Today, for my craft beer review, I’m going to be sharing with you the Trappistes Rochefort 6 from the Brasserie de Rochefort (Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy) Brewery located in Rochefort, Belgium.
I don’t know a thing about this beer or how well it’s perceived in the craft beer community, so I’m looking forward to going into this with no preconceived notions and determining for myself.
I found a website, abbaye-rochefort.be, but it’s dedicated to the Abbaye and is only transcribed in French and Dutch. I could tell, however, that it did have a sub-link reserved for the brewery, so check it out if you can translate French or Dutch and let me know what it says. Haha.
Heck with it!!! Let’s just find out for ourselves, shall we?
This brew came in an 11.2 oz. bottle with an ABV of 7.5%.
The beer poured a murky, burgundy/brown color with a tan head that was a soapy and creamy mix. It sounded like Rice Crispies with a “snap, crackle and pop” as the head dissipated. The crown revealed a good size, but only average retention. The lacing left behind was nice and the head settled to a fine film and then to a fine ring around the top. I saw a little bit of sediment floating around in the brew as I swirled. Overall, this beer doesn’t look too bad.
The aroma was very nice in my opinion. Moderate hints of spice combined with a toasty, baked bread. Eloquent hints of dark, fruity figs and dried oats. It smelled of yeast and grain and very creamy. This thing was balanced very evenly and had just enough “oomph” to keep me entertained throughout the entire drink.
With the taste I experienced quite a bit more of the spice, which began to lean more toward a cloves characteristic. It contained a very small hop bite with a minuscule sourness. A rich, dark fruit of fig created a light sweetness and more of the bready, yeasty hints rounded out this well balanced and harmonious taste.
The mouthfeel started medium, yet as I sipped it started to become a little thin. It was smooth, dry and lightly chewy. It left an above average amount of flavor behind on the palate, but I did feel that the carbonation was lacking just a wee bit.
I’ll tell ya, this was a pretty darn good beer. Very solid and well made. I absolutely loved the nose on this thing. The drinkability was good and I could definitely see myself settling down with this late at night while playing my guitar or reading a good book. I would recommend you give it a try if you happen to run across it. Sure, it’s not the greatest beer I’ve ever had, but I would be more than happy to have a few more bottles of this in my fridge.
I understand that Rochefort makes not only the 6, but an 8 and a 10, so I’m going to have find those and compare them and see which I like best.
Thanks for reading and commenting everyone. I hope you are enjoying the reviews.
Cheers!!!
Score: 4.05 out of 5
Grade: A-
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