notes of super dark fruits, burnt sugar, tiny roast, and being dry at that.
-rochefort 8 is the best rochefort - stands out for not being so dark and cakey, its pure sweet toffee and caramel without any phenolics. every time i have it i realize it could actually be a number 1. its perfect.
-chimay red - malty and lovely, hitting several notes gently of light and pleasant spices, various melanoidins
-westmalle tripel - refined and dry, been a while but its really good, decent hop i think if fresh

avoid/overrrated:
-all la trappe BS. its okay, but its really mediocre stuff
-achel just not great - i remember it being harsh the last time i had it, it is fairly cheap tho
-chimay blue - way overhyped, it can be okay but i find it usually takes 20 mins sitting in the glass to open up. thin body isnt fun
-chimay white - harsh and bleh, janky and doesnt feel balanced
-all the extra/singels except st bernardus
-rochefort 10 is okay, but it legit just feels bloated and big for no reason. lots of sediment crud too
-orval fresh is great, aged its just a lot less fun. these guys need to give a non-bretted version

[Anonymous No.20219876]

>>20219735
>non-bretted Orval
They'd have to open a different brewery. Brettanomyces has had more than 90 years to take over every aspect of their facility. You could nuke it, and still find find Brett on a surface swab.

[Anonymous No.20219921]

>>20219876
wow thanks for the news flash. are you the guy who said "brett yeast" above? tell me more about brewing

[Anonymous No.20219939]

>>20219921
huh?

[Anonymous No.20220020]

>>20219921
Make your own, chief

[Anonymous No.20220908]

>>20210897
>St.Bernardus Abt 12
I've tried both, couldn't tell them appart on a blind test

[Anonymous No.20220911]

>>20210718
The Trappist brewery in boston was great until it shut down. I still have five bottles left.

[Anonymous No.20221184]

>>20218032
I've noticed that too, a lot of blanche de chambly, and not too much of their better ales. It's been a sad market recently for good ale. I can't even find ommengang anymore, and I think we lost most of Young's line completely. Anyone remember old nick? Such a good beer.

[Anonymous No.20221193]

Since this a more upper tier beer thread, has anyone had tom Hardy's rare ale? It is my favorite ale I've ever tasted and I only have 1 bottle of the original stuff left. They did a remake around 2010, but it's a pale comparison to the original. Just wondering if anyone has ever had it. It is not a Trappist so sorry for going off topic.

[Anonymous No.20221810]

>>20218606
>I though being Christian meant the opposite
Communion is the ultimate Christian sacrament, and you drink wine which becomes the body of Christ. That said, oftentimes Communion is done symbolically these days.

[Anonymous No.20221814]

saw at my grocery store a bottle of Chimay was 16 American dollars holy shit
when Iived in France that was like 3 euro and you could buy it in the alkys grabngo fridge in front section of franprix

[Anonymous No.20221821]

>>20221814
Belgian beers in the US have dramatically increased in price due to 2 factors...covid and Shelton Brothers distributing closing. Shelton Brothers was the main importer of Belgian beers to the US and that supply is gone. Around 2003, I could walk into a beer shop and buy Cantillon, 3Fonteinen for cheap and all day long. Good luck now. Even Saison Dupont is harder to find now.

[Anonymous No.20222473]

i cant, no matter how many times ive tried, bring myself to like dark beer.
how does a "trappist" beer differ from say a porter, stout, etc.? is it better, or will i also dislike it?

[Anonymous No.20222493]

>>20219921
explain what's wrong about "Brett yeast"?

[Anonymous No.20222500]

>>20222493
Brett yeast is wild yeast. All your beers will be sour or tart if you allow it to infect everything

[Anonymous No.20222505]

>>20210897
>>20214197
I don't drink much anymore but I'll fourth Bernardus 12.
People often throw around the word "complex," but St. Bernardus in particular is a really hearty and rich drink that hearkens back to the idea of "Drinking a Meal." As a warning, it'll likely give you a nasty hangover if you gulp it down, so enjoy it slowly.

I slightly prefer Rochefort, but in my experience friends prefer St. Bernardus.

[Anonymous No.20222535]

>>20222493
>>20222500
At the mild end, it gives a taste like fermenting hay (like cow feed), but on the far side, it can take on something more like if you cooked goat meat in sour raspberries, and the in between is full of odd aromas and tastes like wet leather, boiled bok choy, and that horseshit aroma that adding too much white pepper gives off.

Orval's thankfully on the mild end of things, but there are a few open fermented sours that basically taste like vinegar recovered from a petting zoo floor.

[Anonymous No.20222716]

>>20222535
I know what it does, but you seem to disagree with the terminology and I was wondering why

[Anonymous No.20222753]

>>20210718
kinda offtopic, but theres a trappist nun monastery in a city nearby here and they make the best liquor chocolates on earth

[Anonymous No.20223452]

>>20222716
You don't know who you're talking to anymore

[Anonymous No.20223592]

>>20211656
going to throw my hat in for bernardus abt 12 as well. a beer that good has no right being 10% ABV
>>20222473
stouts and porters are very, very dark beers (about as dark as it gets really) with tasting notes of chocolate, coffee, and roasted barley. belgians can have a wide variety of flavors, "trappist" is a genre rather than a style. i'd recommend trying a belgian pale strong ale like delirium tremens (which i think tastes like bubblegum) or la chouffe (banana, coriander) to see if it's something you're interested in and go from there.

[Anonymous No.20223782]

>>20222716
If I had to guess, home-economics there might have an issue with using 'Brett' to cover 5 species (B. anomalus, bruxellensis, custersianus, nanus, and naardenensis. Bruxellensis is the most common intentional addition), or maybe he doesn't like simplification of Brettanymyces vs. Dekkera, or the use of the word yeast when Brett really only means Brettanomyces.

Yeah, no idea.
I did find out that it's added to Orval during the priming phase... so if they've managed to keep the brewery otherwise clean, they could actually make a beer without it. It's notoriously difficult to get rid of - like toss your lines and burn your clothes kind of persistent.

[Anonymous No.20223797]

>>20223452
hardly my fault is it? if you aren't the guy I asked a question of don't reply to me as if you are then
stupid cunt

>>20223782
could be misremembering a story which might be apocryphal anyway but I think way back the brewery was really sloppy, got cleaned up under a new brewer, heap of new kit, then the beer was so changed they had to reculture the brett from the rafters

[Anonymous No.20223912]

>>20223797
every difficulty in your life is entirely your fault

[Anonymous No.20223928]

>>20210897
If you live near DC a place called Sherry's Wine & Spirits that often keeps Westvleteren 12 in-stock. It's typically like $50 a pop unfortunately

>>20219439
Good answer.

[Anonymous No.20224257]

>>20223912
spose so, post on 4chan, get retards replying to me, predictable outcome

[Anonymous No.20224600]

>>20222473
Oh boy, uh dark beers like porters and stouts are brewed with barley that literally looks burnt. They always also have a lot of normal styles of barley, but a certain part of the mash is really over dried barley to impart the dark chocolate/bitter coffee notes. Belgium ales often add Carmel malt barley sometimes dark crystalized malts to give them the color and flavor. To me, and I may be wrong. A dark Belgium ale reminds me more of a slightly watered down old ale or barley wine than a stout. Old ale or barley wine to me is the Pinnacle of beer. I think Belgium brown ales or dark ales are close to it, but lighter...not in color but in flavor and how it feels drinking one.

[Anonymous No.20225022]

>>20224600
Delirium Tremens is a strange drink, where do all of those flavours even come from! This is a drink in which it's label actually related to the flavour.

[Anonymous No.20225059]

>>20224600
Some dubbels get pretty dark and use a pinch of chocolate malt to get there, but that's just me playing devil's advocate.
Kandi/Candi/invert sugar is a fairly common ingredient to boost the alcohol content and push the yeast into making more fruity esters (pear/banana and apple/cider especially) without increasing the viscosity of the beer.
If you're going to make a dark dubbel at home, I recommend fairly alcohol tolerant "Abbey", "Monastery", or "Belgian" yeasts (White Labs and Wyeast have a bunch), a fairly light base (light Munich / 7L at the darkest), some 30-60L malt, some 80-120-ish, and a pinch of chocolate malt in the 300-350ish range. 3-5%ish by weight dark candi sugar (or heat some table sugar with a squeeze of lemon juice or 1/2tsp of cream of tartar and a splash of water, and caramelize it a little bit), fairly soft, nearly sulfur free water (but not straight up distilled - at least add some sodium or calcium carbonate to it if distilled's your only good choice), and a moderate fermentation temp. Keeping it above 20C for too long will push the isoamyl acetate (banana/pear) and phenolics (clove and pepper) and might give some weird fruit punch and bubble gum flavours if you're pushing 8-10%. Under 10C, especially in primary, will mute those flavours and give more of a lagered ale vibe.

[Anonymous No.20225063]

>>20225022
Mutant yeast with great growing conditions.

[Anonymous No.20225214]

>>20225063
Must be mutant.

Do you know of any London Pubs that sell bottles of this quality stuff like this? They always have absolute shit, and they have the cheek to call themselves serious Pubs.

[Anonymous No.20225226]

>>20225214
I haven't been to London for years, and even then I think my stay there was literally hitting a pub on my way out of town, and on my way back to Gatwick.

But yeah, Belgian strains in general make a fuckton of esters. Other strains tend to clean up as they go, but I find Belgians need some time on the yeast just to get rid of that green apple acetaldehyde flavour that other beers will usually be rid of before secondary fermentation's done.

[Anonymous No.20225232]

>>20219735
>avoid/overrrated:
>-rochefort 10
fuck off retard, that shit is great

[Anonymous No.20225247]

>>20210718
Try this one, its my favorite.

[Anonymous No.20225707]

>>20220911
>muh mantit hop juice
god I hate ameritards

[Anonymous No.20225737]

>>20225707
You type like a Gaga’s

[Anonymous No.20225824]

>>20225737
>Gaga’s
interesting

[Anonymous No.20225836]

>>20210718
I like the Lambic beers made by monks

[Anonymous No.20227334]

>>20225836
which lambics are made by monks? i've had many lambics but have never seen a monastery one.

[Anonymous No.20227722]

>>20225059
Thanks for the brewing tips, I haven't had time or money to brew since a little after I got married but I really want to again. I might ask my folks for a barley kit for my birthday or something. I'm super rusty with brewing, but I understood most of what you said. You must brew all the time, do you work in the industry or just homebrew?

[Anonymous No.20228380]

>>20227722
I got put in charge of a local brewery's weirdo tanks after my buddy found out I can make beer and do math at the same time. Mostly just homebrew... even at work, it's the same shit, just on a larger scale with better equipment.