1001 Beers

Beer No: 107
Page No: 247
Category: Amber

At first I thought I had made a mistake, because this bottle is part of the "Imperial Series" by Samuel Adams and the beer listed was just the Double Bock, but upon turning to the page in 1001 Beers, it's clear that this is the beer they intended to put in the book.  Which is kind of annoying because I didn't really enjoy this beer at all.  I thought the flavors were a bit medicinal and the "imperialization" of the beer just didn't really help out at all.  The taste was just acceptable with some smoked malts and some hints of coffee, but the heavy hops they tried to add just threw things out of whack.  That being said, it certainly didn't ruin my International Beer Day.

And in honor of International Beer Day, here's a wonderful song about Duvel, among my favorite beers as well.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Samuel Adams Imperial Double Bock by Boston Beer Company

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 3/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 2/5
Overall: 9/20

Rating: 2.6 / 5.0

Had from 12oz bottle. Pours dark brown with slight tan head and good lacing. Aroma is heavy smoked malts, some coffee, and alcohol. Taste is alcohol, lots of malts, and a nice hop bite at the finish. A bit disappointing, had expected something a bit more complex and less medicinal.

Beer No: 72
Page No: 186
Category: Amber

The last in my quick travel through the four oddly shaped 330ml bottles from Belgium, we end with the Maredsous 10 Tripel after having the lovely Maredsous 8 Dubbel yesterday.  Not much new to note here after going over the "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer" label yesterday, but I did enjoy this tripel.  On par with the Piraat as far as alcohol content (10.0% vs. 10.5%), I found the Maredsous to be clearly superior.  So, after declaring the Maredsous 8 better than the Gulden Draak, we have Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat 2, Brouwerij Van Steenberge 0.  However, all four of the beers were above average, and if I were a fan of malty beers like all four of these were, I'd be content to drink them in rotation until the end of days.  And here they are, crazy 330ml bottles and all:

On a completely unrelated (well, maybe related note), yesterday The Bruery announced their intentions to open a store in Old Towne Orange, just a few blocks (ok, maybe a lot of blocks - 2.3 miles - or 11 minutes on bike) from my house.  And I couldn't be happier.  The Buery Provisions will feature not only their own brews, but also a vast selection of hard-to-find beers, a nice tasting room, and most likely, choices of cheese and other charcuterie.  It'll be absolutely awesome to be able to bike on over, have a couple beers, some cheese, purchase some bottles, and bike on home.  They can't open soon enough for me.  Welcome to Orange.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Maredsous 10 by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 7/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

Had from 330ml bottle from BevMo. Pours golden orange with slight white had. Aroma is of citrus hops, spices, and lots of malts. Taste is of alcohol, malts, sugar, spices, fruits with very slight hops in the finish. Pours fizzy with an aftertaste of alcohol and the smallest amount of bitterness. Had in succession with Piraat and this is clearly a superior beer with the same alcohol content. A very good tripel, but not the best I’ve had.

Beer No: 71
Page No: 736
Category: Dark

Day three of the 330ml strange bottle journey leads us to Maredsous 8.  A "Certified Belgian Abbey Beer," this Dubbel is actually brewed by mega-brewer Duvel which then pays royalties to monastic institutions to certify it.  However, according to 1001 Beers, unlike many other large breweries that just pay the royalties for the "Certified" stamp, Maredsous is actually brewed in a small Flemish town and does derive from the original brews from the Benedictine abbey at Maredsous.

Following up on the malty beers I had just tasted in both Gulden Draak and Piraat, I had hoped for something a little hoppier, though, I knew it being a 'dubbel' it would be fairly malted.  And boy was it.  The aroma is very malty - sweet, fruity, sugary.  The taste manages to one-up the aroma though with a sweet complexity that features candi, plums, raisins, and nuts.  It's definitely a very malty beverage with very little hop balance to it, but I found Maredsous much better than the Gulden Draak which it would compare closer to (while the Maredsous 10 is closer to the Piraat).  Even though it's from a larger brewer in Duvel, it maintains its humble roots and complexities.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Maredsous 8 by Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat

Aroma: 6/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.6 / 5.0

Had from 330ml bottle from BevMo. Pours dark brown with slight tan head and good lacing. Aroma is very sweet - candi, raisins, alcohol. Taste is better than aroma - again sweet, but complex. More sugars, plums, raisins, nuts, and caramel. Finishes sweet, lingers nicely with a bit of sticky, syrup texture. Had in succession with Gulden Draak and found this one much more palatable and complex.

Beer No: 62
Page No: 365
Category: Blond

Yeah, yeah, wrong glass.  But it works.  The wonderful Duvel head sticks around all the way to the bottom of the glass and is perfectly distributed across the Koningshoeven glass.  But when you think of all the "devil" beer names out there - Horny Devil, Red Devil, Devils Dark, Devils Advocate, Lil Devil - it all comes back to the original - Duvel, Flemish for devil.  This Belgian blonde is the flagship of the Duvel Moortgat brewery - even with their multiple other breweries - including Ommegang here in the United States.  A perfect blend of spices, hops, and malts, Duvel is the king of go-to beers.  It pairs well with just about everything and never dissapoints.

Welcome to my top 10 Duvel.

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Duvel from Brouwerij Moortgat

Aroma: 8/10
Appearance: 5/5
Taste: 9/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 17/20

Rating: 4.3 / 5.0

Had from bottle. Pours golden yellow with ample carbonation and the perfect white head that lasts all the way to the last drop. When you ask me what a beer should look like, Duvel is it. Perfection in the pour. Aromas of yeast and hops dominate the smell with undertones of hay, yeast, and grass. The flavor is perfection - a beautiful blend of spices, yeast, bread, malt, and hops. Finishes with a slightly bready aftertaste, but that’s exactly what you’d expect from this Belgian Blond. This is about as close to perfection as you can get from a blond.