For Christmas dinner we had filet mignon and paired it with wine. But for Boxing Day dinner, my father made a three-course seafood dinner. We like to experiment with cuisine in family, so I suggested that we try pairing beers with the dinner instead of white wines (which no one really likes all that much anyway). Having been on a Belgian kick lately, I picked up three different Belgians to sample while we dined. The first of these, paired with a New England seafood chowder, was a tripel named Augustijn Ale. Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V. (take a look at the website, it contains lots of good information), the ale comes in a 750 ml caged, corked bottle. We chilled it to around 50° F and popped the cork.
Poured into chalices, this beer is cloudy yellow-orange with several fingers of pillowy white head. The yeast is most apparent in the nose, with an fruity smell of apricots or pears and a hint of alcohol. The taste is sweet fruit and yeast with almost no taste of hops. The triple dose of malts and the candy sugars make this a very sweet beer that hides the hoppy bitterness and the alcohol well. At only 8% A.B.V., this tripel is not quite as dangerous as some others, but having more than one or two will definitely catch up with you. The finish is tangy, with the high carbonation tickling the tongue and throat. A very enjoyable, very drinkable beer. I’m not sure about the chowder pairing though…
My Rating:
April 9th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
[...] Beer Bloggers.com – Augustijn Ale [...]
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I also thought this was a very drinkable beer. I usually don’t want more than one Belgian beer but I was tempted to order another on. I also thought the banana flavor in this Belgian was a bit fresher and almost like a green banana, as opposed to a ripe or over-ripe banana. This might be due to the citrus-orange notes that I pick up in the smell.
You can read more about my thoughts on this beer in my review: http://beer47.com/2009/04/van-steenberge-augustijn-ale-review/