Brouwerij St. Bernardus Pater 6

Good evening all. My visit to London over the weekend gave me the opportunity to visit the Utobeer stand at Borough Market, which is probably one of my favourite places to go whenever I'm in the area. I picked up a bottle of Thornbridge Bracia, a beer I've heard very good things about, and St. Bernardus Pater 6, a Dubbel from Brouwerij St. Bernardus. The place was packed so, in the spirit of continuing my Belgian beer quest this year, I picked the first interesting-looking Belgian beer I could and got out of there! I had this yesterday afternoon to while away a boring Sunday, and finally I've gotten round to writing the review. Which is, as always, after the pic....

St. Bernardus Pater 6 (6.7% ABV) pours an amber colour with a reasonably lively off-white head that retains itself well throughout the course of the beer. There's also a bit of lacing present during the first half of the beer. The aroma was incredibly subtle at first but became more imposing as the beer warmed up, with phenols, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, malt, some sweetness and a slight sourness in the background (more Flanders Red Ale than lambic). The taste is composed of spice, phenols, malt, dark fruits, a light bittering hop character and a noticeably wheaty finish. The mouthfeel is thick with plenty of carbonation. Overall, a very decent beer in the Dubbel style that has a lot of flavour and Belgian character for such a relatively low ABV percentage. A word of warning- make sure the temperature of the beer isn't too low as the flavours are very easily masked. Definitely recommended, although Westmalle Dubbel and Trappist Achel 8° Bruin are definitely better examples of the style. 

Until next time....

Schneider Weisse Tap 6 Unser Aventinus

Good morning all. Firstly, I hope everyone who participated in #openit had a great time, I certainly know I did! Although I would consider only one of the beers I consumed to fall into the required criteria, it still gave me a great excuse to have a couple of interesting ones, and it was also good to reacquaint myself with the delights of beer after my recent illness. I was planning to do a large post based around #openit, but in the end I felt smaller posts would allow me to focus on each beer and avoid missing out on any specifics. Also, the whole thing should be easier to read (at least that's the intention)! The first beer was opened at around 17:00, and that was Tap 6 Unser Aventinus, a weizenbock from the hefeweizen kings Weisses Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH. Review after the pic....

Tap 6 Unser Aventinus (8.2% ABV) pours a chestnut brown colour with a thick cream-coloured head that dissipates to a patchy covering over the surface of the beer. The aroma is typical of hefeweizens, with bananas, bubblegum and some cloves, with the extra malt presence bringing blackcurrants and raisins. There is also a noticeable bittering/floral hop aroma in the background. The taste is spicy and phenolic, with candy sugar, cloves, dark fruits, bananas and plenty of malt. There is a boozy presence in the background supporting all of these flavours, and the finish is sweet with no bitterness. The mouthfeel is light-bodied, moderately carbonated and slightly thick- I can see why doppelbocks are known as liquid bread now! Overall, another great offering from Schneider Weisse, with the typical hefeweizen flavours married against darker, fruitier tones to produce a rich and filling beer experience. Definitely recommended- I'll be getting this one again in the future!

Until next time....