Abbaye De Tholomies

Brasserie Lefèbvre SA

Abbaye De Floreffe Triple Malt

Comfortably spicy. Perfect fit with today's mood. — 9 years ago

Patrick liked this

Abbaye de Lérins

Cuvée Saint-Cesaire Vin de Pays des Alpes Maritimes Chardonnay Blend 1999

Weird and wonderful. Notes of apple, honey, pineapple. Medium bodied and unctuous. Sold as reminiscent of Condrieu, which is pretty accurate. Great value — 9 years ago

Brooke Gannon
with Brooke

Abbaye de Saint Bon Chien

Grand Cru Oak Barrel Aged Ale Malt 2007

Sommelier Bates, you'll love this my friend! — 10 years ago

Alishia liked this
Chris Missick

Chris Missick Influencer Badge

Unbelievably rounded flavor a, perfect sour, perfect balance... Years in the bottle may have helped

Abbaye Des Monges

Augustine White 2012

2012 - citronné, floral, mur, très parfumé, anis. En bouche minéral et rond, plutôt délicieux. Fresh & intense. #millesimeLanguedoc — 11 years ago

Abbaye de St Laurent (Jean-Marie Dole)

Elixir des Moines Liqueur

Those monks know what they're doing. Sweet and herbaceous and full of flavour. — 11 years ago

Cantillon Brewery

Zwanze Tripel 2013

Joe Carroll
9.5

Jean Van Roy's amazing story of Zwanze 2013. When we started renovation works in the cellars of the brewery two years ago, much to our surprise we came upon the remains of some very old walls. In agreement with the medievalists of the city of Brussels, the works were stopped in order to allow archaeological excavations to take place.

Shortly thereafter we were astonished to find out that Cantillon brewery had in fact been built on the ruins of the very ancient Abbey of Cureghem! According to the medievalists, this religious community was well-known during the middle ages for its fowl fed on draff and, more specifically, for its dish of stuffed Cureghem capon, which was served with a beer brewed at the abbey and apparently drew pilgrims from all over Europe.

Yet it was truly a heavenly surprise when the excavations uncovered the cell of the abbot, Father Faro. In the small room the archaeologists found quite a few old reference books, one of which contained the original recipes for the beers brewed at the abbey several hundred years ago. We didn’t hesitate for a second and decided on the spot to recreate one of these mythical beers.

This beer, which will be our Zwanze for 2013, therefore bears the name of its illustrious place of origin, Abbaye de Cureghem (Cureghem Abbey). Cureghem was formerly a village established many centuries ago on the banks of the Senne, the river running through present-day Brussels. The area was very heavily industrialised during the 19th century and, among other things, became home to many breweries. Today, it is part of the municipality of Anderlecht.

Since beers commonly referred to as “abbey beers” are not, or not any longer, products of spontaneous fermentation, we decided to brew a top fermentation beer, from a technical point of view in any case. The yeasts were selected in collaboration with Institut Meurice, a post-secondary college in Brussels specialising in biotechnology. Brewed in March 2012, our “Cureghem” beer fermented four weeks in stainless steel tanks before being blended with 10% lambic and pumped into 400-litre barrels of various origins. After maturing for six months, the beers were blended and put into casks or bottles to undergo re-fermentation and reach 7.2% ABV (Alcohol by Volume).

Inevitably, a top fermentation beer brewed in a spontaneous fermentation environment will be affected by the wild yeasts in the air, and this is certainly what happened in our case. For our Cureghem, the cultured yeasts were clearly the main factor behind primary fermentation and I think that the wild yeasts in the beer will instead play an increasingly important role as the product ages. However, despite the addition of the lambic to give it a little “extra something” in terms of character and ageing characteristics, this Zwanze cannot in any case be considered a spontaneous fermentation beer.

The long fermentation period coupled with the presence of wild yeasts lends this beer a solid character with a dry finish that lingers on the palate, while the combined use of fresh and aged hops yields both freshness and bitterness. Moreover, the different malts used give this year’s Zwanze a coppery colour along with a touch of caramel and candied fruit that provide body. Clearly, this is not your standard “abbey” beer but, perhaps, it is representative of what these beers were one or two hundred years ago
— 11 years ago

Daoud and Eric liked this

Domaine Berthelemot

Abbaye de Morgeot 1er Cru Chassagne-Montrachet Chardonnay 2013

Tout en finesse, l'on dirait un Puligny... Belle longueur — 9 years ago

Abbaye Des Monges

Augustine La Clape Red Blend

Corte gostoso e fácil, fácil de beber. Notas de pimenta do reino, fumo e frutas negras maduras. Presença agradável de madeira tanto na boca como no nariz. — 10 years ago

Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Pierredon

Prima Luce 2009

Very strong, buttery and rich — 10 years ago

Bertrand Machard de Gramont

Bourgogne Aligoté 2011

Peter Wasserman
9.6

Right next to the Abbaye de St Vivant (DRC white Hautes Cotes) super terroir! — 11 years ago

Jon, Nils and 2 others liked this

La Chapelle

Réserve de Tholomies Pays d'Oc Merlot 2012

Excelente vinho. Serviço de bordo da KLM. — 11 years ago

Abbaye Sylva Plana

Les Novices Faugères Grenache Blend 2011

At bistro d'oc. Full, great French wine. — 12 years ago

Vincent Girardin

Vieilles Vignes Abbaye de Morgeot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Chardonnay 2003

JKT
9.6

Fantastic. 2003. More years in it. Last bottle, unfortunately. — 9 years ago

Abbaye Sylva Plana

La Closeraie Faugères Syrah Blend 2010

Ryan Brazell
9.2

Tastes like devils on horseback. — 10 years ago

Nat, Anthony and 1 other liked this

Romain Chamiot

Apremont Vin de Savoie Mondeuse 2013

Gerich Fellermann
9.2

A+ fondue wine! Goes very well with Raclette, Comte, Etivaz, Beeler Seeboden & Abbaye de Tamie .....also functions well with Champagne chaser... — 10 years ago

Anthony, Sasha and 3 others liked this

Abbaye Saint Hilaire

Vin de Pays du Var Tentation

Beer like, honey wax, apple, rond — 10 years ago

Brasserie Lefebvre

Abbaye De Floreffe Prima Melior

Caramel, licorice, chewy, fragrant, minty , abbey style. — 11 years ago

Abbaye de Lérins

Saint Salonius Pinot Noir 2009

騎士。力強さ。気品。 — 11 years ago