Jubiläumsbier
Stift Engelszell

 

Had this beer during dinner last night and i have to say this is a good beer! Nice yellow colour and a very nice head. Good mouthfeel and not so much spice as with the Nivard.

I got this from my parents, who picked up a six pack at the monastery. They happened to be there because my mom was in need of a bottle of their delicious eggnog. This anniversary beer (=Jubiläumsbier) was brewed to commemorate the 250 year anniversary of their impressive church built in the Rococo style. They also just finished an extensive renovation of the church and therefore probably needed the extra money. Whereas their Gregorius and Benno are aimed at international beer geeks, they brewed this beer for the local people and therefore alcohol is lower as it is common in Austria. However, it is still not a Lager or a Hefeweizen and therefore not a typical Austrian beer.

I poured it into my Engelszell snifter. It has an almost white big head with a yellow hue. The foam is stable and leaves lacing. At the beginning the foam was rather coarse but over time it settled nicely into a fine fluffy half finger layer. The beer is bottle conditioned and there is a little sediment on the bottom of the beer. However, due to my gentle pour the body is only a little murky, orange and there is a lot of fine carbonation visible.

Starts out sweet from the malt (could be a mixture of pale and something darker like Munich or even caramel malts) and fruity esters like apricot and peach, a belgian yeast smell, some phenols like in a Belgian Triple and a hint of ammonia.

Taste also reminds me of a BelgianTriple though the alcohol is only 5.5% on this one. There is some fruitiness at first but this is quickly subdued by a bitter dryness that gives it a thirst quenching quality. The typical Triple ammonia aftertaste says hello but is not dominating.

It really foams up nicely in the mouth and covers the tongue and palate with a fine tickling carbonation. This further lifts the already light body that borders watery on some of the sips. Refreshing.

This is a great thirst quenching Belgian style beer. It gives you all the Belgian Triple goodies, (I keep saying Belgian Triple because I had some American Triples and they seem way sweeter!), with about half the ABV and aside from the watery note I do not miss the alcohol. One could say that a Triple with less alcohol is a Blonde (Belgian Pale Ale), but those are usually sweeter. The yeast profile reminds me of a Westmalle Triple in spite of the fruitiness. I am glad that there are still 4 more bottles to go. I guess it is very difficult to find outside of Austria, but it is worth a try, especially if you like Triple and wondered why there wasn't a sessionable version of it. Because this is it.