Benno - Stift Engelszell

apintofknowledge

New Jersey

4.1/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

This is a new beer from a new Trappist brewery (yes, an official 8th Trappist Brewery) in Austria. From my understanding, they are brewing beers outside the traditional Dubbel, Tripel, Quad styles common to other Trappist breweries. This one is described by the importer as a "Trappist Farmhouse Style Ale"

Appearance: Pours slightly hazy with a nice creamy white head and amber to light copper hue. Make a careful pour as sediment is in the bottom of the bottle.

Aroma: Spicy, cracked peppercorn, mild haybale notes, and clover honey

Mouthfeel: Medium light body but with a full, creamy carbonation makes for a nice full mouthfeel

Taste: Initial cereal grain, mildly sweet (think Wheaties) followed by a middle of black tea leaves, mild clove, ginger and peppercorn, a bit of yeasty barnyard funk, balanced with a clover honey sweetness, finishing both dry and sweet somehow with lingering honey flavor and a slightly medicinal tartness, along with what I can only describe as a floral flavor.

Overall: Interesting, tasty, and well worth a try. Somewhere between an Orval and a Belgian Saison in terms of flavor profile. Certainly good enough to pick up again.

Serving type: bottle

12-23-2012 22:30:49 | More by apintofknowledge

Darkmagus82

Montana

3.45/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from bottle into a chalice glass

Appearance – The beer pours a hazy and murky brownish amber color with a one finger tan colored head. The head has a decent retention, fading over time to leave a lighter level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma is of fruit and biscuit with lots of cherry and plum. Along with these smells other aromas of a honey and a decent presence of a yeasty aroma bringing with it spice of coriander, pepper and clove.

Taste –The taste begins with a biscuit malt flavor mixed with darker fruits of cherry and plum. Unlike in the nose not much honey was detected in the taste, but instead the sweetness came largely from the fruit flavors. More toward the middle a tartness and yeastiness began developing on the tongue along with some spice of coriander. These flavors take the taste to its end where the tart and more tart flavors get more potent leaving a biscuit and fruity tart flavor to linger in the mouth.

Mouthfeel- The body of the beer is on the thicker and chewier side with a carbonation level that is on the average side. For the tart flavors of the brew a slightly thinner body may have been slightly more appropriate although the medium carbonation level was a nice balancer of the tart and the biscuit flavors that were simultaneously present at the end.

Overall – An alright dubbel but nothing too out of the ordinary here in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2013 00:35:01 | More by Darkmagus82

metter98

New York

3.91/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

A: The beer is very hazy light amber in color and has yeast particles visible floating in suspension near the bottom of the glass. It poured with a half finger high beige head that gradually died down, mostly leaving a thin head covering the surface.
S: An interesting mix of Begian yeast, sweet malt and spice aromas are present in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell and has additional notes of honey and spices plus medicinal hints of iodine.
M: It feels medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This is an interesting beer that seems to taste like it is a hybrid of a saison, bière de garde and a dubbel.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 14:54:38 | More by metter98

smithj4

New York

4/5  rDev +2%

06-16-2013 14:43:25 | More by smithj4

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.99/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Impressive starting head that settles slowly into rocky chunks. Thick lace on the glass. Reddish hued amber color. Very cloudy.

Interesting blend of yeast and sweet cherry to the nose. Mildly sour and earthy. Different and complex.

Far more bitter than the smell would indicate. Starts with a sour and nearly dry malt up front. The swallow is nearly astringent with a bitter kick. The aftertaste has some of that cherry show up again, a bit flowery, but it leans to the bitter. Full bodied with a low carbonation level.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 00:20:55 | More by smcolw

Tyler1tiger

Florida

4/5  rDev +2%

06-08-2013 20:10:52 | More by Tyler1tiger

Rohkey

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev -4.3%

06-08-2013 00:29:32 | More by Rohkey

potownbill

New York

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

06-07-2013 13:59:35 | More by potownbill

bsp77

Minnesota

4.04/5  rDev +3.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Serving glass: Poured from bottle into Tulip.

Appearance: Lava orange with large, frothy head and clingy lacing.

Smell: Fruity with caramel, honey and light Belgian yeast.

Taste: Nice fruit and honey base with notes from the yeast, such as banana, clove and spices. Finish is tart and spicy.

Feel: A little fuller than expected with moderate carbonation. Semi-dry finish with a nice tartness.

Overall: This is good new entry into the world of Trappist beers. Sorta a Saison, but the fuller fruit and honey notes make this a little more distinctive.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2013 00:10:34 | More by bsp77

JeffreyJDavis

North Carolina

4.08/5  rDev +4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I really wasn't planning on being able to hold either of the Stift Engelszell beers in my hands or belly anytime soon based on their very limited production, so was ecstatic to find them at Salud bottle shop, priced reasonably. Poured into an Orval Chalice at around 48F.

A: Poured gently, this is a very nice looking beer. Glows an almost deep gold, toasty copper color. Mild turbidity. About a finger and a half of off white head which subsides relatively quickly but laces persitently in characteristic trappist style.

N: Smell is malty with a good bready yeast nose and bits of spice. Very earthy and rustic smelling. Relatively subdued nose , but it was possibly a little cool when poured.

T: Solid, softly constructed maltiness is well balanced with the wild yeastiness and grains. This has an earthy funk reminiscent of Orval, but not overpowering Brett phenols in any way. It's mildly sweet but I wouldn't guess that it was brewed with honey, as I'm told. Slight nuttiness, quite herbal and very mild spice, mostly cinammon and clove. Peppery in the finish. I had a hard time putting my finger on it, but just a very ancient and rustic flavor. It tastes like a time-honored recipe. Interesting.

MF: Light to medium bodied with more carbonation at work than was apparent in the pour. A bit astringent in the finish but also pleasingly creamy across the palate. Enjoyable to drink.

O: A nice beer, not mindblowing in any way but highly enjoyable. It's great to have a Farmhouse style beer in the Trappist stable and I'm happy to welcome our newest Trappist brewery to my experience base.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2013 14:11:30 | More by JeffreyJDavis

jtdolla911

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +14.8%

05-23-2013 02:25:32 | More by jtdolla911

BEERchitect

Kentucky

4.18/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

As the new kid on the Trappist block, Stift Engelszell chimes in on the scene with an inquisitive ale of rich Belgian Pale Ale malt presence but with the dry, spicy character of Saison. Benno is a unique and refreshing option on the Trappist beer menu.

A careful decant of the bottle yields a deep gold, medium amber color. The ale simply looks toasty and caramel-like. The classic yeast hazy keeps the beer diffused in its body while a dense cloud of froth floats above. Its head might be short statured but its ivory foam is long lasing and speckles the glass with signature Belgian lacing with each sip of the ale. Its overall appearance is of more amber-type Belgian Pale Ales.

Toasty, dry malt, pecans and husky grain character starts the show in semi-robust fashion. Spices are first and foremost with cinnamon leading the charge. Complements of light clove, fresh cracked peppercorn and a decoration of clove set in and add to the spice heavy taste and aroma. Lighter in fruit notes- a melange of apples, grapes, dates and figs burrow under the spices and fuse seamlessly with the terse caramel and cotton candy-type sweetness.

Malty-light in body, its dry sweetness allows for the malts to spring from the tongue to usher in a quick and decisive finish of peppery zeal, rose wine acidity, mild husk astringency and a crisp, clean herbal hop finish of lemongrass. The ale favors as much wine-like effervescence as it does ale-like creaminess.

Benno is a wonderfully crafted ale that compares very favorably when considered in the likes of Unibroue Maudite and De Koninck Ale. It simply belongs in the portfolio of time honored Trappistine history, regal, spirit and taste.

Serving type: bottle

05-21-2013 06:03:13 | More by BEERchitect

RedneckBeerz

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

05-19-2013 14:56:51 | More by RedneckBeerz

acurtis

New Jersey

2.75/5  rDev -29.8%

05-18-2013 20:21:58 | More by acurtis

djrn2

New Jersey

2.75/5  rDev -29.8%

05-18-2013 20:04:01 | More by djrn2

JakerLou

New Hampshire

4/5  rDev +2%

05-15-2013 22:10:47 | More by JakerLou

vande

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -10.7%

05-14-2013 00:22:50 | More by vande

acevenom

Louisiana

4.51/5  rDev +15.1%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into a glass mug. The beer pours hazy copper with a finger-length white head and lots of tiny, visible bubbles. The head sticks around for a while and retains well throughout consumption. The beer smells like lemon, Belgian yeast funk, sweet and bready malt, and coriander. The beer has a nice malt profile that's evidenced in the taste, being nice and bready with some sweetness. I get the lemon and coriander as well as some earthy hop bitterness in the back end. The body is medium with lively carbonation. The finish is dry and the aftertaste coats the mouth. This is a nice drinking beer. This is an excellent beer.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2013 01:12:08 | More by acevenom

Rusty_Pabst

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +2%

05-07-2013 14:21:40 | More by Rusty_Pabst

tehzachatak

Massachusetts

3.98/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

330 mL bottle poured into a Deschutes teku. (note: I was going to use an Orval chalice, but then looked at the Stift glassware, and interestingly enough, it oddly resembles a teku. food for thought.)

A - a fairly careful pour yields a finger and a half of slightly ruby tinged head, suspended over a much darker than expected, red-amber body. really stunned by the red coloration to this beer - almost looks as if it has fruit. appears to have high carbonation.

S - smells like a much darker beer than the style notes, again. some fruit, a little spice, and biscuity malt. kiss of lime peel and honey. does not smell like it has much alcohol in it.

T - tastes much lighter than it looks. sweetness, some serious tang reminiscent of an intense sourdough bread. are there bugs in this beer? will need to go read about it.. some citrus. a little hops and honey on the finish.

M - really light- not a ton of body. cannot believe this is almost 7%. highly active carbonation. the light tang makes it really pleasant to drink.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2013 23:25:54 | More by tehzachatak

JAHMUR

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +2%

04-08-2013 20:27:43 | More by JAHMUR

RochefortChris

South Carolina

4/5  rDev +2%

04-03-2013 11:04:09 | More by RochefortChris

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.2/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Bottle from the Wine Source in Baltimore. Served in a cervoise.

Pours a fairly-hazy deep gold-caramel color with a thin white head. A bit of spotty lacing iand a collar.

The nose carries a bit of bread and faint caramel alongside a bit of candy sweetness. No real saison yeast or spice to speak of. Flavor is similarly bland. Some honey, bread, and light toffee. Nothing indicating this is a saison. Faint fruit and spice as it warms.

Body is light-medium. A bit light on the carbonation, and somewhat dry through the finish.

Meh.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2013 01:33:27 | More by Thorpe429

C2H5

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +14.8%

02-08-2013 06:43:47 | More by C2H5

chanokokoro

Illinois

4/5  rDev +2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a 33 cl bottle into an unbranded tulip glass

Pours amber with golden highlights capped by a fluffy white head. Great retention and plenty of lacing along the sides of the glass. Plenty of yeast, on the nose, however different and not as strong as the the saison/farmhouse yeast found in most saisons. The honey does come through as well as hay, and some malt touched by a bit of toffee. Yeasty, caramel, honey maltiness, a light touch of citrus throughout. Smooth mouthfeel, light, medium bodied with moderate to low carbonation-much lower than most saisons I've had. A very interesting and enjoyable beer. Well worth a try.

Serving type: bottle

01-28-2013 04:54:39 | More by chanokokoro