Rochefort 10

· by · in Beer, Reviews, Themed Weeks, Trappist Month. ·

Rochefort 10 Trappist BeerStyle: Quadrupel

ABV: 11.3%

The colour of the field on which the number 10 sits is a deep blue, almost indistinguishable from the brown of the bottle.

At an enormous 11.3%, the 10 is deemed to be something more than just a Strong Ale, so the term used for high-strength Belgians applies. This is only the fourth Quadrupel of the series, after the Westmalle and the two La Trappes.

This bottle is just about a year old, so I’m expecting it to be a little more mellow than is expected from a beer of this strength. Only one way to find out!

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Visual: A dark ruby that looks as brown as the bottle unless it’s held up to the light. Standing normally, more can actually be seen through the bottle than the liquid. A thick almost orange head forms, but disappears quickly, leaving only a thin ring of foam on the surface. No lacing is possible with such little foam left.

Nose: Smells very boozy, even at an arms length away. Once you get your nose in though, the harsh alcohol smell seems very faint. Dark fruits and clove are there just as in the 8, but there is a little bit of a tangerine aroma coming from this beer too. Faint hints of chocolate and a very toasty note from the malt, with a sweet herbal scent coming from the zesty orange pairing with the hops.

Taste: So, so rich. The first flavours are of fruit and spice, with clove and nutmeg coming over a slightly pear-like vinous note. That slight sourness is followed very quickly by big, bold dark fruits – fig, raisin, and plum. Combined with the sourness from the wine flavour and the warming spice, it tastes quite jammy. Then comes the hugely sweet malt. Very sweet bread flavours but earthy, nutty and rich like a bit of wholemeal fruit toast. Those two notes go back and forth between each other before a chocolatey toast flavour shines through. It’s like a really great dark spiced rum. The finish is of clean, fresh hops, while the clove and nutmeg lingering in the background. The fruits pop up again, to be quashed by toasty malt, to return to hops and so on until the flavour disappears, like an echo.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with quite an excited carbonation. Slightly fizzy for me, but it provides a lift which suits the cleansing hops well. It also means that the beer is not heavy in the mouth, though it is quite filling in the belly. The tart, jammy fruits make the mouth a little sticky, before the hops dry everything off with a green, slightly oily astringency. All of that happens in a pleasant warmth, with the alcohol providing just a tingle in the back of the throat.

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I’ve had this beer before, and I remember it being a little too much. I always said that the 8 was just right, the 10 being too much and the 6 not quite enough. But I’m really not sure now.

While the 10 doesn’t have the same complexity, it makes up for it in intensity. All of the flavours seem doubly strong compared to the 8. And that’s not to say that the 10 isn’t complex. It is, just in a different way. The 8 was an opera, played out gradually and for you to return. The 10 is an echo of itself in a vast cavern. The flavours announce themselves and change and swirl before repeating in the same order until they fade away.

I remember it being boozier, with more of a burn than a warmth – with more of a rum comparison then due to the harshness of the alcohol as well as the richness of flavour. Perhaps it is the age of the beer that has mellowed it, or perhaps I am remembering that I drank it side by side with the 8 and the difference was all the more noticeable. On its own, the 10 is warm and  rich, one to finish off a long cold day with. Probably not a session beer, due to both the high ABV and the sheer richness and intensity of the flavours.

For me, the carbonation goes a little over the top, lifting the beer nicely as well balanced carbonation should, but then spilling over into a fizz which adds too much of a tingle to my mouth. The alcohol already provides a similar sensation, so the bubbles just push it a little to far.

My mouth is left slightly sticky, gradually drying and watering for more of that jammy sweetness all at the same time. The hops and the spice combined with the fruit make it feel like a pie made by a Michelin starred chef, with figs and pears stewed in spices so all of those flavours amplify themselves, then put onto the perfect pastry and baked until some of the crust is brown and toasty. The hops cleanse the mouth as well as provide a spice element and it just makes me want more.

It’s a summer night, but this beer is still drinkable. I’m looking forward to winter, when I can sit wearing a big jumper with a warm pudding and drink this beer over a few cold, dark hours. It is warm, filling and gives you a big hit of booze to make you as drowsy as you’d want to be. I imagine this would be the perfect beer for those winter nights, which means I will certainly be buying it again.

Like the 8, I will buy a few and stow them away around the house, in the hope that I’ll stumble upon them once they’ve had some time to age. I imagine the effect of aging will show more in the 10, with more booze and richer flavours to mellow out. There’s only one way to tell though, so maybe I’ll have to revisit some of the Trappist beers nearer to Christmas…

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