The 10s - Part 2, Dark Abbey Ale

Abbey ale is the style of beer made by Belgian monasteries over many centuries, beginning with the Trappists. Most abbey ales are either Dubbel or Tripel, with varying spellings. Dubbels are weaker in alcohol content and generally dark amber or brown in color; Tripels are higher in alcohol and usually golden. While I find Dubbels to be ok, they pale so much in comparison to the complexity and potency of a Tripel that I will rarely order one.

One of my favorite Belgian ales is a dark Tripel - the Rochefort 10. Rochefort is one of the six Belgian Trappist monasteries, along with Orval, Westmalle, Chimay, Achel, and Westvletern. I haven't yet had Westvletern (they are super stingy about who they sell it to, and they prohibit resale, so you have to get it in the monastery itself), but of the other five, Rochefort is by far my favorite. Their 10 is their strongest, and it packs a wallop - over 11% alcohol by volume. It achieves most of the complexity and richness of the Thomas Hardy's ale, in fact, and would also age well for a considerable period of time. Other dark abbeys of note: Chimay blue (Grand Reserve) and Brasserie du Rocs Tripple are both fantastic.

I had Rochefort for the first time in the summer of '05, along with Maredsous, my favorite non-Trappist abbey ale. I was in San Francisco then, on an unpaid internship for a public interest legal organization, and I had the great fortune of hanging out with a couple true beer snobs, one of whom was also as much or more of a coffee snob as me. I had Maredsous first; there was a random funky bar/art gallery off of Market St on the edge of the Tenderloin that had it on tap, and it was amazing. That summer was and always will be one of the best time periods in my life.