Het Kapittel Watou Prior

Brewed by Van Eecke
Style: Belgian Ale
Poperinge-Watou, Belgium

Rich but also very smooth. Great strong dark ale. Proof that an abbey-style beer can be just as good as the beer made at actual monasteries.

Most outstanding. Oddly named, in that Pater tend to be tripels... In any event, a very fine Brune and Karmaliet. A favourite.

bottle from a shop in Liege. Pours brown with shades of red and almost no head, looks awesome. Smells sweet and sour, slightly spicy. Taste wonderfully sweet and bitter coming to a nice clean sweet finish that lingers on the back of the tongue. A light alcohol burn comes into play as it warms but I think it only makes it better by bringing out some dark fuity character in the backround. Complex and delicious.

Bottle @ Delirium. Dark, copper to ruby brown beer. The head is blond beige and creamy. The aroma is sweetish malty, milk chocolatey and slightly roasted. The finish has coffee, chocolate, prunes and light hoppiness. The flavor is malty, slightly fruity and medium sweet. Finishes long and delicate with coffee, chovolate and minor bitterness. The palate is almos full bodied, slick and smooth. Rich, complex and delicate.

Big bold brown belgian ale in the same spirt as corsendonk christmas and the big trapist beers. Big fruit chocolate and roast aroma and flavour with a faint citrous charater combined with near perfect balance. Wonderful plum and raisin notes.

Thick doughy head adorns the murky russet body. Plentiful lacy tatters. Fruity (blueberries, currants, dried cherries, apricot preserves, molasses, resiney juniper), chocolate, musky, taffy, and rummy aromas. Smooth malt flavor boasts black licorice, tootsie rolls, caramel, persimmon, and a cornucopia of spices, herbs, and additional exotic fruits. Fantastic complexity! Palate is vaguely syrupy at first, then lightly tannic with tongue-numbing ethanol. Herbal, tangy, truffly, nutty, and brandy aftertaste; the only flaw is a distracting metallic edge. Nirvana!

Bottle at the famous Brugs Beertje bar in Brugge (Belgium), brown with strong reddish tints and a foamy tan head. A complete aroma of rich molasses malt, with yeast and hops also evident. The palate is oh so smooth, with easy malt flavours and a touch of dryness. Easy to drink for 9%. Seems under-rated here to me. (Wetherel - I think you should stop buying your beer from the ’Holiday Wine Cellar’!)

Dark reddish/purplish brow, with an off white lasting head, rich aroma of dark fruits and port wine, flavors are sweet raisin and some chocolate, also cherry, finishes lightly bitter. Excellent