Now we’re talking! An authentic Trappist product here, and much like the other nine Trappist abbey breweries it comes with a rich history that dates back to 1881 when the Trappists initially occupied the monastery. The monks quickly realized that the profits from farming alone were not enough to keep the monastery going so they decided to start brewing and selling Trappist beer in 1884. We love a good piece of history.
On with the review. We poured this corker into a tulip glass and the appearance shows a deep, cloudy copper orange with a fizzy 1 finger head that collapsed quickly to a collar with minimal lacing. Astringent, yet sweet fruity esters and alcohol invade the olfactory’s instantly. Complex hints of pear, banana, plums, raisin, candy sugars and a subtle peppery spice together are just blessings to the nose. Absolutely gorgeous aroma. Medium-high carbonation with a glutinous mouth feel. Rich and complex palate. Initially we picked up a sharp alcoholic astringency from the 10% ABV. A hint of dark fruits, treacle and raisin develop and move forward through the mid. A sweet candy/sugary flavour forms and leads to a long spicy finish with a well drawn out muddled fruit sweetness. Classy stuff, extremely sweet throughout the beer but our hats are off to these Dutch masters of brewing. Brilliant quadrupel.