After dumping two very weird beers (who knew a beer could remind me of Old Spice pit wax?) I needed a break - something I could trust and what can you trust more than a dubbel with the Trappist logo on the label...unless one without the label, if you know what I mean. This 8% brew from the Brouwerij der St.Benedictusabdij de Achelse has sat around a little bit. I think I bought it about a year ago and it carries a best before date of July 2006.
Creamy mahogany under a fine rich cream head. A somewhat sharp lime pear juicy fresh heart sitting among date and dry fig, cocoa powder, baker's chocolate and brown sugar. Soft water. Milky yeast. Very interesting and not the slightest bit evocative of a toiletry product. What a relief. BAers all raise their glasses.
Comments
Paul of Suffolk - April 15, 2007 6:20 PM
I find Achel bottled ales rather bitter. I was fortunate to try their blonde on draught in Paris last year and it was so much better.
Alan - April 15, 2007 6:30 PM
It was twangier than I had anticipated but I can go a long way with what I perceive as lime and pear flavours where the same degree of lemon and apple will do nothing for me. I need to find more of these beers.
Stonch - April 16, 2007 12:41 PM
Alan, your post has encouraged me to give Achel another try. They sell the full range at the Dovetail (London'r premier Belgian beer cafe), which luckily for me is at the end of my street...