Beer Review: Kapittel Watou Prior

Kapittel Watou Prior with a branded crystal goblet. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

As promised, my second review today comes from another beer from the Watou village of Belgium. This particular beer, Kapittel Watou Prior, comes from the Van Eeke Brewery in Watou. The beer is sometimes called Het Kapittel or Het Kapittel Watou. I’m sticking with what’s on my bottle. But I did pour it into a St. Bernardus glass as a nod to its Watou connection.

Now, as always, as a matter of full disclosure, this is not my first beer from the Van Eeke Brewery. I have also tried the Kapittel Pater beer. I was unimpressed. But I plan to review it in the future in the hopes I just got a bad bottle. And since this is as much science as it is fun, I’m tried this one today.

I was really excited to try this beer. Really excited. First off, it is an abbey double, thus the “prior(y)” in the name. But more importantly, it was $1.99. So I really was really, really excited. But alas, as the saying goes, “If it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is.”

Smell: Molasses. It’s promising. But it smells just like the brown sticky stuff.

Kapittel Watou Prior poured into a branded crystal goblet. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

Sight: The beer is a flat, opaque brown with almost a nonexistent head. It reminds me of the tannic river water that ran through my grandparents farm in Florida.

Taste: Speaking of Florida, my grandfather grew sugar cane there. Sugar cane is ground into cane juice, which is then boiled down into cane syrup. I have never liked cane syrup. It is has a nice sweetness like all syrup at the beginning. But then it hits you with this awful burnt sugar, grassy bitterness. And that aftertaste lingers long after you’ve swallowed. That is exactly the same taste I get from this beer. Exactly.

Alcohol: The 9 percent alcohol does keep the brew nice and warm on the tongue.

Overall: Man, I really wanted to like this beer. But I just don’t. I couldn’t even finish it. And that is rare for me. It probably has a lot to do with the sugar cane thing. I am definitely more of a maple syrup fan.

Bottom line: Well, at $1.99, the price is perfect. If you like the bitter-sweet Belgians, you can’t beat two bucks.

Beer Review: St. Bernardus Abt 12

St. Bernardus Abt 12 with branded crystal goblet. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

As I have written previously, quads or abts (Belgian strong dark beers) are my favorites. So I didn’t want to jump in and just do all of my favorites up front. But the time is finally here. I’m reviewing St. Bernardus’s Abt 12. And yes, it is one of my favorites.

I first became interested in St. Bernardus’s Abt 12 when I started reading about Westvleteren 12, which is often cited as the best beer in the world. The former is supposedly a clone of the latter. I have tasted both. And while the Westy is genuinely superior, they are similar in taste. Both were part of  a blind taste test I conducted a few years ago, which I will discuss in an upcoming post.

St. Bernardus Brewery is located in Watou, Belgium. My next review will feature a beer from the Van Eecke Brewery, also in Watou. This is a small village with a lot of beer history. It’s roughly 20 miles from Westvleteren, which is home to the monastery that brews the beer of the same name, and 20 miles from Poperinge, which features a museum dedicated to hops. This is essentially beer central for Belgium. So to have a great beer from here shouldn’t be surprising.

I procured my specimen (actually four of them) from a store in North Carolina. For reasons beyond me, my area of Tennessee does not have St. Bernardus beer. This is tragic, but I digress. Each bottle will set you back $4.99. I know, pricey. I will get to that.

St. Bernardus Abt 12 poured into branded crystal goblet. Copyright 2015 by Andrew Dunn.

Smell: The initial whiff is boozy on the nose. You can really smell the alcohol. But there is a sweetness to it. There are also red wine and floral notes.

Sight: The beer is a deep, dark, murky brown. There’s a small manila head and nice lacing as you gently swirl the beer.

Taste: The taste is caramel with a fiery tinge. It eases into a soft bitterness on the back of the tongue. There is great complexity here.

Alcohol: At 10 percent, this beer is loaded. But it doesn’t ruin the flavor so much as enhances it, which is what I truly love about quads.

Overall: This is a fantastic beer. I’m obviously a fan. But this is a beer that pairs well with food, both savory and sweet. Sip slow and enjoy.

Bottom line: At $4.99 a bottle (375 ml/12.6 oz), I get this might not be one you want to stock your beer fridge with.But you should.It really is worth it. If you are lucky, you might find it cheaper in your state. And when compared to other quads in price and quality, this is a recommended investment.