Abbaye de Abbey of Leffe

Okay, beer affishies... I'm trying this beer for the first time tonight. Good, good, good. Purchased at The Wine Market on Frankfort Ave. What say you? The excellence tickles me...

[Robin Garr]

Okay, beer affishies... I'm trying this beer for the first time tonight. Good, good, good. Purchased at The Wine Market on Frankfort Ave. What say you? The excellence tickles me...

Leffe is indeed an excellent Belgian Abbey ale, Jackie. I have a few in my fridge right now.

Hmmm ... maybe I'm about to have one less ...

Oh Robin, let us toast one to the spring! My favorite toast is, "cheers big ears!"; then, "same goes, big nose!"; and my best friend came up with (she doesn't believe it's very good, but I really love it), "right back at ya, and down the hatchya!" Thanks for your interest, my friend.

Jackie,
You are in rare, interesting form tonight!

Ha ha ha!!! I love you Kurt! And it's not just the Abbey sayin' so. Although she does speak volumes at the moment...

Leffe is a competent beginning portal for abbey-style ales, but I tend not to drink it because it's an In-Bev import and thus handled by Anhesuer-Busch. Leffe itself is an abbey that licensed the use of its name after WWII, and was eventually bought by the company that has become In-Bev. It is brewed in the same facory as Stella.

Start with Leffe ... and then ascend to the more artisanal brewers.

Leffe is a competent beginning portal for abbey-style ales, but I tend not to drink it because it's an In-Bev import and thus handled by Anhesuer-Busch. Leffe itself is an abbey that licensed the use of its name after WWII, and was eventually bought by the company that has become In-Bev. It is brewed in the same facory as Stella.

Start with Leffe ... and then ascend to the more artisanal brewers.

All good points.

While I am by no means a beer connoisseur like some on this board, I do really enjoy me some Belgian beers and abbey ales. I do not recall ever having a Leffe, but I will have to give it a try. I quite enjoy Chimay (white / triple is my fave), Ommegang, and some others that don't immediately come to mind. Roger, would you or any other beer expert suggest a few of the "more artisinal brewers" that I should give a try? Thanks! DD

i'll second Roger on the Leffe notes

for more artisan examples

St Bernardus, Rochefort, & Westmalle are all good choices

Leffe is a competent beginning portal for abbey-style ales, but I tend not to drink it because it's an In-Bev import and thus handled by Anhesuer-Busch. Leffe itself is an abbey that licensed the use of its name after WWII, and was eventually bought by the company that has become In-Bev. It is brewed in the same facory as Stella.

Start with Leffe ... and then ascend to the more artisanal brewers.

Well that's a little disappointing and I thank you for your wisdom, Roger. I really haven't had a Belgian that I didn't like, but the distinction of this for me was the strength. I could be wrong, but it seemed a little lighter.

I'm not familiar with In-Bev but I'm gonna research it. I'm trying to be more responsible but I cannot do that if I am uninformed.

Don't care for Stella one bit.

Thank you, Shawn, for your suggestions.

There's nothing bad about Leffe other than its parent; it's just that I feel other examples are better (and Shawn's on the money).

I'm busy right now, but will try to report back with concrete examples this weekend.

So... a company like In-Bev will produce all of their brands one factory? I looked at their web-site and they have quite a few. I appreciate any input and realize that I could research this on my own, but I love the way Hotbytes educates us. Teach me...

Not at one factory, but the drill goes something like this: Assemble a portfolio by buying breweries, then shift production to certain centralized beer factories, close the acquired breweries, and purge the acquisition of unwanted "minor" brands," which often are the most interesting ones. Then, market the brands as though they're small independents, whe in fact they're chits at a conglomerate.

Is it any wonder I'm bitter ... I'm not talking hop bitter, either. Of course, I'm sure there are some here prepared to defend such practices (cue ... )

(...cue) Thank you for the wisdom.

My pleasure. In the end, all of us are perfectly free to to drink whatever we think tastes good -- or not at all. But ... and this is a big one ... as with Wal-Mart, it's important to understand the high cost of low price.