Abbey Beer 6%
North Taiwan Brewing

 

 

 

Having heard of this much-talked-about beer for almost two years now, I finally tracked it down at a gourmet supermarket in Taipei along with three other bottle-conditioned ales from this microbrewery in Northern Taiwan. Although not much is being said about the origin (brewing concept?) and ingredients of this "Abbey Beer", I heard from a source that the brewer intends to replicate the precious Belgian type of "Abbey Ale". Not being politically correct, but it is surely not any "Abbey Ale" if unrelated to any specific Abbey and/or its ancient recipe, I take it? That said, it's still great to see a micro ambitiously treading on such an exotic and bumpy land, and this micro was among few starting brewing as late as in 2004! Bottle-conditioned in a 330ml brown bottle, BB 24/07/2008, served lightly chilled in a large burgundy bulb wine glass.

A: coming in a cloudy, dark ooh-long-tea (heavily infused) like amber hue, topped with a rather thin and fluffy beige foam that settles fast to a rim; carbonation is semi-lively. All's well.
S: sour-sweet yeastiness rules, accompanied by jammy plums, very light caramel malts, dried orange peels, a mildly acidic touch of lemon juice; a lightly spicy touch hides in the background, on a par with faint hoppiness mixed of Saaz+Goldings(?). Overall the nose is quite yeasty but simplistic for an "Abbey" ale or, more suitably, a light, amber Dubbel.
T: the mild intake of prune+orange like fruitiness precedes a semi-licorice spicy-maltiness (mainly amber/Vienna malts) with more sour-sweet yeasty elements to follow; finished with a mild chocolatey as well as caramelised-sugary undertone, and a faintly dryish palate denoting the same spiciness as in the foretaste.
M&D: the mouthfeel is slightly spritzy at first, softening gradually as it goes; the body is quite light and the texture largely refreshing, but the flavour seems to be the main problem here: lacking a main theme and complexity, that is. The yeasts are not controlled well enough to generate the kind of complex estery flavour typical of any Belgian ale, hence the slight disappointment overall. But, given that this is the first Belgian-style ale produced in Taiwan, I unreservedly extend my "Bravo" to the daring brewer!