Gregorius - Stift Engelszell

ehammond1

California

3.68/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottle (2012)

Thanks for opening this with me, JealousChalice!

Mahogany and dark brown with a creamy brown head of very small bubbles. Leaves sheets of stick down the glass.

Roasted malt, dark fruits, distinctive Belgian yeast, and some ash and char round out the aroma.

The flavor is very reminiscent of a Belgian dubbel, with dark fruits and distinctive, earthy yeast making up the bulk of the flavor, along with a coffee/char/ash tray flavor lingering in the background.

Medium bodied with creamy carbonation.

Good, but nothing paradigm shifting.

Serving type: bottle

01-20-2013 19:08:01 | More by ehammond1

acurtis

New Jersey

2.25/5  rDev -38.7%

05-18-2013 20:22:28 | More by acurtis

djrn2

New Jersey

2/5  rDev -45.5%

05-18-2013 20:15:37 | More by djrn2

throwback

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

05-15-2013 18:12:06 | More by throwback

beesy

Ohio

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-15-2013 00:56:25 | More by beesy

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

(found and consumed a bottle at Belmont Station, Portland)

A: dark brown and opaque.... leaves molasses-y legs

S: smells of latrine.... caramel/cream-infused coffee, with the roast sanded off

T: Belgian brown, immediate prejudice... kinda like the lovechild of Gouden Carolus Classic and Orval?... mellow sour/tart tinge, sweet phenols, long toffee finish - sum of the parts balance well in the aftertaste.... later, getting more of bubblegum and grapefruit cushioned by thick, velvet malt

M: smooth-ass, med-full body... not hot

O: not bad at all... a little rough around the edges... all in all, Trappist worthy?

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 04:13:46 | More by Bouleboubier

Brenden

Ohio

3.71/5  rDev +1.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

This ale from the world's most recent trappist brewery is a thick medium brown color. It develops a moderately-sized light brown head with equally moderate retention and a pretty good bit of patching on the glass.
This beer has hints of the sweetness I'd expect from the style without going full on with it. It makes for an interesting character, perhaps something a little different in the trappist arena. There is honey used in the brewing process, something that shows in a particular character without the sweetness that's lost in the brewing process. There are, however, notes of toffee and molasses along with the earthiness and bready malts. Just a hint of dark fruits are in there also. There's an earthiness from both yeast and hops that comes out more strongly on the tongue. The note of clove is subtle. While unusual, it does make for a pretty good beer.
This one doesn't have all the big but balanced richness of the greats, but it's certainly not bad. It has enough body, though I might prefer a touch more, and displays a little dryness coming into the finish.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2013 17:05:53 | More by Brenden

sneaks2210

New York

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-08-2013 02:39:10 | More by sneaks2210

TallSaint

United Kingdom (Scotland)

3.25/5  rDev -11.4%

05-07-2013 23:38:51 | More by TallSaint

mklisz

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +9%

05-07-2013 20:04:31 | More by mklisz

tehzachatak

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-05-2013 23:14:41 | More by tehzachatak

marct

Nevada

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-04-2013 00:42:28 | More by marct

spycow

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

05-02-2013 05:06:26 | More by spycow

tripledbrew

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%

05-02-2013 01:41:44 | More by tripledbrew

bskrtz

Illinois

3.85/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.75

Served cold in glass beer challis.

A) Dense, dark milk chocolate. Suspended fine carbonation with yeasties floating about. Missing the billowy off-white head. Other than that, looks like a classic Belgian Brune

S) Deliciously sweet sour mash. Mild esthers, sour dough, baked apple pie

T) Sweet cooked caramel malts dominate. Stewed dark fruit, figs, raisons. Very complex.

M) Sticky but smooth. This bottle was lacking in carbonation, hence a bit flat. Without proper transport and storage, it may not be the beer. However its a bit flat no matter who's fault

O) A good example of the Trappist Belgian Brune

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2013 01:25:08 | More by bskrtz

Rohkey

Michigan

4/5  rDev +9%

04-26-2013 16:15:07 | More by Rohkey

UCLABrewN84

California

3.75/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Brewed in 2012.

Pours a murky brown with a foamy dark khaki head that settles to wisps of film on top of the beer. Small dots of lace slowly drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is of malt, honey, dark fruit, and some earthy hop aromas. Taste is much the same with toasted bread and fruity flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp but medium bodied mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer but it's much more earthy and slightly rough compared to how I thought it would be.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 03:55:43 | More by UCLABrewN84

impending

California

3.93/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

B+

33cl into a tulip. Pours a deep copper bronze, minor tan head, minor lacing.

Aroma is of sweet dark fruits, spicy and herbal. At the last moment faint mentholatum comes forth nicely.

Sweet yet dry. A foundation of mild molasses and semi sweet caramel. A nice herbal bitter long evolving aftertaste like roasted tree bark.
delicious, wonderful at room temp
these may be the first Trappists to brew a stout
cheers
jd

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 06:11:07 | More by impending

Lanstrum

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

04-18-2013 22:22:29 | More by Lanstrum

JamFuel

Sweden

3.5/5  rDev -4.6%

04-13-2013 16:11:01 | More by JamFuel

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +7.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

330ml bottle. It's not every day that a new Trappist brewery hits the shelves, so a bit of fanfare is in the air, folks.

This beer pours a hazy, dark reddish mahogany hue, with three fingers of tight, densely foamy beige head, which leaves but a few instances of sea spout lace around the glass as it evenly subsides.

It smells of dark, lightly toasted caramel malt, sozzled black fruit - prunes, wild cherries, and raisins - a molasses/treacle sugar-spike, mild clove and black pepper spice, a slight earthy mustiness, and faint warming alcohol. The taste is somewhat tart dark fruitcake, the essence of honey, as in the way of mead, diluted molasses, a hint of crème fraîche, packaged dates, caramel squares, toasted dark bread, subtle clove, and a further weak mustiness, equaled in its understatement by the very wallflowerish booze.

The carbonation is fairly tame, and at the same time kind of frothy, the body a hearty medium weight, and generally quite smooth, even if a pervasive sourness takes its (less than a) pound of flesh. It finishes off-dry, the fruity, malty, and sugary notes all well tempered by their corresponding sour/tart offsets.

An interesting, and tasty enough take on the entrenched Trappist BSDA - the initial delta indicated on the label - the honey - really taking a back seat to the skulking sour fruit character that comes to fill one's perception of this offering. Which I suppose is just fine, as who really wants another Rochefort/Westy/La Trappe clone (as good as those are), when there's new ground to break? Beer-speaking, of course, as the Abbey itself was founded back in 1293.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 04:54:28 | More by biboergosum

mattsander

Alberta (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

A: Murky brown with chestnut edges, tiny bubbles and a wisp of head.

S: Clovey/peppery/spicy, a bit of sour cherry, sweet dark malt... unique in the trappist dark beers.

T: Very spicy with an interesting malt flavor. The finish is tangy and herbal, its kind of an odd beer.

Has the appearance and body of a great dark trappist beer, but lacks the candy sugar / yeast balance I love in this style.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2013 04:48:23 | More by mattsander

schnarr84

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev +9%

04-04-2013 07:25:25 | More by schnarr84

RochefortChris

South Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -11.4%

04-03-2013 11:07:47 | More by RochefortChris

jkermitj

Mississippi

4.25/5  rDev +15.8%

04-02-2013 00:40:54 | More by jkermitj