Tasting Trappist Rochefort 10 Belgian beer.
As I am writing this blogpost, our Facebook page has a poll going up on dark trappist beers that is getting quite a bit of traction. People have a choice to vote between Westmalle (which we already have notes for), Westvleteren, Rochefort 10 and Spencer. Obviously there’s more but if you keep things visual it’s more fun to limit the choices.
And while we certainly like to discuss all the small craft breweries, we should not neglect the classics. Especially when those classics are from the Trappist monks, pretty much the original craft brewers. And Rochefort 10 is certainly regarded as one of those classics.
We originally made up tastenotes for the old Dutch blog at beproefd, but Rochefort 10 is one of those beers I almost always have a few in my fridge, so all the commotion definitely made me want to do a retaste. It should probably be noted that I Westmalle Dubbel is also one of those benchmarks I stock on a regular base.
Anyway, the original notes I did with the whisky mercenary Jürgen Vromans and Guy Verbunt, one of the owners of craft brewery ‘t Nest. If you want to know what ‘t Nest is up to, I did tastenotes on one of their beers a while back. And of course, I did a retaste before I wrote these notes.
Nose:
Coffee and Mocha. Dark intense chocolate. Nutmeg and licorice. Quite a bit of herbal influences really. And a lot of power.
Mouth:
We really were overpowered by the Coffee and Mocha notes, but well balanced and powerful. It loses the complexity of the nose but the delivery of what is left is done with a vengeance. This is pure classic dark power.
Finish:
Still Coffee and Mocha. The Dark chocolate is back. Some bitterness, like you have in chestnuts, and a hint of hazelnut to boot. So, I guess it’s more of a desert coffee than a breakfast coffee. But It leaves you wanting more for sure.
This is a great beer, and another benchmark for dark beers. Stronger than Westmalle and a different profile, yet there are similarities as well and they are all good. This beer is definitely one of the reasons Trappist beers are so highly regarded around the world.
Perhaps a tip: this beer keeps evolving in the bottle. I personally like it best (and I’m not the only one) around six to nine months after the expiration date. This is also the case for a dark Westmalle btw. Of course, taste is something personal, but I recommend you try this at least once. That is, if you can leave the bottle alone for so long. As you probably figured out by now, that is no easy task by any means.
This Beer reminds me of: Kyle MacLachlan
Agent Dale Cooper himself would approve of this ‘damn good coffee’.
The data:
The beer: Rochefort 10
Released by: Trappist Rochefort brewery
Year on bottle: 2019
Alcohol percentage: 11,3
I’m familiar with Westmalle but have not yet tried any other of these Trappist beers so was interested to find this review of Rochefort, which I haven’t come across before. It sounds like a lovely beer, even if the very high alcohol content (for a beer) means that I would treat it more like a fine wine than a beer. Good review, thanks for the information.
Westmalle is indeed also a benchmark. In fact I have a review of that one also:
https://made4drinking.com/tasting-trappist-westmalle-beer-dubbel/
Rochefort is great and the strength does not get in the way of the flavours.
Wow! This is really interesting to read on the feel and the taste of this Trappist rochefort 10 beligian beer. Though I have never tasted it before as much as I love to taste different beers but then, it seems that it has some great taste and the smell too is coffee like. I love it. Thanks for this article and I’d try to look for it to taste it too
You should absolutely try it if you get the opportunity!
A really nice experience you’ve got there I suppose. There have been so many instances where I get to take a particular beer for the first time and its feel like urrghhh 😖. I should have seen a review or report about this beer before tasting it at all and when the taste takes over my mouth I get really pissed. Looking at your experience from Trappist Rochefort, I always have this love for the bitterness in beer and would love to taste it. Thanks for sharing.
We are going to take parts in the party this weekend and I am going to take this tasting trappist Rochefort 10 Belgian beer and would like to make surprise all fellows in the party.I bet my friends in the party do not know about Belgian beer,let alone serve it hugely.
I did not know what Nest is and glad to read your post about it.I have had tried Chimay Blue Belguim beer a long time ago as well-it was also incredibly fantastic. I will bookmark your page and pass it on to my fellows. Thanks
Watch out with using this one as a party beer … at 11.3% it gets you drunk fairly fast 🙂