Abbaye de Abbey of Leffe

Don't forget that most abbey ales improve drastically with age in the cellar. Give em at least 6-7 months or longer depending on ABV.

I'm biased, but I love the Ommegang Abbey after about a year in the cellar. Yum.

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

Derrick,

Some additional abbey ales you might like, cueing off of your love of the Chimay Triple, are From Belgium: St. Feullien Tripel, Val-Dieu Triple, De Dolle Dulle Teve, and a personal favorite of mine, Triple Karmeliet. For a very good American rendition of a triple style, check out Allagash's Triple, and locally brewed BBC's (Shelbyville Road) Mephistophiles Metamorphosis Triple are great as well. The BBC might be scarce, as our distributor on the Indiana side of the river has been out for a bit, but I cannot speak for distribution in Kentucky.

[locally brewed BBC's (Shelbyville Road) Mephistophiles Metamorphosis Triple are great as well. The BBC might be scarce, as our distributor on the Indiana side of the river has been out for a bit, but I cannot speak for distribution in Kentucky.[/quote]

I believe they bottled for the holidays, so it's a little scarce on the KY side of the river as well. A little OT but I had the pubs ASB the other day, pretty interesting example of ESB, worth a pint or two....

[Robin Garr]

Don't forget that most abbey ales improve drastically with age in the cellar. Give em at least 6-7 months or longer depending on ABV.

I'm biased, but I love the Ommegang Abbey after about a year in the cellar. Yum.

Spinning off from Belgian abbey ales to other cellarworthy treasures, I've got one, each, 1994 and 1995 Thomas Hardy's Ale sitting around here that I'm wondering if I held for too long. Legend has it that they'll age for 25 years, but I can't help wondering about that.

Don't forget that most abbey ales improve drastically with age in the cellar. Give em at least 6-7 months or longer depending on ABV.

I'm biased, but I love the Ommegang Abbey after about a year in the cellar. Yum.

Spinning off from Belgian abbey ales to other cellarworthy treasures, I've got one, each, 1994 and 1995 Thomas Hardy's Ale sitting around here that I'm wondering if I held for too long. Legend has it that they'll age for 25 years, but I can't help wondering about that.

It really depends on the conditions it's been kept in since shipping to the states...I know, pretty broad, but from importer to distributor to retailer to your house.

I've had a 94 and 95 that drank pretty well but I had been sitting on a 92 for awhile and drank it on a celebratory night a couple of years ago....obviously...somewhere in the chain of events something went wrong. It seemed oxidized a little and overly foaming and overly fruity, leading me partly to believe it had gotten over-heated somewhere between the brewery and my house. I had kept in my basement with other worthy products, home-brews etc...

Since it was a 1992, purchased in 96, the early stages of America's beer revolution....I wonder if the importer or distributor wasn't quite sure what they had, most "heat" damage comes on the supplier side as most retailers maintain a normal temp at the store level.

I believe 10 years is a good measure, sometimes I buy 2, one to drink at an appropriate time....one to hold on to for awhile.