On Monday evening we ran a little in house training session with about half a dozen staff, working our way through the main types of Belgian Beer. The Belgians have the most diverse beer culture on earth, although our home grown micro brewers are doing their best to catch up quick. We move through Lambics, Blondes, Reds, Browns, Trappists, Wheat and Saison style beers. The range of colours, tastes and textures is quite amazing from the sweet Lindemanns Framboise to the “horse blanket” sourness of Ould Beersel Geuze. A couple of highlights along the way were Rodenbach Grand Cru and Tripel Karmeliet but the beer of the evening, and the week is Rochefort 10.

At 11.3%abv, Rochefort 10 is not a drink for a light lunch! Its a dark ruby red colour but has a glorious complexity with plums, raisins, black coffee in the taste and a lush mouthfeel. Its a great after dinner drink and indeed goes well with a cigar.