the beers of FUTENMA: Westmalle tripple Trappist

My buddy Hillgar posted a picture of this particular brew, so I thought, since I had it I would do the review.
Abdij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart van Jezus, or Westmalle as it is more commonly known, was founded in 1797 and elevated to Trappist Abby in 1836, they started brewing the same year. The Monestary and brewery is located near the city of Malle (it's west of it, hence the name), which is located in Flanders. It was started by a group of Monks fleeing France (there seems to be a trend here) who, while on there way to Canada, passed through Flanders and were invited to stay. 8 of them did and they started Westmalle on a small farm given to them by the bishop of Antwerp. They had to abandon Westmalle in 1794 when the French invaded (them again!), but they returned in 1802. They left again when, in 1811, Napoleon banned all Trappists from France ( why can't these dastardly wine sippers just leave our habit wearing heroes alone!). They returned (again) in September of 1814, this time for good. During the great war, the steeple of their Chapel was demolished by the retreating Belgian army, and during WWII 10 monks held down the fort and the rest fled the country, afterward returning. The Abby's brewery has been quite successful, and the operation has grown to a point that the Monks have had to hire secular workers to come in and assist them in their brewing operations.

The Westmalle Goblet is one of the most impressive I've seen, It's certainly the tallest. The bottle is nice as well, rather tall, with the word "TRAPPISTENBIER" raised around it's neck.It says 9.5% alcohol by volume, which I imagine is a result of the confectionery sugar used in it's secondary fermentation in the bottle. I suppose it's time to pry the cap off and see that head.

It has a golden color, nice thick head that boils down from large bubbles to a nice creamy froth. It has a yeasty nose to it. On my first sip, it tastes a little citrusy, a little yeasty, with a rather alkaline feel to it ,or mouthfeel. I just learned the term from my friend Hilgar and I'm afraid I don't know how to properly apply it, but expect it in future posts. I would call this a mild bodied beer, It's moderately hoppy, but sweet. I figure most of this beers character is from the aforementioned secondary fermentation. I don't think I've had a beer that was quite this yeasty, even the La Trappe dubble that had the bits of yeast floating in it (I recently learned what those were). In all of this talk about yeast, I don't want you to get the Idea that this is all that is going on. This beer is quite obvious malted flavors, but I lack the experience to explain them.

This thing has shown me up, and along with the quick review my buddy gave of the Rochefort 10, has shown me how much I don't know about reviewing beer. But that's allot of the point of this blog, for me to learn more about beer and share it with y'all. And I think I've learned quite a bit, not so much about fancy terms, but about appreciating the individual aspects of beer that I never put a great deal of thought into before. At least I can go into more detail than I have in the past. This blog is also kind of a writing exercise for myself. I'm rather analytical, so just writing facts are easy for me, but expanding upon what is opinion is new territory. I like the fact that, being my blog, I can write as I please. No need for writing in a "proper" style. Of course, as English is a unregulated language, it's grammar and spelling are preposterous. But I suppose that's what I love about it, in reality it's kind of a rouge language, it is and can be anything it needs to be, as long as it makes sense and get's you're point across. I guess what I'm trying to say is, English is a mustang that needs to roam free, and I hate that people try to break it. Just let English run, like God intended.

You go English, don't ever let e'm take you down!

and have a beer too buddy!

I don't know how I got onto the subject of alcoholism in horses, but I'm out of this wonderful beer. May we meet again Westmalle Triple. Maybe next time I'll be ready to give you the review you deserve.

This beer gets my blurry seal of approval.

The beers of FUTENMA: CHIMAY Brune (Red lable)

Tonight I review CHIMAY Brune or Red (as it is commonly refered to). Supposedly a dark brown dubble Trappist with a sweet, fruity aroma, at least that's what Wikipedia said. Wikipedia's been wrong a couple of times, so we'll see about this one.

It looks like the other two bottles of CHIMAY I've reviewed, but with a red cap and lable. I'll be using the same CHIMAY Chalice as the previous reviews. After I pry off the crimpcap, the nose from the bottle has a lager quality to it. A mild head forms when I pour it, it certainly is brown. It has quite the barley nose from the chalice, not heavy, but you can tell it's a brown ale. It tastes rich, it's a little acidic, I want to say it has a mild cherry taste to it, but I may need to think on that one. Wikipedia was wrong though, the aroma is not fruity, but the taste is, mildly. For the most part it tastes like a brown ale, albeit one of the better brown ales I've ever had. It's not blow you're socks off good, but it's worth picking up.

So, I've been watching a YouTube show called "The Great War". This show goes week by week and talks about what happened exactly a century ago in WW1. If you follow any YouTube channels, you should defiantly watch this one. It presents history in an interesting a mostly apolitical way, which I appreciate.
So, now that I'm out of this beer, it's time to sum up. It's a brown ale with a mild fruity flavor (I say cherry, but that's up for interpretation). Not a let down, but not what I've come to expect from a Trappist brewery.

the beers of FUTENMA: Chimay White (triple)

It's time to give CHIMAY another shot. According to the webbernet, CHIMAY triple is the driest and hoppiest of the beers they brew, as a fan of IPAs, maybe I'll like this one.

I pried the crimp cap off and put nose to bottle, it has the aroma of wheat beer, this is not a good sign. I'll keep an open mind, beer often does not taste like its nose.

It has a burnt orange color, maybe everything will be alright. There is practically no head when I pour it, but after a minute a rather thick, creamy one forms. I can see the bubbler working overtime, there are also streams coming from the sides. Imperfections in the glass maybe? Probably just smudges from hand washing. Maybe it's the variety of hopps that give this beer it's aroma, maybe it has a putrid taste like wheat beer? Time to find out.

This tastes quite a bit like an IPA, although that is not surprising as the whole Idea of an IPA is to be a hopp overload. It is not exactly like an IPA though, it has a slight wheat beer like aftertaste, which makes it distinctly different. The beer has already warmed up a little, I don't notice the wheat taste anymore. Rolling around, it has cinnamon notes. I don't think I've had a beer I can honestly say has had cinnamon notes. I'm almost halfway through the chalice and I wish I had more. I'm going to sip this and make it last, I think y'all know what this beer is going to get at the end.
So, accompianing me in this Monk made journey is a band called The Big Nose Attack. They make really good fuzzy blues rock, but it is mixed in with some weird sounding stuff. I actually like it quite a bit, I may buy the album.

I'm onto their second album now, much better than the first. Kind of hard to believe they're a Greek band sometimes. Although, the second album has much more Greek influence, which is part of what makes it better, I suppose. They dropped the weird stuff at least.

Well, it's out, I'm sad to say. Good job CHIMAY, you did not fail me again.

I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.

The beers of FUTENMA: St. Bernardus Abt 12. and lets try it: NISSIN U.F.O BIG

Today I have a combined review. Both are things I have had before, but friends on facebook have suggested I review. Those things are St. Bernardus Abt 12 and NISSIN U.F.O BIG.

Part of why I'm combining these reviews is my unfortunate first time drinking Abt 12. I had gotten sick from some bad food I had eaten and had to "un-eat" so to say. I was still queasy and could not hold down solid food, liquids on the other hand I could handle just fine. If you see were this is going, go ahead and face palm while I explain to the less savvy readers. So I decided to pop the top on that Abt 12 I had, a beer that is 750ml and 10% alcohol by volume. After I finished the bottle I found I needed to "un-drink" the beer. I cannot imagine why my judgement would lapse to such a degree as to cause me to do this, I cannot even fathom the rationale, and I'm the one who did it. After that I went to bed, sicker than ever, head spinning, and trying to piece together why I would make such an obviously bad decision. This is not a beer to be had without food, not that any beer is. So the Japanese freeze dried yakisoba noodles are a precaution. I clearly enjoyed how it tasted, I probably would not finish the bottle if I didn't. But this time I may not finish it, at the very least I will be pacing myself.
So lets introduce these consumables in a less vulgar manner. U.F.O BIG, It's a little more involved to prepare than regular instant yakisoba, but it tastes good, it's filling, and it's cheap. It comes in a Styrofoam square bowl, so when it's little comic style instructions say not to microwave it, you'd better listen.

The instructions are pretty dummy proof, with a simple 1,2,3 instructions and pictures to match.

So I heat up some water

and go to number 1

Inside is the same dried vegitables you find in other yakisoba, but the seasonings for this one are different. there is a small seasoning packet with you're general dried herb mix, in the big one is a black (really just a very dark brown) liquid sauce you pour over the noodles when you drain the water.
Once you're water is hot, you fill it to the little internal lip and wait for it to soften.

While we wait for that we'll start on the St. Bernardus abt 12.St. Bernardus brewery is located in Watou Belgium and produces Trappist styled beers, although not a true Trappist brewery as it is not located inside a monastery. St. Bernardus continues to brew the same beers that they produced while under contract with the St. Sixtus monastery, which ended the contract after the 1992 decision to more strictly define Trappist beer. St. Sixtus runs a rather small operation, and only produces as much beer as is needed to run the monastery and donate to charities. The Abt 12 is a clone of the St. Sixtus Westvleteren 12, and is a quaduple abby ale. The beer is corked much like a Champagne bottle, with a metal keeper you need to untwist and remove before nerve wrackingly popping the cork.

Going back to the U.F.O Big, it is time to drain

After it's drained you add the seasonings and mix it up with you're sticks.

THEN YOU FEAST!

If you've ever had chow mein, that's exactly what this tastes like. That's all there really is to say about it flavor wise.
On to the beer. I remove the metal keeper and warn my roommate that I'm about to pop the cork. This turns us both into little girls afraid of a piece of  bark flying out of a bottle. The bottle finally erupts with a defining POP! and the cork goes flying.

Nose wise, it smells like you would expect an ale to from the bottle. I'm going to pour it into the Rochefort goblet (I described it in a previous blog, it's nice) and see how it heads.

It has dark amber color and moderately heavy beige head. The head has some staying power, I bite out a mouthful of bubbles and find it has an apple taste, you can't really taste the alcohol but you can sense it's presence. Now to get to the beer proper. I put on some James Brown to drown out the world so I can focus on the taste and have a sip. It's fruity, this is another one of those beers that is more like wine than it is beer, kind of like the Rochefort this goblet came with. Providence I suppose. This does not taste like figs, in case you were wondering. This one has an apple and grape taste, kind of like those weird Grapples you see at the grocery store (Who says genetically modified organisms are bad?). Technically those apples are not GMO's but apples soaked in a solution to make them taste like a concord grape, but I digress. It has a very mild acidity to it, not at all unpleasant. Even though the beer masks the alcohol quite a bit, I can taste it on my breath, this is a beer to be careful with, especially in its sizable quantity that you cannot reseal for later.
 My regular grid fleece is in the wash so I put on my leather jacket, it's a frigged 21 degrees Celsius in here, that's 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit for those not trapped in that socialist hellhole "the rest of the world".
As the beer warms up, the flavor changes to more of a mild, somewhat bitter, apple molasses taste. Honestly, this one just isn't my thing. It's good, but when you've had beers like it that do what it does better, it just doesn't have a great deal to offer. Maybe it's because I've just recently had some of the best Trappist beers in the world, and this beer can stand up and be counted among them taste wise, but it doesn't offer anything that special by comparison. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying don't have it, it's good beer. But after the glass was done, I was just tired of it, and I still have half the bottle.

the beers of FUTENMA: Chimay Blue

Chimay Blue if from The Abbaye de Scourmont near Chimay Belgium. The brewery, founded in 1862, Is the oldest to use the term Trappist on their labeling. Like all Trappist brewerys, it financially supports the Monastic community, the rest of the profits go to charity.

I have three of these to review, and according to the internet this one is phenomenal, but I'll be the judge of that. The bottle has Scourmont in raised lettering on the bottle topped with a circle with the letters D, A, and S inside. On the label we have a golden shield with two fleur-de-lis and CHIMAY Peres Trappistes, the rest is of the label is blue. The chalice is rather utilitarian, it says CHIMAY and has a fleur-de-lis bubbler at the bottom. It is poorly painted and not as nice as the others, but I'm not particularly afraid that I'm gonna break it, as it has a somewhat sturdier construction.Well, time to dispose of the crimp cap and release the brew!

When I popped the cap a whisp of mist and a flood of bubbles came to the top, I was a little worried it was going to overflow. The nose from the bottle smells like a brown ale. Lets pour it and you know by now why. The head is not heavy, it does have an almost cream like quality. The color is a deep, thick brown. I cannot even see the bubbler. I find the nose hard to describe other than it smells like a brown ale with heavy alcohol, I hate it when detailed description eludes me. It defiantly has a coffee flavor to it. Coffee with chocolate notes and a dark chocolate after taste. It has a mild acidity to it, but not so much that it's unpleasant to hold in you're mouth. This tastes like a porter to be perfectly honest, which is fine, porter is one of my favorite styles. It's a flavorful beer, not doubt about that. Really seems more like something to be had with food, rather than by itself.Why is it that beer with heavy coffee taste is almost always kind of acidic? Is it the acidity that gives it this flavor, or are the two not mutually exclusive? I suppose I've had some porters that were not particularly acidic that had coffee flavor, certainly some bock, but if it is overwhelmingly coffee is is almost always overwhelmingly acidic. The acidity starts go go away as the beer warms, maybe I should just leave these Trappist beers on the desk for about half an hour before drinking them. This beer is kind of peppery, now that I think about it, not really my thing. I can see by the ring in the middle of the head that the bubbler is in fact doing something.
You know, I had high hopes for this beer, but instead of becoming a lawyer it became regional manager for Belks. It's not a failure, but there are a number of beers along the same lines made by craft brewers that are just as good, if not better, it has not quite lived up to the hype. We'll try this again CHIMAY, do not fail me again.

the beers of FUTENMA: Trappistes Rochefort #8

I have sad news, I had to get rid of the Rochefort #10, so I will not be reviewing that one. It's a small price to pay to get hard alcohol out of the barracks, but still it is sad to have to toss out one of the most highly rated beers in the world. But no matter, I have the Trappistes Rochefort #8 to review.
The Abbey Notre Dame of Saint Remy in Rochefort was started in 1230 and started brewing in 1595. The Abby had been burnt out during the French revolution and then sold to a man who tore it down and turned it into a farm. In 1887 the Monks of Achel bought the ruins and rebuilt the Abby and it's brewery. Unfortunately, the brewing operations would not be significant enough to support commercial sale until 1952. Only about fifteen monks live there, and the brewery operates three days a week.

The Rochefort #8 has a skinny, rather light brown bottle, that shows the contents are clear enough to let a small amount of light through, but not enough to see through.The internet says it's a yellowish brown color, we will see if the internet is right. The goblet that came with the sampler has a gold rim, nice bulbed stem, and a bubbler with an R the same font as is found printed on the bottle and goblet.It has a pungent, fruity nose from the bottle. Time to pour.

It has a lovely head, I would really call the color a very deep red. I don't know where they got the Idea that it was yellowish brown, reddish brown maybe, but not yellow.

Its fruity, with...some kind of malted cereal, but I can't put my finger on what. You can really taste the alcohol in this one, at 9.2% it's not easy to cover up, but I don't think the Monks of Saint Remy are trying to. It adds to the flavor, rather than being an unfortunate feature. Boy, the bubbler is just nucleating away in there. It does keep a nice head on the beer though. I have never been a big fan of head, being an ale man, but it certainly looks nice. Just something about the foam against my upper lip makes me feel like a kid drinking a milkshake. This beer just has a balance of hopps and malts that makes it hard to tell whether it is hopp heavy or malt heavy. I twirl it around my mouth and think "I suppose it is kind biased towards malt, but I cannot ignore the obvious hopp taste". I'm going to go ahead and say malt.
FIG! that's what fruit this tastes like! This tastes like fig that has caramelized on the tree. I don't know if y'all have had that, but try a fig that has just started to prune and you have the essential flavor of this beer. The fig taste becomes exacerbated as the beer warms, the alcohol bite has all but gone away. I don't know about room temperature, I'll let it warm a little more, but slightly chilled seems the way to go with this one. And listen to "Moonlight Serenade" by Glen Miller while you're at it, "In the mood" is a good one too.

and with a cigarette, like God intended.

The fruit taste increases as it warms, chilled is defiantly the way to go. Some might say this beer has a raisin taste to it, don't you believe those lies. This one get the blurry seal of approval.