Abbaye de Floreffe, a monastery with a brewing tradition dating
back to 1221 now has their beers produced at the local Lefebre
Brewery.
Aah... the continental blend of Hallertau and Styrian hops...
First off, this is not a beer for those uninitiated to the storage and serving of fine beers and wines. Every bottle that I have sampled has a significant amount of yeast and other sediment in the bottle, and unless stored properly, handled gently and decanted gingerly, you will end up with a large amount of flaky yeast in your mouth (not that I mind, but if you're not used to it...)
After decanting (preferably into a ceramic pitcher to maintain
the temperature), the light bread-like nose could be detected
from almost a full foot away. Even with careful decanting, the
beer grew a large tight white head. This beer is a perfect example
of a Tripel style beer: golden yellow color, honey taste and a
light hop crispness afterwards. The honey taste is so prevalent
that for a moment I could have almost imagined that this was a
honeywine or mead... but the hops did shock me back into reality.
Sweet, thirst quenching and completely enjoyable.
(Avery Glasser)