Trappistes Rochefort 10

Yep, we're fancypants tonight. We were meandering around Clintonville today, and decided to stop at Pace-Hi and pick up a mixed six-pack. I saw this, and added it to my half. Nathan has been teasing me all day about how much he loves me, as this cost $6 for one 11.2-ounce bottle. It's consistently ranked in the top beers in the world (currently #15 on BeerAdvocate and #7 on RateBeer), and I wanted to tick it off my beer bucket list, as it's fairly readily available here. It's a Belgian Quadrupel, so let's find out if it lives up to the hype.

It pours looking like Coca-Cola in the glass... that deep, rich cola brown with a beautiful khaki head that leaves gorgeous loose lacing on the glass. The head sticks around, despite the weighty ABV (11.3%). We're so fancypants, we poured this into a wineglass. It's my version of a tulip glass. I'm fresh out of trappist glasses, and this is the next closest thing. It smells like dried stone fruit, bready malts,  and booze. Lots of booze in the aroma. I may not have to drink it to catch a buzz. The taste is plums, raisins, some black currant, apricot, tobacco, brown sugar, and well, booze. Make that plums soaked in vodka, raisins soaked in vodka, black currants soaked in vodka... you get my drift. Yeah, the alcohol really bites on the back end. And the front end. It doesn't kill it for me, but it's definitely a strong beer. Yeah, I'm halfway through my 5.6 ounces, and I'm feeling a buzz. The feel on this is creamy, velvety with a light stickiness. It's a fantastically complex beer.

Verdict? (Insert the two-note theme from Law and Order:SVU, which Dad is watching a marathon.) It's good. It's world-class. I hate raisins. It may not be my favorite beer in the world, but I'd definitely drink it again. Hell, if I won the lottery, I'd probably buy a cask of it. I'm guessing it would cellar quite well, if you're into that. Thus far, I'm rather too impatient for that. But it's on the table, as we discussed earlier in the day purchasing a bomber of Flying Dog Gonzo with the express intent of cellaring it. We'll see how that goes.

4.99999/5 caps -- because I really detest raisins

-Jennie

Ya damn right on the BAG (Barrel Aged Gonzo).

I really can't add anything to that amazing review except in the flavor, I catch some vanilla bean from time to time as well all the flavors that my partner-in-criminal-activities already mentioned. My only quarrel with this is the boozy flavor. I've had plenty of high ABV beers where you don't get the boozy flavor. Maybe aging this for a year would make it lose the boozy tone? It worked for the 2012 B.A. Gonzo (see review at http://behindthetap.blogspot.com/2013/02/flying-dog-barrel-aged-gonzo-2012.html)

This is a fantastic brew, if you have an extra $6, it's worth a try, and you won't need much more for the night to get you buzzed (if you're going for that alone).

4.85/5 caps