Trappistes Rochefort 10

Brewed By: Brasserie Rochefort in Rochefort, Belgium  

Purchased: 11.2 oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 11.3% 

Reported IBUs: 27

I wonder if the glass gave away tonight's second beer. As a beer geek/nerd, I'll stop by my local bottle shops to see if there is anything new on the shelves. For the past couple of weeks, I've been seeing the Rochefort 10 just about everywhere. I figured it was a sign, and grabbed a bottle. 

The Abbey Rochefort is one of the eight Trappist Breweries. The brewery's website is only available in French or Dutch, but you can use Google translate. Or you can half-ass it like me, and roll over to Wikipedia. The brewery is located inside the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy, and has been brewing beer since 1595. This beer is sold to support the brewery and for charitable causes. If you roll over to Merchant Du Vin's website, you can also get some info. According to them, the Abbey of St-Remy was founded in 1230, and the monks began to brew beer in 1595. 

Tonight's beer, the Rochefort 10 or the "Blue Cap," was originally brewed in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Clocking in at 11.3% and 27 IBUs, this beer is described as a typical Belgian Dark Strong Ale. This is one of my absolute favorite styles of beer, so let's see how this stacks up.

Trappistes Rochefort 10 

Wow...this beer does not mess around. This pours into a dark, prune-colored body. We're talking raisin/prune-brown, with some hints of purple/black. The beer also kicked up a finger of tan/khaki head, and there was some nice sediment/yeast at the bottom of the bottle. In bright light this beer is a swampy dark brown color. This is a trappist beer that looks like the depths of hell. The head is hazy and khaki-colored, and looks exactly how it is supposed to for the style.

The aroma on this is surprisingly earthy....I'm getting dense malt, and tons of chalky dark fruits: prunes, raisins, apricots, dates, plums, figs, grapes. There's a TON of leather on the nose, along with some port wine, and lots of underlying booze. There's also a hint of spice.

Wow...this beer absolutely blasts your palate with a super rich/dense mouthfeel that borders on chocolate/milkshake-like thickness. There's the bar, and there's this...this beer is the bar. You get rich, creamy, chocolate/shake mouthfeel up front; that rolls into huge clove, creamy body, tons of peppery spice and clove, huge malty esters, and tons of earthy leather and dark fruits. Namely raisins, prunes, and some plums/grape. There's also some hints of rum in here, along with very mild buttery/tannin/oak from who knows where. There's a dusty/chalky thing going on here, and the whole thing has Stout-like thickness but wine-like vinous qualities. This isn't going for refined like the Corsendonk Pater...no sir. This beer is raunchy as hell, and super aggressive.

There are Stouts that would blush in the presence of this beer. At 11.3%, you expect big things. And many Quads/Dark Strongs have pull...but not like this. This is a full-bodied, dense beer. I'm talking milkshake dense. Despite the density, this beer is drinkable thanks to a creamy body, tons of carbonation, and some nice bitterness on the back end. Palate depth and complexity are outstanding. This would be a wonderful beer to sip on in the winter....huge cream/clove/peppery spice up front, followed by big leather; that rolls into buttery oak, bitterness, and dark fruits; the back end trails off with some hop bitterness, wheat, boozy complexity, chalk/dust. The whole thing just feels earthy and raw. There's a rustic edge to this beer.

Rating: Divine Brew (5.0/5.0 Untappd)

This is a hell of a beer. Easily a Strong Divine Brew. This is a beer that defines exemplary Belgian Dark Strongs. I wouldn't hesitate to pick this up again, and this seems like a great candidate for cellaring. You could pair this beer with strong cheeses, cheese and meats, duck, grilled lamb, dry chocolate cake, truffles, dark sauces, and maybe even something like mussels or calamari. I know this beer is kind of pricey at around 7 or 8 bucks a bottle, but it is worth it. 

Random Thought: Someday I'll have to do a blind tasting between the Trappist Dark Strong Ales. Of course, I'll need to get my hands on some Westy 12 first...