La Trappe, History & 4 Trappist Ales Reviewed!

I bought these 4 La Trappe ales because I had only tried one of them before, and I hate being too uneducated; 😉 they are brewed at the Brouwerij de Koningshoeven (website) in the Netherlands. In 1881 French Trappist monks sought refuge in Brabant, setting up residence at farm cottages and a sheep barn (the temporary monastery) on farmland once owned by King Willem II, at Koningshoeven, which means "King's Farmhouses" in Dutch. In 1884 they started brewing beer to sell for an income and to support their charitable work. 

They built a new brewery in 1891, increasing production to raise funds so they could build a new abbey, which they started building in 1894. It wasn't until 1980 that the brand name La Trappe was created, and in 1989 the brewery was completely modernised. To be an authentic Trappist ale, the beer must be 1) brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery either by the monks, or the work must be supervised by the monks, 2) the brewery must only be of secondary importance to the monastic way of life, 3) the brewery must not be a profit-making business, but its income must only cover living expenses and the maintenance of the monastery's buildings and grounds, whatever remains is donated to charity/social work, and to help people in need (website).

The first ale brewed under the name La Trappe was a 7.0% Dubbel in 1980, and I do need to get hold of a bottle, hopefully more of at some future date, fingers crossed. But, back to these ales. The monks originally brewed a 4.0% Blond ale back in 1928, but the present day 6.5% La Trappe Blond has been brewed since 1992, no doubt with a different recipe. I cannot find details of the hops used for the Blond, sorry. It's a golden/yellow colour, and I got fruit in the aroma, particularly peach. To taste, slightly malty, but peach indeed, with hints of citrus, orange, lemon and lime, sweet at first, but drying out in the mouth particularly at the finish, not bad. 😌

My second, the 7.5% La Trappe Isid'or, is the latest of these to be brewed, first brewed in 2009 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the brewery, and named in honour of Brother Isidorus, the first master brewer at La Trappe. A reddish/orange amber colour, the only way I can describe it 😁 with a big fruity, slightly malty aroma. Brewed with Perle hops grown at the monastery (hopslist), and tasting of rich dried fruits, slight caramel, and I got apricot! Sweet at first, but with a refreshing finish drying out to very slightly bitter, and very nice indeed! 👍

The 8.0% La Trappe Tripel was the second of their ales to come out under the brand name a little later than the Dubbel in 1980. As you can see, a golden blond colour, with apricot and pear in the aroma. I've seen reference to the hops used being the same as for the Quadrupel below, which may just be AI gleaning information incorrectly, or lazy journalism from others, but similarities exist, despite the difference in colour, which makes me wonder. There was a hint of apricot and banana in the taste, with a big fruity dry finish, I like it! 😁

I've written about this before, and I've seen La Trappe Quadrupel described as an amber beer, but it pours out so dark it looks more like a dark reddish brown colour, it is that dark an amber, see my photograph above. Brewed with Hallertau Northern Brewer (hopslist) and Slovenian Super Steirer (also known as Super Styrian, ie Aurora grown in Slovenia - hopslist), this Quadrupel has a fruity, notably apricot, and slightly vanilla aroma. I detected apricot and banana in the taste, and dark fruits too. Rich, complex, slightly sweet and smooth to drink, with a warmth from the alcohol, but dry enough finish to ensure this is a very good ale to knock back! 👍

My La Trappe ales and glass arrived in a box unsurprisingly like in the above image, cheers!

Last and First Beers - 2017/2018

OK, my first beer of 2018 has not been a British ale, but I do like many Belgian beers too! For a Christmas present from friends Mark and Maureen, I was given a presentation case with four bottles of beer and a stone chalice from relatively new Belgian brewery, Brasserie de Waterloo (website), which has been brewing since 2014, indeed, since my last visit to the area which I went to with my brother when he was living in Belgium. The brewery is in a wing of Ferme de Mont-Saint-Jean, a 13th century farm adjacent to the famous battlefield and which was used as a hospital for the Duke of Wellington's troops during the battle.

Adrien Desclee and Anthony Martin, grandson of John Martin, the man who brought Export Guinness to Belgium over 100 years ago, opened the brewery at Waterloo to continue brewing the Triple Blond and Strong Dark that Adrien had already been brewing since 2005. I was given 2 bottles of each of these beers, and will talk about the dubbel style Strong Dark soon, once I have tasted it of course! So, to the Triple Blond...

An 8% tripel style (tripel/triple, depending on the Dutch Flemish/French Wallonian language used), brewed with the usual water, malt, hops and yeast of course, but also with herbs too. This is a top-fermented beer, as are British ales, and has a secondary fermentation in the bottle, thus producing sediment, so to be poured very carefully if you don't like to drink the yeast product with your beer! This a golden beer with a spicy, fruity and slightly citrus aroma, full-bodied, sweet at first, with a similarity to Leffe Blond, but dries out with a more bitter finish. A very decent example of a tripel/triple indeed!

My last two ales of 2017 were imbibed yesterday at the Dolphin Inn, Hastings (website), and were both golden ales too. First, from the Staffordshire based Burton Bridge Brewery (website), their Screwbydoo (4.5%), with the pump clip depicting engineer Joseph Whitworth, who was born on the 21st of December 1803, and who devised a standard for screw threads, the British Standard Whitworth (BSW), still recognised today. 

Anyway, the Screwbydoo is a 4.5% golden bitter with Progress and Pioneer hops used in the brew. There is a slightly fruity aroma and taste, gentle sweetness at first taste, and a wee bit too easy to drink for 4.5%, unless that's what you call a supping strength! I had been warned by another customer that it had seriously influenced him the day before... Not bad, but not bitter enough for a hophead like me though, so, what about:

From West London, and one of my old stomping grounds in my youth, White City, the Portobello Brewing Company (website) and their White City, another 4.5%, slightly darker, golden bitter, indeed, all 3 of the Dolphin's guest ales (6 ales in total) were 4.5% yesterday! Hops used in the brew are Fuggles, East Kent Golding and Cascade, producing hints of pine, and citrus and tropical fruit, in the flavour. A bit more bitter, with a very slight 'sourness' to the taste, apparently not everyone's favourite of the two, but I thought they were at a pretty similar decent level... 

Cheers Mark and Maureen!