Westvleteren 8 is uniquely dubbel

David is headed to Carlsbad tomorrow for the night so we're doing our first midnight beer in a long time. Beer 363. Wow. Never would've thunk that our last 12:01am/next day beer would be the sought after Westvleteren. The real irony can be found in Davids 'beer a day' calender, announcing today's beer as the Ballast Point Calico Amber. I not only dislike ambers, but this particular one is...blerg. The Westvleteren 8 is basically the highest rated Dubbel in the world, so it should be a billion times better than any amber. Phew

As this is our return to the Westvleteren series, here is the original post discussing the brewery's history: http://www.beereveryday.com/2011/05/lost-abbey-inferno-weclomes-karl-and.html

There is a frothy, thick head that introduces a crisp body that's cleaner than most dubbels. It's richer too, with a bready center that numbs the sweet caramels down. What's really interesting and unusual, is the 8 has a grainy characteristic, probably from the use of a flaked malt. Imagine walking up a museum's modern, polished marble steps and then seeing the Rosetta Stone. Later, you probably don't remember the marble walking into the museum, but you remember the Rosetta Stone, its face marked and scratched up. It has history and character. For me, the grainy quality of this dubbel and the subtle construction of malts make this a truly unique brew. It's something to behold, not quite meeting my lofty expectations, rather, surprising them instead. BAD BOYS rating.

La Trappe Quadrupel combines the best of the trappes

David and I are only days away from wrapping up the year and we're about to do our last 12:01 next day beer of the year, but first, the final chapter from La Trappe, the 10% Quadrupel. God I love me some quadruples! COMPLEXITYYYYYY

Sweet, sweet caramel mixes it up with all sorts of characters in this fellow including breads, figs raisins and a very unique Belgian yeast flavor. It's as if the monks combined the characteristics of their dubbel and tripel into their opus. The various flavors smoothly mix together under some fantastic carbonation. This is a beer of kings, something to buy and sip on after a job well done. Pat yourself on the back, kick off your shoes and have a La Trappe Quadruple. THE ROCK rating.

La Trappe Tripel fails to curb my enthusiasm for blondes

So maybe you're unfortunately not a subscriber HBO, or maybe you receive HBO and are simply not an avid viewer of the 7th season of the acclaimed CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, which in case you're just plain silly. If you are the latter, do yourself a favor and watch this season through On Demand. It's probably the best season yet and I've laughed hard enough during the last two episodes to make my sides split like a tauntaun in Empire Strikes Back. Here's a clip from the funniest show I've seen in a long time, that garnered the highest ratings in the show's history. It may seem graphic, but settle down and curb that incredible feeling of awkwardness that rises up inside you and allow that laugh you don't feel coming to happen. And it will:

While catching up on the latest and greatest Larry, David and I pour out the 2nd La Trappe, an 8% tripel.

The beer pours a patchy Belgian lace, which is a bit surprising. The tripel still has a smooth taste and a medium body with mild bread and phenolic notes (pepper and herbal). There's a bit of grapefruit the flavor as well. The tripel is smooth as sailing. Nothing that stands out, but it's delicious to set back and relax with. THE ROCK rating. This tripel isn't the best, but provides a solid performance. It' one blonde that I wouldn't mind asking out on a date again.

La Trappe Dubbel is the delicious bookend to a Deer Valley weekend

I recently purchased a mountain bike but have never actually gone mountain biking, so I sign up for a group Sunday morning, lead by Mike from South Africa. No one else shows up so it turns into a private lesson and Mike takes me out to the parking lot to learn the basics but I pick it up pretty quickly and soon we're up in the mountains, bombing down trails. 

Beautiful right? Mountain biking was a blast and I only took a spill once. It was minor, but I now understand how dangerous this sport is. These trails and the mountain are completely unforgiving. You can't take your mind off what is coming up for a second. There is no scenery gazing in mountain biking. Except of course when you're completely stopped and on your own after the tour like below:

I definitely want to find some trials in LA, but I also feel the need to get some additional padding. Afterward, I meet up with the rents to devour a BBQ Bison Bacon Burger with parmesian fries. I'm including this detail and picture not only because it's a beautiful day and I couldn't resist, but look at that presentation! Kudos Deer Valley cooks.

After demolishing 2/3 lb of a bison, we rested up and watched Travis Pastrano drive his rally car into the finals despite having broken his ankle and foot Friday doing motorcycle stunts. After doing something really stupid, he pulled it together and almost did something really awesome, but unfortunately crashed on the last lap of the finals.

We went to dinner in Park City at this amazing Mexican fusion restaurant called Chimayo, which I didn't take pictures of (Duck Enchiladas, hmmmm) and won't bore you with, but I was surprised to find something else in the alley next to the restaurant:

A Banksy in Park City? This is way out of his normal territory. Park City is certainly not metropolitan, but it does host the Sundance Film Festival every winter. Banksy is subversive as hell and I love the idea here. His art can be both subtle like the above and overt like this:

 Or:

The above is actually the Prime Minister's house. Banksy essentially created a giant penis on a house that is guarded around the clock by CCTV, police and has a 24 hours armed response team. Wow. At the bottom of the page I'll post a Simpsons Intro Banksy did and one of his Star Wars street art - because why shouldn't I?


Back home in LA, I'm exhausted and looking forward to something smooth and easy. Good thing today is the first day of the trappist brewery La Trappe. La Trappe is the only one of seven trappist breweries not in Belgium and is found in the Netherlands. This will be the second trappist dubbel drunk on a recent Sunday evening and I hope it's as delicious as the first.

The trappist dubbels are so easy to drink. The hops are subdued and there's a smooth caramel and chocolate flavor with a hint of tartness and yeasty spice. The 7% alcohol is negligible and overall, very well balanced. TRANSFORMERS rating.



Here is the Banksy Simpsons intro. It's especially subversive.

Love this:

Orval Trappist forces me to investigate its complexity like a sleuth

The monks at Brasserie d'Orval only make two lines of beer; Orval and a 3.5% Petite Orval. The latter is brewed only for the monks consumption and the former is sold to support the monastery. The monks only need to sell one style of beer to survive (other trappist breweries sell at least 3), so how great must this be? I'm excited to find out about the beer and the weird fish tabs it comes with.

We sent out our end of the year beer party, and our friend Kenny let us know that it's actually International Beer Day http://www.internationalbeerday.com/

The Orval is a 6.9% Belgian Pale Ale that pours a bit darker, more of an orange amber with a gnarly white head. There is a very intense caramel and yeasty aroma. The first sip punches my tongue with spice and surprises the hell out of me. I didn't expect this from a Belgian Pale and especially a trappist. I make a comment to David and he shakes his head. "It's not spicy," he says, "it took me a while to get it. Keep going Watson." Thanks Sherlock. David has a much better palate than I, so I always default to him but I can't imagine what he's referring too.

There's no doubt about it, this is a complex beer. Caramel, dark fruit, and a great hop bite. As the carbonation dies down, I'm an idiot and still don't get it. David says, "think wild ale." Light bulb! Apparently, you can't just lead me to water, you have to dunk my head in it and hold me under to make me drink. What I mistook for spiciness initially, was a complex tartness. This is a pale ale that has dark, tart fruit tastes and a smooth finish? This is a very unique beer, and it's something I must try again soon to appreciate. The complexity is mind-bottling. They can age for 4 or 5 years, so maybe I'll buy two and save one for my 32 birthday. BAD BOYS rating.


The section below explains the odd fish with a piercing tag awkwardly attached to the bottle --

The legend of Orval

This stain-glass is evocative of the legend of Orval foundation. The monastery was born of an act of gratitude: Mathilda was a widow and her weddin-gring had accidentally fallen into the fountain. She prayed to the Lord and at once a trout rose to the surface with the precious ring in its mouth. Mathilda exclaimed : 'Truly this place is a Val d'Or'! " In gratitude, she decided to establish a monastery on the site.

See? Magical rainbow spewing fishes save the day. Ta-dahhhh

Chimay Grande Reserve helps me research pairing beer with food

Our final Chimay brew, the granddaddy 9% Belgian Dark Strong Grande Reserve. Tonight is a Walker night, and I'm staying in for some gentlemanly reading regarding the exquisite pairing of beer with food (thumbs nose at everyone). Excuse me David, where's the Grey Poupon?

 

The research, like drinking Chimay, is something I should have looked into a long time ago. Holding this chalice of Grande Reserve and smelling the sweetness and alcohol, I can't help help but think of Harrison Ford holding the wooden cup at the end of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. This beer seems so powerful, and it is the Grande Reserve after all (thumbs nose at everyone).

There is a richness, I have not sensed since......Old Ben Kenobi was here drinking Rochefort with us. It is almost too carbonated. Yet, all is forgotten once the dark caramel flavors border on chocolate hit my tongue. The complexity is there and its smoothness is unstoppable. The Grande Reserve could play with Rochefort 8 on the same doubles tennis team. Or star with Will Smith in a Michael Bay film. BAD BOYS rating.

Chimay, you've completely changed my opinion. I'm trying to be 'really honest' with myself lately, and the truth is I didn't give Chimay the credit it's due because everyone else fawns over it. I'm totally that guy (awkwardly wrinkles face at everyone). Also, that shirt doesn't look good on you and I just farted. See how being honest leads to embarrassment? Truthiness is overrated.

Another one of many serendipitous turns, the food pairing book I'm reading charts several types of beer styles, in the below table, but the only beer brand it specifically pairs with food is Chimay. Fancy that. Here are the Chimay pairings:
 

*Rule of thumb - Chimay Blue is dark like a Merlot wine and Chimay Tripel is close to Champagne.

PAIRINGS

Fish- Chimay Blue or Tripel

Game - Chimay Blue or Red

Poultry - Chimay Red or Tripel

Red Meat - Chimay Blue

White meat - Chimay Red

Shellfish - Chimay Blue or Tripel

Here is the overall beer pairings from the above pictured book, which is incredibly succinct in explaining its process and the organization is superb. I'm a big fan. The CAPITALIZED words in the primary pairing column denote an extremely COMPLIMENTARY pairing. My greatest surprise tonight was discovering the success of pairing of stouts, specifically Guinness with oysters. Who knew?

You'll see that beers typical for a region (Doppel Bocks/German) go very well with food typical of their region (game, sausage). It shows that going back hundreds of years to the beginning of brewing, people weren't just making beer for the alcohol, but for a higher and more specific purpose. Food!
 

BEER STYLE	PRIMARY PAIRING	SECONDARY PAIRING	NOTES
Amber Ale	barbecue, indian food, pasta, pork, sandwiches, spicy	asian, salad, chicken, fish, mexican, pizza, tomato	Avoid sweet dishes
Barleywine	cheese, blue, goat or strong; chocolate and dark chocolate	cheese, grueyre, chedder.	Think of barley wine as akin to port or sherry
Blanche	goat cheese, white fish, orange, pork, shellfish	apples, brunch, eggs benedict, omelets, pineapple, rabbit, salad
Bock	duck, HAM, pork, sausage	chicken, lamb, mole sauce, short ribs, venison
Brown Ale	hamburgers, sausage, steak	almonds, burritos, cajun, fried chicken, lamb, smoked fish
Doppel Bock	DUCK, GAME, PORK, VENISON, sausage	cheese, chiles rellenos, desserts, proscuitto, nuts, peppers, pumpkin, squash
Hefe Weizen		cheese, fruit, lemon, sweet and sour pork, shellfish
IPA	CHEESE, barbecue, chicken, cold red meat, pork, SALMON, seafood	crab cakes, mild curry, empanadas, enchiladas, fish, guacamole, hamburgers, indian food, mexican, shrimp, vietnamese, tapas, thai
Lager	PIZZA, SPICY FOOD, asian, chicken, fish, french fries, fried food, white meat	barbecue, Caribbean, indian, poached dishes, pork, poultry, salad, turkey, veal	Avoid: seafood, delicate dishes
Nut Brown		grilled beef, chicken, chinese, sausage, spicy
Oatmeal Stouts	chocolate desserts, stouts	barbecue, dark bread, crab cakes, ham, hearty food, ice cream, mole sauce, steak, stew
Oktoberfest		dry rubbed barbecue, chicken, fish, hamburgers, grilled meat, pork, pretzels, sausage	Avoid: seafood, tomatoes
Pale	SPICY DISHES, beef, cheese (cheddar, cheshire, guryere), duck, fish, fried food, lamb, salmon, sausage, seafood	barbecue, burritos, chicken tandoori, chili, gumbo, lobster, mexican, salsa, vinegar-based dishes
Pilsner	FISH, PIZZA, SPICY, SAUSAGE, MUSSELS, chicken, light cheese, pork, shellfish	caviar, spicy asian, chiles, clams, duck ham & grilled cheese sandwich pastrami, prosciutto, salads, smoke salmon, trout, veal	Avoid: delicate fish dishes, very hearty dishes
Saison	spicy dishes	aspertif, cheese, chicken, crab cakes, curry, tuna, salmon, jambalaya, salad, boiled seafood, steaks, thai and vietnamese
Scottish		roasted beef, ham, roasted lamb, sandwiches, sausage
Smoked Beer	BARBECUE, bacon, PORK, indian, mexican	smoked cheese, smoked fish, ham, hamburgers, roasted food, steak, spicy food
Spiced		carrot cake, spiced desserts, pumpkin pie
Stout	OYSTERS (Guinness), shellfish, fruit desserts, chocolate and cheese	ribs, braised dishes, Cajun, ham, roasted poultry, grilled salmon, swordfish, grilled tuna	American stouts are much more dessert friendly, Guinness is light.
Wheat/Wit	CHICKEN LIGHT AND SPICY, CRAB CAKES, FISH, SALAD, SEAFOOD, Indian, oysters, pasta, spicy, sushi, asian	egg dishes, calamari, jerk chicken, pad thai with shrimp, shellfish, scallops, sauerkraut, vegetable dishes

Chimay Cinq Cents tripels my love for Chimay

As I previously conveyed, my opinion of Chimay was relatively low before starting their beers but things were looking up after the dubbel yesterday. And then David poured this charming tripel and my affection knows no bounds now. 

This is an outstanding and unique tripel. It is yeasty, spicy and has a bit of fruit, making it more like a robust blonde than your standard tripel. I'm totally swallowing my past words regarding Chimay. This is a big bodied beer that's perfect for sipping and I would absolutely love to pair this with food. There's nothing else to say other than it's an amazing beer and I can't wait to introduce my friends to Cinq Cents. BAD BOYS rating.

Chimay Premiere greets me in LA with a TIE Fighter

We left Tahoe at 10am this morning after giving bachelor Matt a trick omelet filled with sardines (Spike being the evil genius behind that). However, Matt was so destroyed from the night before, he didn't even notice the smell or the taste emanating from the eggs. Mission accomplished.

9 hours later and reading many chapters of An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, I'm back in LA and exhausted. David had to work all weekend and so you know what that means!

That TIE Fighter is huge. If you follow the blog, you know that David builds these things from time to time to help de-stress. They're basically like giant puzzles for kids that nerdy grownups can take advantage of and they're pretty awesome.

Anywho, the Trappist Saga continues with the first of three Chimay beers. Chimay is by far the most well known Trappist brewery and it is many people's 'Gateway' beer (drinking a certain beer for the first time that makes one realize there's amazing beer out there - mine is Affligem Tripel and it happened senior year of college). I personally am not a fan of Chimay, probably because it's so hyped but also because it's not very complex. They're very well made, don't get me wrong, but they're not my favorite. We shall see though, because I quite frankly don't remember which ones I've had and which ones I didn't enjoy. But maybe this week will change my mind!What is the jury's verdict on this one?

The Premiere is a Belgian Dubbel that clocks in at 7%. It's very crisp thanks to the carbonation and there's a slight sweet caramel flavor. While there is not a whole lot of complexity, it is very drinkable and thus a welcome beer for the end of an exciting weekend. My opinion just changed about Chimay. THE ROCK rating.

Westmalle Tripel provides the electrolytes I need after a day on the lake

Spent the morning recovering and then the remaining daylight hours riding around gorgeous Lake Tahoe drinking beers and wake boarding. Not me, but the other guys did. I'm as dexterous on a wake/skate board as as one-footed tightrope walker. Here's a view of the Lake, which was astounding. Pardon my cursing halfway through, I was turning in circles and nearly fell on my face.

They never called me graceful...

The other fellas also did a bit of rock jumping / diving / or hopping, whatever you'd like to call it. I'm taking full advantage of my new blackberry phone and its video camera, but unfortunately I'm no Michael Bay, and the recording is a bit choppy. If I only had a director of photography:

Back home, we catered BBQ for dinner and it ain't from Texas, but it's still darn good. Love me some cornbread anytime. I'm cracking open the second Westmalle, the Tripel. The Tahoe sun must have fried my brain because this is the world's 2nd highest rated Tripel, and I don't think it's that good. I wonder if the trip up here tossing and turning in my boot screwed the pooch on this.

It has a good body but no complexity. The result is a bland flavor and a very surprised Walker. I have Patrick, a true connoisseur, try it too and he remarks the same. This was never his favorite beer. I don't taste any of the fruit or spice that other reviews tout, and maybe this is worth another tasting. The Alstrom Brothers, who run beer advocate, call this the essential tripel. Huh. Well it is well crafted and you won't be disappointed in purchasing it, but my expectations were not met. TRANSFORMERS rating. 

Westmalle Dubbel initiates Matt's bachelor party

At 6:45am, six people pile into my car to drive up to Lake Tahoe for my fraternity brother and friend Matt's bachelor party. We're stopping along the way for breakfast and an inaugral bachelor party beer in Bakersfield, where Matt is a member of a brand new members-only bar run by his friend Patrick

Patrick runs a successful pharmaceutical company but has always wanted to own a bar. He and three other people decided to fund a bar and to get around the business zoning in downtown Bakersfield, made it a members-only bar (that and now he can keep out the riff-raff). It's a cool little bar with a Speakeasy vibe. I wasn't initially excited about stopping our road trip an hour into it, but that all changed once I stepped inside. 

Patrick in the middle and Matt the bachelor on the right

The bar has been open a week and has an amazing selection of beer. Patrick knows his stuff. I order a Deschutes Inversion IPA, a little something hoppy to go along with my spicy chorizo breakfast burrito. And it makes a great pairing.

Firestone Walker heard about the bar when it opened and the head brewer came down to congratulate the owners, I assume on being an awesome beer bar, and bring them bar signs, coasters, and a few special gifts, including Firestone Parabola, a very limited run barrel aged Imperial Stout that clocks in at 12%. Patrick generously opens a bottle and it's wild to have something so dank in the morning. What's interesting about the Parabola is how the alcohol hits at the same time as the other flavors. Usually with stouts, the flavors hit your first and the alcohol follows as the sip finishes, but here it's one big punch in the tongue. Pretty cool.

Back in the car, we spend the next 6 hours reminiscing about college, studying abroad, catching up and busting each others chops and my face hurts from laughing so hard.

We arrive in Tahoe to a 5 bedroom house that will hold 15 guys over the course of the weekend, and the view was relatively mediocre.

 

 Couple of the fellas doing what any bunch of hardcore fratties would do during a Friday sunset - drink and play Uno. We obviously learned a thing or two about partying at Pepperdine.

 
Our 1 of 11 beers we're having to close out our beer every day year - which I'm calling The Trappist Saga - is the Westmalle Dubbel.

This Belgian Dubbel can be bought most places and it's very drinkable and perfect out on the porch. It's smooth with a hint of dark fruit and terrific carbonation, as you can tell see by the huge head of foam.

Like the speakeasy, this is a Gentleman's dubbel. It is a Hall & Oates type of beer, smooth and easy. THE ROCK rating.


Here's to making some stories and helping Matt return to Los Angeles exhausted, hungover, and ready for to be married Labor Day weekend:

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.

--
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. 

Achel Trappist Extra gets it on with some spicy snausage

There's a new sausage place in town and it's not in West Hollywood (heyohhh). Steingarten LA opened on the Westside near the Fox Lot on Pico Steingarten LA facebook menu.

They have great looking burgers but that isn't what we came for. Snausages. I had the wild boar with blueberries, David the Alligator and Pork and Karl the Spicy Lamb. They had our first two beer choices out on draft (it's their 2nd night, come on!). Busch league Steingarten. But Karl spotted an Abbey beer he'd never found. It's Belgian's smallest abbey and it's still brewed by actual monks. Cool right? Even better, they mark up the beer bottle prices here 2-3 times the store price but not this friar. The Achel Trappist Extra retails for $18 and sells here for $24.

Achel Extra pours a rich dark malt and has a very sweet caramel body with chocolate notes. I can taste the alcohol and it's super sweet, maybe too sweet for some people, but my sweet tooth doesn't mind. He likes it. It's a fantastic beer. I don't know where you could buy this except for Steingarten, so come check it out. BAD BOYS rating.

Regarding the food and beer pairing; my boar and berry sausage was very good but very spicy, and it contrasted nicely with the sweet Achel. 

David's gator sausage was also excellent. Karl's spicy lamb wasn't as spicy either of ours and it was fairly disappointing. Next time I'm there, I'm gonna have the Bugs Bunny (wabbit).