Whoa! Would You Look At The Size Of This Belgian!

We’ve all had a one of those weeks at work where nothing seemed to go right at all.  I had one this week. In trying to decide how best to relax from the week, I settled on dropping by The Flying Saucer.

So what do you get if you just want to stop by for one enjoyable beer before heading home? Tonight I decided on something Belgian, preferably a wheat. It took me only a few minutes to settle on Brasserie des Rocs Blanche Double.

Brasserie des Rocs brews this one in the classic Belgian Witbier style. Beer of this style tend to have a good amount of Belgian yeast with oats that add a nice balance  and is usually unfiltered and very lite in color. Balanced at times with hops, depending on the brewery, they also tend to have some sort of citrus or coriander as well. Brasserie des Rocs began brewing in 1979 in the small village of Montignies-sur-Roc, Belgium. Though young for a  brewery, they seem to value quality basic ingredients. As stated on their website, “All the beers are made with water from a well in the rocky subsoil, with malt, hops and spices. They are natural without added sugars and guaranteed to be without chemical additives”.

Awaiting what I thought was the 12oz bottle I had ordered, I was surprised when my server Kimberly brought me a 1 pint 9.4 oz bottle! (She tried convincing me to have it the last visit, but I would have none of it!). Apparently this monster wasn’t available in a 12 oz bottle here. Tonight  though I thought I would give it a go.

Although this style can be used with a pint or pilsner glass, this was poured in a snifter with an orange slice and produced a rather nice cloudy amber color with a small head that dissipated all to quickly with not much lacing on the glass.

It has a wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread (that smells of a bakery in San Francisco), malt, some spice and a definite smell of coriander.

Holding the glass carefully by the stem (yes, this actually makes a difference!) I was surprised by what I got. I was greeted with a pleasant but sharp feel to it. I defiantly got the presence of malt and the bread, but there were some hot peppery notes to it as well. All balanced out by a mild but nice hop undertone. What’s nice with this one, is that the flavor from the orange peel and the coriander linger after each swallow.

Overall, this was a nice one to relax with while unwinding from the work week. Although not a creamy as some Belgians, I haven’t had as many that were as all around enjoyable as this one! Weighing in at 6% this one is enjoyable and went very nicely with the Cheddar, Monteray Jack fries I had.