This Sunday last, I decided to (semi-) complete my collection of Belgian Trappist Beer glasses. Ah Trappist Beer, my current obsession for winter 2007/8. How to explain the appeal? These are beers brewed by monks, with the aid of some lay helpers, for non-profit. The money they make goes to their monastic projects. So freed from the the strictures of shareholder value, they make beer for the pleasure of producing the best quality products.
And the Trappist Beers of Belgium are truly world class. There are six monastic breweries that can carry the Trappist Product symbol. Well it seems there are seven, but we won't count the semi-commercial activities of a certain Dutch brewery. And I am talking Belgian beers - at least while there is still a collective known as Belgium.
So let's name them: Achel, Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren.
Firstly, my latest glass in my collection - the Rochefort. Here you can see the glass, perhaps the most elegant and certainly the most feminine glass of all the Trappists. Here we see it filled with Rochefort 8, which has an ABV of 9.2%.
I don't know this beer well, partly because the strength makes it a very occasional tipple. It is a classic dark brown dubbel-style, quite bitter and flinty, but the sweetness of the alcohol really shines through. Not sure how much I like this one. Definitely one for more exploration.
But the glass, mon Dieu, it's so elegant.
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