Abbaye St-Remy's Trappistes Rochefort 10

I stopped trying Belgians by the time this one was widely available in Houston, but I couldn't pass it up for one reason, here about a month ago.

Nice, deep smell. Not terribly bready like I'd expect, but deep ad not hoppy. Slightly fizzy smell to it. Tan head didn't stick around too long, but didn't disappear immediately, either.

Big feel to it, like a quad should have. Fairly strong alcohol taste, which isn't unexpected from an 11.3% ABV, but I wish it was hidden a little better. I know a lot of people would talk about dark fruits when describing this beer, but I refuse to. It has a deep, slow taste to it, with a wet cigar tobacco aftertaste.

Excellent beer. Trappists know what they're doing.

Sterkens Brewery's Belgian Dubbel Ale

I have several beers, parks, and BBQ joints that I haven't posted in a while, but this one seems like a perfect one to start back with.

Pours a great deep brown, with a smooth tan head that stays. Smells great. I know I bag on Belgians all the time, but this reminds me of when I first started trying different beers and thought Belgians were the best. I had yet to try all of the great American beers out there, so the Belgians were still fairly pure and I didn't taste the various odd plastic and chemical yeast tastes that they often leave me with now. But this one is straight-up bready. Like the type f beers you hear about monks brewing as a bread substitute during fasts.

Nice. Straight-forward, bready, and like a substantive beer that is the way it's supposed to be. It's not as good as Sam Smith's Stingo, but it's getting there and it makes me want to go back and try the Belgian staples again to re-evaluate them.

I don't think they have this at Spec's, so go to D&O on Richmond in Houston, and after you're done step across the street to Chapultepec for some of the best Mexican food in the city.