Floris Chocolate

Yesterday I tried the Floris Chocolate beer from brouwerij Hyghe (East Flanders).

However mixing beer with chocolate sounded kind of very weird in my ears. It got me intrigued so I purchased it and decided to do some quick research on the topic ;)

I found a study that claims that natives of Central America were drinking beverages made from cacao (the seeds which chocolate comes from) even before 1000 BC. But what’s so important about that, you ask ? Well those early cacao beverage were probably alcoholic brews, or beers, made from the fermented pulp of the cacao fruit, rather than the frothy chocolate-flavored drink made from the seed of the cacao tree. It seems that the first chocolate drinks, made more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, were really chocolate-flavored beer! Funny. However this ale is a chocolate flavored white beer, so I was kind of scared as what to expect.

So chilled at +/- 3 degrees Celsius I decided to open the bottle and poured it into a “appropriate”  Tulip shaped glass.  The Floris Chocolate had a very small head that dissolves quickly, interesting murky brown color. The smell was the best thing about this one. A sweet and milk chocolate aroma, a very nice smell of amaretto liquor was also dominant. 

I was expecting a thick rich flavor of a stout but it had a very light body (dry & grainy) and is not overly carbonated. The taste is a more creamy milk chocolate and more amaretto/hazelnut taste. Chocolaty, but not rich or overly decadent like you’d find in a nice, strong stout. The mouth feel has a slick oily finish. There is also a slightly overly ripe fruit characteristic to it, kind of an upfront floral aroma.

At the end of the day the Floris Chocolate is actually quite delicious. It tastes better than it sounds. All things considered the Floris Chocolate is really only average, but most importantly it tasted good. This Ale was more something light and casual that could accompany dessert.

Definitely a love or hate sort of beer. We got them in store. Just click here to get to the appropriate section.

Do not forget to visit our friends at beeradvocate.com to see what other think about those beers.

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From the tiny Artisanal brewery La Caracole in the even tinier village of Falmignoul in the Ardennes, a wild mountainous Southern area of Belgium, is situated in a house most Americans would probably not even consider big enough for their garage.

One of their beers, Troublette, is a mildly yeasty and delightfully fresh wheat ale that comes in a 1/3L bottle that has on it’s label a cute little snail on a lilypad, looking curiously down into the pond.

With an alcohol content of 5.5%, it is best enjoyed chilled on a hot summers day. It tastes magnificent: Like a Hoegaarden, but with more zest and more fruit than your mass produced beer, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Click here to get it.

Do not forget to visit our friends at beeradvocate.com to see what other think about those beers.

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Based on demands out of Finland we have also added the Hoegaarden Lemon. I am not a very big InBev fan but I must admit that it’s a very refreshing drink during the hot summer days or for the Finnish probably a good drink right after a sauna. The last one we added this month is the Witkap Stimulo, a great 6 abv belgian pale ale from the Slaghmuylder brewery.

It seems as well that the delivery of the Cuvée Delphine, a bourbon aged stout, from Struise. The ales will only be available around the end of March and not around the end of February as they initially planned.

The good news however is that we secured 3 crates of Westvleteren 12 this month and we will be putting our 2008 stocks in our cellars to let them age. Talking about our cellars we will soon be making available aged Westvleteren 8. 

Do not forget to visit our friends at beeradvocate.com to see what other think about those beers.

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Brugge Tripel 8.7° – 1/3L – 11.6fl.oz

By the Palm brewery. Made as is traditional with candy sugar but in this case unspiced, a very deep golden triple-style bottle-conditioned offering. The beer pours with a rich head and a very hoppy aroma, with a twiggy quality a little like spruce and a trace of live yeast. The palate is lively, richly malty and orange-fruity but smooth, with a clear hit of alcohol, some yeast, and a developing almond nuttiness. Tangy hops spread to become clearer on the swallow, where the alcohol makes itself felt, followed by a quite closed bitter finish with cough-drop sweetness developing against more sprucey hints, giving quite a liqueur-like touch. A very big and fine triple. Click here to get it.

Do not forget to visit our friends at beeradvocate.com to see what other think about those beers.

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The first is the Arabier 8° – 1/3L -11.6floz, a strong pale ale from the “dolle brouwers”. Their website says :” An arabier is a pure malt beer brewed with flower Nugget-hops from Poperinge. It has the special dry-hopping taste and aroma, so appreciated by beer lovers all over the world. It is one of the two main beers from De Dolle Brouwers throughout the year. Aging time is limited due to the fact that hop bitterness is declining with the time. Store arabier cool and dark and serve cool at 10°C. 33cl, 8%ABV.” However I will make my own mind up and drink one myself to see if this is as good as it sounds. Click here if you want to find this ale back in our store.

The second Ale we have now on our store is one that was actually already quite some time in our store without being on our e-shop. It’s one of those great classic belgian pale ales that are being called :”nen palmke” when you order them in a Belgian pub.  To find more details about this great classic from the Palm Breweries just click here 

Note: We will not be shipping out from January 26th till February 5th all intercontinental orders coming in during those dates will be shipped out around February 5th.

Do not forget to visit our friends at beeradvocate.com to see what other think about those beers.

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Brasserie Abbaye Des Rocs

I tasted yesterday a Abbaye Des Rocs – Speciale Noel – 9°abv – 1/3L – (Belgian Strong Dark Ale). This is a Christmas Ale offering from Brasserie Abbayes des rocs. The Abbaye des Rocs Brewery has its roots in a little picturesque village, a true green spot in an area since populated with flourishing industries. The Brewing activities started in 1979 with a production capacity of 50 liters every two weeks. Now the production is close to 1,000 hl.  All the beers are made with water from a well in the rocky subsoil, with malt, hops and spices. They are natural without added sugars and guaranteed to be without chemical additives. That’s about the bewery. If you wanna know more visit the brewers website by clicking here.

Abbaye Des Rocs Speciale Noel

Now as I had one 1/3L bottle on the shelf I decided to open it to add some more enjoyment to  my CSI Las Vegas TV Show yesterday.

Opened one 1/3L bottle and poured it into a Chalice Westvleteren glass. The foam jumped out of the bottle as soon as opened it. I poored in slowly and got a moderated foam that dissapeared quickly. I noticed some sediment at the bottom of the glass, kind of normal as Abbaye des rocs does not filter their ales at any stage of production. The Ale is dark brown colored but with a ,for me, unexpected surprizingly light body.

Mild but intensive carbonation that gives it a pleasant mouthfeel. Aroma is midly malty and midly coriander spicy. It misses some complexity or a more evolving structure but it is nevertheless kind of well balanced, midly hoppy, without being impressive.

Alcohol is smooth and very well hidden. Drinkable and decent. Faint chocolate flavor.

Now would I buy a case of this Christmas style offering for my own consumption ? I don’t think so. I truly expected more.

Maybe it’s because I sampled a Struise Tsjeeses Reserva 2 days ago and that this one became my absolute number 1 Xmas beer for 2008.

My review has also been posted to the site of our friends at beeradvocate.com. Click here

to read all the reviews on that Ale.

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The first one is the Mongozo Banana : a 4.8abv in 1/3L bottle conditioning. This is a fair trade fruit beer brewed by the Vansteenberghe brewery. We like the fair trade pitch as it is a trademark indicating that farmers and producers in disadvantaged parts of the world receive “a fair trade” for their goods. In case here the bananas. This is a traditional African beer recipe. If you like bananas and are looking for something a little different, then this is for you.  Click here to get them.

For the marketing story for that beer you can log into the brewers microsite at http://www.mongozo.com. If you want to know how this beer has been reviewed please do visit our friends at beeradvocate.com or click here to get directly to the appropriate beer review.

The second brew we posted today is the Quintine Blonde 8°- 1/3L – 11.6fl.oz. It’s a Strong Pale Ale from the Brasserie Ellezelloise. This is a tiny brewery that nevertheless manages to produce 1000 hectoliters/ year. Housed in a picturesque converted barn in French-speaking Belgium, the brewery includes a cozy café to which the local folk and connoisseurs from Brussels love to repair on weekend afternoons.

The  Alström Bros reviewed that ale and you can find there review on the beeradvocate.com website or by just clicking here.

If you want to purchase that beer click here.

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You can visit our friends at beeradvocate.com too to post your review on this Ale. Just click here and you will be taken to the right place.

TheBelgianBeerShop.com team wishes you a great and beerfull 2009 !

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Extract from beeradvocate member review :

First off this was the darkest stout i have ever seen. I took my glass out to the sun porch to try and see if any light would penetrate. Well the sun did not stand a chance, I have no idea what the srm was but it had to be 60+. It had a thick, creamy brown head that was long lasting. The aroma consisted of chocolate and roasted malt with a slight touch of port in the back ground. The flavor was very rich and warming. Started off with a fresh roasted coffee taste. Vanilla beans and nobel hops in the middle and finished with an amazing chocolate aftertaste. The alcohol was perfectly balanced with the malt and the bitterness. It was warming but never hot and slightly sweet but not cloying. Urbain said the final gravity was 1.030 so he was able to achieve really good attenuation for a 100% malt bill. No sugar or adjuncts in Black Albert. The mouthfeel was very full and smooth. It is the best stout RIS or BIS I have ever tried hands down.

Don’t forget to visit our friends at http://www.beeradvocate.com or click the banner to get all the reviews on the Black Albert.

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Brouwerij Slaghmuylder is a 135-year-old brewery and the last surviving one in the town Ninove, Belgium—a town that boasted 13 breweries less than a century ago. That the brewery (which opened in 1860) is still run by three direct descendants of the original founder, Emmanuel Slaghmuylder, just makes it more special. Their Witkap Pater line of beers includes an Abbey Stimulo (Single), Dubbel and Tripel. This week, we’ll try the Tripel.

The name “Tripel” stems from part of the brewing process in which brewers use up to three times the normal amount of malt. Traditionally, Tripels are bright yellow or gold in color—a shade or two darker than the average Pilsner. Head should be big, dense and creamy. Aroma and flavor are complex—spicy, phenolic, yeasty, fruity and estery with a sweet finish. This sweetness comes from both the pale malts and the higher alcohol. It’s very bitter for such a strong beer with such an unexpectedly light body; but at times, the bitterness is barely perceptible amid the even balance of malts and hops. Its lighter body comes from the use of Belgian candi sugar, which not only lightens the body, but also adds complex alcoholic aromas and flavors. Small amounts of spices are sometimes added as well. Tripels are notoriously high in alcohol; yet the truly well-crafted ones sneakily cloak this character, making them true sipping beers.

The Taste
Available in an 11.2-ounce slender brown bottle, the label notes that this is an “Unfiltered/Bottle Conditioned” beer. In typical Belgian bottle-conditioned fashion, 10 seconds after we pop the crown off, the beer slowly starts to foam its way out of the bottle. Poured into a goblet, the beer offers some amazing head retention and rings of white lace sticking to the glass after each sip. Good clarity, with a dull golden color.

The nose contains apricots and pear, faint ground white pepper, chalky yeast and an aroma of shortbread biscuits.

It’s very crisp and lively with a smooth back and moderate body. Spicy phenols wrap around its dry maltiness, which is similar to crusty bread, highlighted by some pithy notes of green banana. Spicy hops, with a flare from the alcohol, provide a nice bite along with a moderate grassy bitterness. Earthy on the palate with a flash of honey-like sweetness. Yeasty and fruity undertones layer middle to end. Finishes dry.

Final Thoughts
It’s a tasty little Tripel; even at 7.5% alcohol by volume, it won’t knock you out. Serve cool, not cold, and decant slowly as to keep the sediment in the bottle. Try pairing with aged cheddar cheese or grilled salmon, both of which offer unique and complementary experiences.

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