An Assortment of Belgian Styled Beers (plus a few others!)

By Greg Bisonette (with commentary by Michael Mohammadi) - main image from wikipedia commons.

Mike had been searching for some interesting Belgian ales to try (or at least, Belgian styled ales), and had come across some really unique and varied beers from Kapittel brewery, brewed by Brouwerij van Eecke. Looking into their history, apparently the brewery was completely destroyed twice in their past: once during the French Revolution and once during WWII (who destroys a brewery?!??! I mean really!!). Currently, they produce some very fine Belgian abbey (not trappist, see the list of official trappist beers here) beers, here are our ratings!

Kapittel Watou Blonde Ale - Very refreshing! Has the typical Belgian style nose with aromas of citrus, with a hint of sweetness to it. Tastes less sweet than it smells, but very nice and light on the tongue, mild body. Hardly any carbonation. This beer was served very cold, so next time we’ll try it with a warmer temp (45-50F).

Mike’s Notes: First off, these first five beers were samples from Tom Washburn of the Washburn Wine Company. A great guy with a great beer and wine portfolio. If you see his name on a bottle of beer or wine (or know he’s distributes it) you can bet it’s very good. Regarding this Kapittel Watou Blonde Ale: Too cold. It was flat to me. Tasted fine, just nothing special.

Kapittel ABT Ale - Thick, orange colored beer. Lots of citrus and yeast on the nose with a big white head. Low carbonation leads to a thicker mouthfeel, but still nice. Great lacing on the pint glass. This beer finishes dry, with a slight alcohol taste at the end, as well as a hint of spice.. coriander?

Mike’s Notes: Spice? Sure, there was some coriander, but that’s about it. Good beer, just nothing to write home (or a giant blog) about.

Kapittel Prior Ale - Great lacing! Big, light tan colored head on this beer. Smelled of chocolate & toffee, has a thick body with a bunch of roasted malt flavor. Great, intense flavor on the sip, with alcohol at the finish. Excellent beer!

Mike’s Notes: I liked this a lot. Dark and rich, chocolate, and delicious. If Greg says “great lacing”, I agree (though I’m not sure why). Complete 180 from the first two beers. Yum.

Kapittel Pater Ale - Pours a dark red/deep amber color with an amazing amount of head and lacing. Has a sweet, toffee aroma, good body, and very smooth tasting. The head retention is minimal, but it leaves this beautiful fine lacing on the glass, with a thin/fine and tan head. Man this beer is good, thick and with a body + alcohol + flavor to knock you on your butt. Don’t drink this beer fast, but sit and enjoy it.

Mike’s Notes: This was on the same line as the Kapittel to me. Rich and thick, palate coating and delicious. I will definitely be seeking out more here.

Abbey Ename Ale - A Belgian Tripel, with a big explosive head, clean white in color. Yeast and alcohol notes on the nose, very ‘bready’, in that respect. Full bodied ale with minimal carbonation, pale straw colored ale. The alcohol comes through on the taste, but it is enjoyable, mixes well with some of the sweeter elements of the beer.

Mike’s Notes: Love Tripel ales. The alcohol was there, but it was definitely balanced by the flavors and mouthfeel. This is a very aromatic beer that holds true to its nose on the palate. I liked it more than Greg.

Now, by this time, Mike and I were starting to get the effects of the alcohol in these beers, so we ventured off the Belgian route and tried some other interesting beers that were purchased from the folks at Wine Underground.

Mike’s Notes: Wine Underground is an OUTSTANDING, lesser-known wine shop in Baltimore’s Roland Park area. The beer selection is very unique and the downstairs cellar has a ton of great finds (such as the last 1993 Altesino Brunello I picked up for a steal of a price. You should head over there tomorrow…hell, go over now and check it out. Tell Armin I sent you and he’ll take great care of you. There is something for everyone I guarantee it!

Mostyntie Mustard Ale - What an interesting idea for a beer… people will flavor alcohol with whatever they can get their hands on! Has a large bubblyhead which vanished quickly (no doubt from the vigorous carbonation). Has a translucent dark honey color. Tastes sweet, but has very very minimal to no flavor of mustard in the beer.

Mike’s Notes: This was an interesting beer. I didn’t get the whole mustard thing but found the sweetness to be appealing. Will I try this again? Probably not…but I will seek out other Mustard Ales (do they exist, O-Wise Beerman Greg?)

Ommegang’s Three Philosophers - Always a great beer. A Belgian styled quadrupel from one of my 3 favorite breweries in NY state, and also from the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown. A blend of rich dark malts with a tiny bit of cherry lambic added, this combination is outstanding. This bottle poured a thin white head, with the beer red in color and aroma of sweet cherries and alcohol. Taste is great, sweet, malty, alcoholy and with a hint of cherries the whole time. Outstanding beer!

Mike’s Notes: I raved about this to Greg once after trying it at a trade tasting. I was so excited to tell him about this new, complex, outstanding beer from his home state…then he informed me he’d had it about 100 times and this was not news to him. Oh well, it’s still a damn good beer. There is so much going on I almost want to say it’s like a Burgundy of beers..but I won’t. Go find this beer and buy a bunch!

Allagash Curieux - Wow. This beer has me completely stumped as to really how to describe it, and will require another bottle to try to fully understand. This beer had a multi-flavor thing going on that was tough to catch because it shifted from each flavor so quickly. Definitely some kind of malt, but almost an herbal malt note. Then there was a sweeter/alcohol flavor, followed immediately by a darker bourbon/oak flavor which hits and runs. This might make sense, since it is aged for a few weeks in old bourbon barrels. Definitely be on the lookout for this beer, and I promise to get another bottle and try it to give a better rating!

Mike’s Notes: We paid a lot for this one, but it was definitely worth it. The bourbon aging could almost be detected (easier once I was told it was aged in bourbon barrels!) with intensive flavors and a sweet/smokiness that I loved. Really quite a bit going on here…I think I’ll be joining Greg in “trying” this again…and again….and again. You get the picture. Another great beer for wine-lovers that are interested in transcending that “gap.”