La Trappe, A Different kind of Trappist
Saturday, 26 March 2011 17:52
Last Updated on Friday, 07 October 2011 10:32
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La Trappe: A Different Kind of Trappist
Dutch Monk brewers La Trappe just do things different than their 6 monastic brethren. The Abbey was founded in 1881 by monks fleeing the hostile French religious atmosphere. Several Trappist monasteries sent members to find refuse abroad. Sebastianus Wyart was the chosen trappist scout who found a heather field in the country side of the Netherlands. By 1884 “The Konnigshoven” or “The Royal Farms”became an abbey with a brewery to help support the newly relocated monks. This history is pretty much in step with many other monastories that had to flee France.
For the next hundred years Konnigshoven’s growth was stalled twice by two world wars. After each war the brewery comes back bigger and stronger. In 1950, they began producing lemonade and opened a laboratory. In 1968, the monks invited local brewers to help with innovation and production. At this time, the brewery was producing several styles including; dark, Pilsner, Dortmunder, Super and Bock’s.
In 1980 the friars decidedto establish the name “La Trappe.” At this time, the monastic brewers decided to return tothe brewing practices of the 50′s and use archived recipes. The winter ale Quadruple hassuch a high demand the brewery decided to produce it year round. In 2001, they releasedthe first Trappist Witte or white wheat beer based on a recipe from the 1950′s. Continuingtheir innovation, La Trappe produced something no other Trappist brewery had ever released: a lager. In 2003, La Trappe’s “Bockbier” was released and received high ratings from the beer community. In 2009, the friars decided to release a 125th anniversary ale called “IsiD’or” named after the first brewmaster. IsiD’or is a pale ale and all proceeds goto the construction of a new abbey in Uganda.
In 2009, the monks decided to return to the practice of oak-aging the Quadruple. Manyold world and craft brewers oak-age beers but La Trappe is unique in that it blends the Quad into several different new and used barrels. The first batch is a split into 4 barrels;18% new oak with heavy toast, 9% new medium Acasia, 36% used burnt port barrels,and 36% toasted port barrels. After maturing for 12 months, the beer is blended and bottled. The beer stands alone in complexity and innovation. These Trappists’ prizes are very rare and meant to age for up to 20 years. The oak-aged Quads are bottle conditioned and have cork and cage closures.I was able to get my hands on Batch 3 of the oak-aged Quad. The 10% dark ale was stillin its youth but the complexity and smoothness even at this early stage was something special.
La Trappe “Quadrupple” Barrique-Batch 3
Notes; Kirsch, Olorosso sherry, toasted vanilla, apple skins and cumin
Pairings; Lamb couscous, chocolate cake, but probably best drank on its own.
Notes; Kirsch, Olorosso sherry, toasted vanilla, apple skins and cumin
Pairings; Lamb couscous, chocolate cake, but probably best drank on its own.
ABV 10%
Here is a list of the different oak blends for each batch as provided by http://www.latrappe.nl.
The 5th batch is aging in 20% heavily toasted new oak and 80% used white wine barrels.
BATCH 1 (blended on June 1, 2010).
| Type | % in batch |
| New Oak Heavy Toast | 18.2 |
| New Medium Acasia | 9.1 |
| Port Medium Burnt | 36.4 |
| Port Medium Toast | 36.4 |
BATCH 2 (blended on July 26, 2010).
|
Type
|
% in batch
|
|
New Medium Oak Toast
|
9
|
|
Port Medium Burnt Toast (American Oak)
|
64
|
|
Port Medium Burnt Toast (French Oak)
|
9
|
|
Port Medium Toast (French Oak)
|
18
|
BATCH 3 (blended on September 17, 2010).
|
Type
|
% in batch
|
|
New Oak Medium Toast
|
18
|
|
Port Medium Toast (French Oak)
|
55
|
|
La Trappe Q. Medium Toast (French Oak)
|
27
|
BATCH 4 (blended on 5 November 2010).
|
Type
|
% in batch
|
|
New Oak Medium Toast
|
27
|
|
Port Medium Toast (French Oak)
|
9
|
|
La Trappe Q. Medium Toast (French Oak)
|
18
|
|
La Trappe Q. Medium burnt (American Oak)
New Oak Heavy Toast
|
36
10
|
