Trappistes Rochefort 8 steps up the goodness

Karl is over again two nights in a row (Karl's presence is always a pleasure, never a chore) to drink beer 2 of 3 from Rochefort, the 9.2% alcohol Rochefort 8. 

Only the best company for my new book

The 8 is simply a bigger bodied and badder version of the 6. It's hard to explain but it's even though the 8 is essentially the same beer as the 6 - only bolder - somehow the additional alcohol and body make a huge difference in flavor.

Another interesting note is that I can taste the alcohol. Usually I take points away for not masking the booze, but here it's not a bad thing. Because both beers are so smooth, the alcohol adds an edge to the 8 that the 6 didn't have and I dig it. It's like after I grew a beard, people actually notice me. It's probably because I'm so dark and mysterious...but it's more likely because I look like the Brawny Man in my plaid pearl snap shirts. And I'll take it! I mean, have you seen Ax Men on Discovery Channel? BAD BOYS rating.

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So I ordered two beer books from Amazon last week, and one of them was the Designing Great Beers textbook (as I'll call it). It's marks the next step forward in my burgeoning home brewing experience. I received it today and I've already poured through a decent hunk of the material and it's pretty fascinating. The author breaks down the science of brewing, which wasn't my forte, because I'm more of a history guy, but I plan to make an exception. Karl joked that if I applied as much effort to studying beer as I did studying in college, I wouldn't currently be such a waste of space / bum. Dammit, Karl's always right.

This book, I think, will radically challenge what I perceive to already know about brew and about what beers I want to make in the future. Time to dive in get serious about this stuff.