El D,

There are a number of beers that make the claim, but I haven't done a whole lot of comparison to vouch for whether or not it's true. In theory, just about any bottle conditioned beer could get better with age. There's at least that potential, anyway. I know North Coast's Old Stock series of ales puts a vintage date on them and claims that they age well. I think some of the barrel-aged brews from Allagash do as well, including one of my very favorite beers, their Curieux. I was going to do some beer shopping today, so I'll look at some of my old favorites to see what else makes that claim. I wouldn't try it with hoppy beer, since there are some reports of that flavor fading w/ time.

Yea, the high alcohol types - like barley wines and old ales - are probably the best bet. I thought about putting away a few Old Stock Ales, but ended up drinking them instead.

So while this can be done, I have no firsthand experience.

Cool. I'm going to Roy's on thursday - I'll try and remember to check it out.

You guys are IPA fiends!

Hey, maybe you guys can help me out -

does anyone know a dark Belgian beer that's available in the US? (I know they won't be at a normal store, but maybe at BevMo or something). I'm not even sure how to label them, I had a bunch in Belgium but they seem very rare here - all we get are the lighter super-yeasty Chimay style beers and the blondes, but in Belgium there are tons of dark beers that are just called dubbels or tripels, they are generally very high alcohol, quite sweet and malty.

Not really Belgian, but New Belgium's 1554 is probably pretty close to what you're talking about, and is readily available.

Leffe Brune can be found in New York City. My favorite beer.

Edit: that's in response to the question of dark Belgian beers available in the USA.

cbloom,

If you have a BevMo nearby, you definitely have access to some Beligian Dark Ales.

Ommegang Brewery has some Belgian Strong Dark Ales. Try their name brand brew (it might have another name, but all I see on the bottle is Ommegang), and Three Philosophers (a favorite of mine).

Unibroue - A few as well. I haven't tried them all. Terrible definitely is one. Maudite (really good).

I'm sure Allagash has some, but I haven't tried them. Check the beer thread in the Lounge (I've got some updates coming, don't fret Wookie).. there's a bunch reviewed in there.

Hmm. maybe Ommegang has different onces but the one I've had was more like the Chimay style, maybe with a bit more body, but not the black sweet stuff I'm talking about.

Leffe Brune sounds like it's in the style I'm talking about. I see Leffe all over but I've never noticed the Brune, I'll keep my eyes out for it.

I remember it being super confusing, this is an example I found :


Biere de L'Abbaye D'Aulne 6 De Smedt golden 6%
Biere de L'Abbaye D'Aulne 8 De Smedt dark 8%
Biere de L'Abbaye D'Aulne 10 De Smedt darker 10%

The Abbay d'Aulne beers are just labelled by their alcohol content but are very different in taste. I mean I guess it's just the same tweak in the brewing process which makes the darker & also higher alcohol but it makes it hard to remember & find the one you want & describe the style.

This sounds like the good stuff :

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/196/7760
Abbaye De Brogne Brune - Brouwerij De Smedt / Brouwerij Affligem - Beer Advocate

Well, technically Chimay Red is a Dubbel. And you mentioned Tripels, but those aren't what you're talking about. Those aren't dark.

I think both the Ommegang's I mentioned you should give a shot. Three Philosophers is dark and sweet.

Also, since you have a BevMo (I assume), you can buy Belgian imports.

Try here for dark and strong dark ales:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/119

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/56

Unibroue's Trois Pistoles is a Belgian Strong Dark, definitely what you're looking for. It'll probably run you about $10 for four, but its great. Unibroue's really good overall.

You can get Unibroue in TN? Not bad. I the Trios Pistoles.

has anyone else tried the malt liquor that dogfish head makes/made?

Beer lovers,

How does Chimay stack up when it comes to Belgians?

El D,

I loved Chimay blue. It's a rich, flavorful beer that's one of my favorites. Chimay white and red don't really cut it, especially for their premium price. They're decent examples of dubbles and tripels, but they cost almost twice as much as some New World brews (Ommegang, Unibroue, Allagash) that I like better.

If that is the case, you might also like Corsendonk - Pater (Abbey brown ale). I just tried it for the first time in a new beer bar that just opened a month ago, 3 minute walk away from my apartment in East Side Manhattan midtown, and it was very very good. When I first walked in, Depeche Mode was playing on the jukebox. I'm so happy right now about this development.

Chimay is very solid compared to many other belgian ales. I really love Grand Reserve, but It's not necessarily the best price performer. I feel Ommegang makes the best price performers, at least for American customers.

My favorite Belgian Ale of all (so far) is St. Bernardus Abt 12. It's truly a delight to consume when it is proper cellar temperature.

I read in the local rag that the new specialty beer shop, Bruisin Ales in town was offering a free tasting today. This shop has an unbelievable collection of premium brews on their shelves, so I was in.

Their featured brewery was Weyerbacher, an East Pennsylvania outfit that specializes in big beers.

The tasting started out with the Hop Infusion IPA. It was tasty, with good balance, plenty of hoppy bite, and 6.2% alcohol. But it didn't stand out in my mind as anything particularily special as compared to other good IPAs widely available.

Next up was their Imperial Stout: Old Heathen. This one was awesome. From it's chocolaty malty nose to it's super smooth and tasty finish, this beer impressed me as perhaps the best stout I've had. I'm not generally a huge stout fan, but this one knocked my socks off. 8% alcohol was easily balanced by the swirling flavors.

Third in line was Blithering Idiot, their barley wine. A good example of the style, I think, but I don't like barley wines a lot. At 11.2% alcohol, it had some nice malty flavors, but was overly alcoholic for my taste.

They finished up by pouring QUAD. Wow. Very very impressive monster ale in the Belgian quadruple style. 11.8% alcohol, with the body and complexity to match. I will have to buy a bottle of this in the future. Super beer that was Grand Champion in the 2000 and 2004 at United States Beer Tasting Championship.

I came away from the tasting with a lot of respect for this brewery that I had never previously tasted. I recommend their beers highly, especially the QUAD and the Heathen.

I couldn't leave the store without a bottle or two, and I was intrigued by the Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel: a Belgian Triple style with the addition of aggressive hopping, so I picked up a 750ml for $8.50. I also grabbed a 22 oz btl of Pisgah Brewing Co. Cosmos: a rich dark ale specially brewed in a small batch to commemorate some milestone of theirs, from one of my regions better brewers, for $8.

Free tasting = $16.50 spent on 2 bottles of beer. Good marketing, eh?

I've tried the Old Heathen and the Quad. I thought the Heathen was pretty good, but not as good as some of my other favorite Imperial stouts. I didn't care for the quad all that much, really. I've had other quads that suited me much better. My favorite Weyerbacher brew has been their Insanity barley wine. Heh, I actually just did a review of the Chouffe, too. Let me know what you think, but I found that it was an interesting blend, but neither the hops nor the tripel aspects were as good as dozens of other beers out there, and the combo wasn't that much more than the sum of the parts.

I enjoyed the Houblon Chouffe Dobblen IPA Tripel (love that name) last night with some buddies over a game of spades.

I walked the 3/4 miles home from Bruisin Ales after the tasting, which stirred the yeast up good in the Chouffe, so it was quite cloudy when I poured it. Blue glasses, so I can't comment on the color accurately, but it wasn't very dark.

The beer sprouted an enourmous head when poured. And that head was amazingly rich and long-lived, forming a cliff-sided island that lasted until the last drops were quaffed.

I liked the flavor combo of Belgian triple and hops quite a bit ... the hops added a dimension of flavor that I found interlinked nicely with the rich and complex tripel. The hops are restrained and counterbalanced as compared to a big American IPA, but were distinctly tasty.

I'm not very knowledgeable about Belgians so I can't compare the Chouffe triple style to other good examples. I can say that I enjoyed it a lot and will buy it again.

I saw this thread in the sticky, and I'm really glad it hasn't died yet.

Have to agree with the other posters about Dogfish. The Raison de Etre is my everyday beer. I have had two bottles of the 120 IPA in my fridge for the last year waiting for a good excuse to open one.

Not much love for Anchor Steam. I know I mentioned this in another thread somewhere else, but their Christmas Ale is by far their best offering. It's supposed to age well. I haven't tried this out yet but I've cellared a six pack each of the 2005 and 2006.

On a side note, a little bar here in Chicago called Delilah's does a Christmas beer tasting every year, typically the second Saturday in December. I've only been able to go one year, but it was fantastic. The really nice guy who owns the bar let us buy an entire bottle of the Anchor 2000 (this was in 2004). They had about 50 beers to try, and you get 20 with admission.

Bells quit their distributor here, and cannot resign with another one. It made all the major papers, and people were calling for reform to the state distributor laws as a result. I hope it goes somewhere.

Not surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but Schlafly is a completely unknown but fantastic microbrewery. They're St. Louis based, and only distribute in Missouri and southern Illinois. Their hefewiezen is the best I've ever had. Different than most in that it's completely dry (none of the typical ester-fruity taste that some have) and yeasty. Better on tap than in a bottle. I was underwhelmed with their Christmas offering, but their Pale Ale is really solid. Whenever my parents come visit I make them bring me at least a case. If you're ever stuck in St. Louis check out their brewpub.

Just curious: what do you guys pay for a belgian beer over there in the USA?

A few of my favorites:

Bear,

A sixer of Duvel runs me US$12.

I'm really impressed by Duvel. Next time I'm at the grocers I think I might pick up a 12 oz. of their Golden Drake offering.