Beer lover? Try this, you won't be disappointed

Paparazzo

Rochefort Trappistes 10, I got it in that place in Ranelagh (what's the name of that off licence?). Cost's about €5.30 for a 330ml bottle, but it's a seriously nice beer, get 1 or 2 to try.

Don't drink too many, it's well over 10% alcohol content.

Victor

Paparazzo wrote:

I got it in that place in Ranelagh (what's the name of that off licence?).

The place next to McDonalds?

ferdi

5.30 for 330ml?

it had better be gorgeous. but i guess it has te alcohol content of 2+ regular lagers.

Paparazzo

Thinks it's called Redmonds. Come out of the centra on the triangle, turn left, and it's about 4 shops up. They do loads of weird beers, but the fridges are those open ones, with plastic strips hanging down to keep the cool air in.

It's actually 11.3%, got a selection of 6 beers that I never heard of in there, this one was by far the best. Dark, and a lot of sediment in it. It's made by monks, read this, if you're still not impressed, I'll give up!

Monks! It's a secret recipe and brewing technique that God gave to them!

Frankiestylee

Oh, thats mad expensive for a 330ml.

happy_acid_face

If you like that try Westmalle Tripel, Tripel Karmliet and a couple of the Chimay range. All of them are Belgian Trappist beers (Trappist being its made in a monastery, yes, by monks!) and are all very high in alcohol.
In Particular I'd recommend the Westmalle Tripel. It's in a Slim bottle with a cream label and boasts a 9.5% Abv. It's priced around the €3 mark and is the best Trappist beer I have tried to date!

(All are 330ml bottles which Trappist beers more often than not, tend to be in. An expensive taste to have )

oblivious

ferdi wrote:

5.30 for 330ml?

it had better be gorgeous. but i guess it has te alcohol content of 2+ regular lagers.

Don’t bother, if you just want an alcohol kick buy your self some cheap vodka or better still some white spirits!

it's a wonderful beer, one of the best around

Mr Magnolia

Those Trappist lads know how to brew a beer, Chimay Red is another one that should be sampled

rubadub

Oh, thats mad expensive for a 330ml.

oblivious wrote:

Don’t bother, if you just want an alcohol kick buy your self some cheap vodka or better still some white spirits!

Point is the main cost of beer here is the duty, and the duty is directly related to the %. so 330ml 11.3% @ €5.30 it is equivalent to a 330ml 4.3% at €2.

oblivious

I take the point about the duty, I still suspect some people want quantity over quality. But Trappist beers are a very limited product, their charter from the Vatican state they must brew with in the wall of the monastery. Also a lot of the money raised from Trappist beer goes to good cause, how many beers make you conscious feel good when you drink them!. Chimay in fact is the second largest earner for the Vatican.

Peter Collins

Paparazzo wrote:

Cost's about €5.30 for a 330ml bottle

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

You having a laugh??!!!!

:rolleyes:

They must have seen you coming

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA

Dear oh dear

rubadub

Peter Collins wrote:

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

You having a laugh??!!!!

:rolleyes:

They must have seen you coming

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA

Dear oh dear

330ml of vodka would cost even more than that, mental isn't it :rolleyes:

kenmc

Peter Collins wrote:

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

You having a laugh??!!!!

:rolleyes:

They must have seen you coming

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA

Dear oh dear

How much do you pay for it, and where??

oblivious

Peter Collins wrote:

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

You having a laugh??!!!!

:rolleyes:

They must have seen you coming

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA

Dear oh dear

Its equivalent to half a bottle of wine and it’s a much better produced than most available. To brew an 11% beer commercially that’s balanced takes a hell of amount of skill! Also the increased fermentable material compared to a standard beer will be reflected in the price.

themole

It is indeed a nice beer.
One piece of adice though, due to the large amount of sediment in it you need to drink it out of a glass with a large opening. Otherwise the sediment gets washed up into the beer everytime you drink.

Peter Collins

oblivious wrote:

Its equivalent to half a bottle of wine and it’s a much better produced than most available. To brew an 11% beer commercially that’s balanced takes a hell of amount of skill! Also the increased fermentable material compared to a standard beer will be reflected in the price.

Give me a break

They charge that amount cos they know there are certain "beer connoisseurs" out there who'll pay it.

God be with the days when beer was something you drank to get pissed.

Mr Magnolia

Peter Collins wrote:

Give me a break

They charge that amount cos they know there are certain "beer connoisseurs" out there who'll pay it.

God be with the days when beer was something you drank to get pissed.

Each to theirs. Some nights I enjoy one or two 'different' beers; I enjoy experimenting, other nights it's a tray of heiny under the arm.

Paddy's Vs Midleton

or

Blossom Hill Vs Chablis - Grand Cru


IMHO

Edit/ I enjoy a glass of blossom hill or a hot paddys on occasion, don't want the above to sound snobby by any means, just pointing out the differences:)

Mr Magnolia

oblivious wrote:

Chimay in fact is the second largest earner for the Vatican.

That's an incredible fact

kenmc

Peter Collins wrote:

Give me a break

They charge that amount cos they know there are certain "beer connoisseurs" out there who'll pay it.

God be with the days when beer was something you drank to get pissed.

Well if you want to enjoy getting pissed on beer, there's little can compare to this, or it's ilk.Of course if you want to just get pissed without actually caring what it tastes like, then stick to the dutchie etc. And yes there are certain people out here who will pay more for a better ( number 10 here: http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Ratings-Top50.asp) beer than the swill that is usually promoted via mass-marketing/advertising. Just because it's on TV doesn't mean that it's all that's available - thankfully.

"Beer connoisseurs" as you call it don't drink to get pissed, we drink to enjoy the flavours, aromas and feel of the beers. Getting pissed is a nice side-effect.

I personally wouldn't sorry couldn't drink bud/millers/coors etc even if it were the last beer on earth and it were free for life.

But each to their own I suppose, I think that pumping money into cars to make them get to the next traffic light a couple of milliseconds faster is nuts too.

guildofevil

This beer requires more ingredients, more expensive ingredients, more skill to produce, longer maturation times, thus more space in the brewery and it is made in smaller quantities, so they have less in the way of economies of scale. Then the Irish government comes along, looks at the 11.3% vol tag and slaps a huge duty on it.

It is an expensive beer for all of these reasons, but it is one of the best beers in the world and you can afford to try it on an average, or even below average income. Can you say that about any of the best wines in the world?

You can get pissed on any old muck and if that's all you want, you will never understand this beer.

rubadub

Peter Collins wrote:

They charge that amount cos they know there are certain "beer connoisseurs" out there who'll pay it.

God be with the days when beer was something you drank to get pissed.

As I said before 330ml, 11.3% @ €5.30 it is equivalent to a 330ml, 4.3% at €2

So even if you are drinking it solely to get pissed it is not very expensive compared to the usual bottles. Cheapest bottles are €1, most no on offer are around the €2 mark.

You can probably get a bottle of wine for about €4, do you think people paying €8 for a bottle are being ripped off too?

ladgie353

Does the store in Ranelagh also stock the "8" version?

I have been looking for it ever since you can't fly bottles in hand-luggage anymore...

5 euro 30 for one bottle of 10 is quite steep alright, home a bottle is about 1 Euro 50 in a supermarket. In fairness to the shop, though, I believe the berwery has a "different" price policy for exportations and that the transport certainly doesn't help either.

delboy159

I would love to try this beer. Is there anywhere online I could buy it - as Ranelagh is a bit of a trek for a culchie!

Frankiestylee

happy_acid_face wrote:

If you like that try Westmalle Tripel, Tripel Karmliet and a couple of the Chimay range. All of them are Belgian Trappist beers (Trappist being its made in a monastery, yes, by monks!) and are all very high in alcohol.
In Particular I'd recommend the Westmalle Tripel. It's in a Slim bottle with a cream label and boasts a 9.5% Abv. It's priced around the €3 mark and is the best Trappist beer I have tried to date!

(All are 330ml bottles which Trappist beers more often than not, tend to be in. An expensive taste to have )

That's what I was thinking when I said it was very expensive, especially that Westmalle, tis lovely. Most of the Trappist beers are around the €3 mark and whereas it's easy to compare this beer to the likes of bud and say you're paying for quality (cause you are), I find it hard to justify the extra €2 for the 330ml. I know La Trappe is more expensive, but that's in a 660ml earthen jug (at least I hope it's la trappe... I get all the Belgian names mixed up as they sell so slowly)

smartblaa

happy_acid_face wrote:

If you like that try Westmalle Tripel, Tripel Karmliet and a couple of the Chimay range. All of them are Belgian Trappist beers (Trappist being its made in a monastery, yes, by monks!) and are all very high in alcohol.
In Particular I'd recommend the Westmalle Tripel. It's in a Slim bottle with a cream label and boasts a 9.5% Abv. It's priced around the €3 mark and is the best Trappist beer I have tried to date!

(All are 330ml bottles which Trappist beers more often than not, tend to be in. An expensive taste to have )

I brought home a ****load of 700ml bottles of Chimay beer from belgium last summer...yes the one made by monks with the secret god recipe!!

wait for it ......... E1.50 per bottle

Paparazzo

delboy159 wrote:

I would love to try this beer. Is there anywhere online I could buy it - as Ranelagh is a bit of a trek for a culchie!

Not sure, I heard of it on the Moncrief show (radio show daily from 2pm-4:30 daily on Newstalk 106), they have a booze section every friday at around half 3. They did wine yesterday, so it should be beer next friday. Send in a text or e-mail and ask the guy to find out more outlets. If i'm listening i'll send one in for you.
I'll have to try the Westmalle Tripel and Chimay, sound good!

To the beer drinkers that think it's a rip off: i'm glad you won't go out and buy it, all the more for the people that will appreciate it!

johnnyskeleton

kenmc wrote:

And yes there are certain people out here who will pay more for a better ( number 10 here: http://www.ratebeer.com/Ratings/Ratings-Top50.asp) beer than the swill that is usually promoted via mass-marketing/advertising.

"Beer connoisseurs" as you call it don't drink to get pissed, we drink to enjoy the flavours, aromas and feel of the beers. Getting pissed is a nice side-effect.

After having a quick look at that site, it seems to me that there is as much non-sense about beer as there is over wine etc.

Don't get me wrong, I love a quality beer, but if I was going to write about it on the internet, in a way that might inform someone else about it, I would try to give them an idea of how it tastes. For example:

"Old Man McKracken's Famous Lager" - quite bubbly, strong flavour but mild aftertaste, feel bloated after 3-4.

But the reviews on that site are sometimes: "heavenly beginning, with a rich tapestry of freshly cut grass and dead parrot extract. leaves you feeling like your granny lives in the jungle knitting sweaters".

Worse, one of my favourite beers of all time was dismissed as "boring". So I wonder if the OP would say why he likes this beer, if only so that I might know if I'll like it or not.

Also, I don't like going out looking for a particular beer. Instead, I prefer to go to an off licence and see what they have. Does anyone know a good off licence (as opposed to a good beer)? That place in Ranelagh is pretty good, but the selection isn't mind blowing.

Frankiestylee

I guess it might just be a case of Belvedere Vodka ... it's deliberately over priced even though it's comparable (or worse) then other cheaper vodkas. I haven't tried this so I obviously can't make the same comparison to the Westmalle etc, but just because it's expensive doesn't mean it deserves to be expensive.

Peter Collins

Paying €5.30 for a coke-can measure of beer is a rip off

I don't care how it's produced, what ingredients are in it or where it comes from - it's a rip off - end of story.

If you are self-proclaimed 'beer connoisseurs', you should protest against this sort of crap, not buy it.

johnnyskeleton

Peter Collins wrote:

Paying €5.30 for a coke-can measure of beer is a rip off

I don't care how it's produced, what ingredients are in it or where it comes from - it's a rip off - end of story.

If you are self-proclaimed 'beer connoisseurs', you should protest against this sort of crap, not buy it.

If some people prefer to get a bottle of good beer for the same price as a bad pint in town, then what's the problem? The only difficulty is finding somewhere to drink it.

MementoMori

Perhaps this may be slightly OT, but is that off-licence in Ranelagh not one of the best in Ireland.

Haven't been there that often but a mate of mine used to live near by and every so often we would buy a selection of the foreign beers for a "tasting" session.

Thing that stood out (apart from the fact that they had some massive super-powered fridges) was that the service and choice was second to none.

Some of the stuf might have been a might pricey but the selection was excellent.

Have sent a few people in that direction when trying to track down wierd liquers/mixers/cocktail ingredients and hasn't failed me yet.

Opinions?

Back on topic - not a fame of the original, mainly due to the fact that high-alchohol beers just seem somehow wrong (as well as that bit treacherous ).
There's a couple of them that seem to have sacrificed taste for alcohol value

Futher opinions?