I have wanted to try a Trappist Ale for a while. The reputation of the beers produced by these 7 breweries is very strong and, believe it or not, I hadn’t had one before. So when I was in the beer store I picked up a bottle of Trappistes Rochefort 6 which is supposed to be very good. I decided to have some Trader Joe’s Blue Cheese with it to see how it went with a stronger cheese:
Appearance: The beer pours a cloudy dark caramel color with a nice, creamy white head. The lacing is excellent and there is good carbonation.
Smell: Aromas of caramel, candy/brown sugar, and raisin hit your nose first. There is also some spice like cinnamon and nutmeg.
Taste: The taste was much like the smell. The caramel is up front followed by the raisin, pear, and sweetness. There is a hint of hops.
Drinkability: This is a pretty darn easy drinking beer, despite the 7.5%ABV. It goes down very well.
This is a very good beer, actually very nearly excellent, but not quite the best Belgian beer I’ve had. That honor goes to Duvel which I thought was an excellent beer. That being said, I won’t turn this beer down at all. It is well worth seeking out and drinking. It looks great in the glass, has a great aroma and taste and the drinkability is very good. If you like slightly sweet/dark fruit flavored beers you will probably love this. If sweetness isn’t your thing, this might be too much for you. I’d say try it either way because this is a great beer and deserves a try.
On to the next Trappist brewery, only 6 more to go 
1. Appearance- 9 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability- 9 points (out of 10)
Total 43 (out of 50) Points- 4 Mugs
Rochefort do some good beers – you gotta try the 10, it’s phenomenal! I like the trappist beers even though I’m not a huge belgian beer fan. They have a lot of complexity to them and they age really well. Orval is very different to the others, made with brettanomyces so it’s a wild/sour ale – worth trying on a hot day!
Good to see some beer and cheese pairing too, I think the Rochefort 10 would be even better than the 6 with a blue cheese!
I’ve had a few bottles of each of the Rocheforts (6, 8 and 10) over the last six months or so, and like them all, but I don’t think I’m getting the most out of them yet. I expect that a bit more experience will help (I’ve found that in the past with other styles of beer) but, so far, much of the reputed complexity and depth of these beers seems to be over my head. The 10, in particular, has a noticeable alcohol presence which was a bit heavy for me.
I think it’s fair to say that the Chimays are more “user-friendly” (Red and Blue, anyway; I’ve yet to try the White), at least for newcomers to the Trappist style. Orval, as Mark D. said, is a different kettle of fish altogether – the only Trappist beer (in fact, the only Belgian beer) to make it into my top 20 since I started attempting to rank the beers I drink a few months ago (a very banal activity, admittedly, but good fun).
I got a beer delivery today including a few bottles of Westvleteren 8, from the Trappist brewery whose beers are notoriously difficult to get hold of. I’m a bit apprehensive about trying it right now. It’s probably going to sail over my head even higher than the Rochefort!
I did! The Westvleteren 8 was amazing! It’s one of the most unusual beers I’ve had, but instantly ingratiating. There’s something very atmospheric about it, too. I can’t say why, exactly, but it put me in mind of being in a dark wood at night; something in the taste suggests earth and trees.
I also tried that Chimay White. The Belgian Tripel style hasn’t generally been one of my favourites, but the Chimay White was very pleasant indeed.
I agree with you about the usefulness of rating beer (despite the subjectivity involved). The ratings given on blogs like this and on such sites as RateBeer are invaluable to me in choosing what to buy. But my own ranking project takes things to the rather absurd level of trying to rank things that end up with the same score, so I’ve currently got a list of more than two hundred beers each in a definite position in the sequence – from Stone Imperial Russian Stout all the way down to Corona Extra!
Michael,
Glad you enjoyed the 8! I think I’ll get one to try here pretty soon. But first I have a Chimay Blue that I will be reviewing tomorrow with some steak I plan to cook on the Big Green Egg. We’ll see how that turns out.
Keep ranking and scoring the beers you try, it will only add to the enjoyment of beer drinking.
The Rochefort was my first Trappist beer ever (at least that I can remember). I enjoyed it and felt like I got a lot out of it but I agree that there is probably more there. Most of the beers I review I am trying for the first time. It might be interesting to “re-review” some of them after I have had some more time to drink a few more of them over time.
Ranking or rating beers is a bit of a challenge. I enjoy the process but sometimes wonder how useful the “rating” is. Enjoyment of beer is so subjective. You can have 10 people review the same beer served in exactly the same conditions and you’ll get 10 different opinions. Everyone will taste or smell something different for the most part. I’ll keep rating and ranking the beer I review however, because it is fun to place the beers in some sort of order. I also think that having a number assigned to the beer can help guide people to making good decisions about the beer they drink.
Oh, if you feel that the Westvleteren might be over you head, feel free to send it my way and I will do my best to relieve your apprehension
Enjoy!