Facebook and Instagram friends and followers of mine will know that I’ve recently returned from some time in Belgium, a country I adore for its beauty, quirkiness, and of course, beer. While I didn’t visit any of the nation’s now five Trappist monastery breweries on this trip – Achel has been decommissioned and passed to private ownership, but still brews some excellent ales – I did manage to pop into the In de Vrede café near Westvleteren for a few beers and a better-then-average croque monsieur, and also enjoyed other Trappist beers along the way.
One such beer was the perennial favourite, Rochefort 10. It is a quite singular beer, frequently stuffed in to the ‘quadrupel’ style category, but not quite lining up with others of that ilk. (And don’t get me started on the lunacy of including in a category a beer that predates the establishment of said category by several decades!) It is also, fortunately for me, readily available in my home market, so since my arrival back home I’ve been able to update and double-check my notes on it.
Light mahogany in colour with an impressively thick and lasting tan head, the aroma of the 10 is equal parts fudge-like chocolate and a spiciness evocative of rich and dense spice cake. Curiously in such a malt-forward beer, the first thing to hit the nostrils is spice, a combination of allspice, cinnamon, and a hint of black pepper, with chocolate and some well-cooked toffee notes arriving next, accented by hints of baked apple and pear.
The palate entry is similarly, and again a bit surprisingly, spice-forward at the outset with much less sweetness than one would expect of a beer of its strength. The mid-palate doesn’t disappoint with its sweet maltiness, though, adding various dried fruit notes – prune, date, raisin, even a bit of apricot – to a chocolaty body with slowly ebbing spice notes, all finishing with a flourish of drying hop and alcohol.
All three of the main Rochefort beers, 6, 8, and 10, are renowned classics for a reason. The 10 tends to get more recognition – because of its strength perhaps? Perish the thought, as surely no beer reviewer would be so shallow as to award extra points for extra alcohol! – but the 6 and 8 are equally exceptional ales, if not a wee bit better in terms of structure and flavour delivery. That said, the full trio of magnificent ales, each with a different role to play – 6 with a roast dinner, perhaps, the 8 with chocolate, and the 10 for relaxing at the very end of the day – plus the more recently arrived Triple Extra, make Rochefort not just one of the top Trappist breweries, but one of the world’s absolute best.
90 ($5.75 - $8.69/330 ml)