Are you already tired of staring out of rain-spattered windows waiting for the first snow to set in? Do you feel clumsy and lethargic because you can’t remember the last time you saw the sun? If you do then you need to try this beer. It’s summer in a bottle.
La Trappe Witte was launched in October at the Systembolaget nestled among a crowd of much darker, more meaty beers that seemed on face value much more suited to the winter season.
I confess I thought the Systembolaget planners had lost the plot launching this bright and breezy Belgium-style Witbier (white beer) just as the cold weather set in. But perhaps on second thoughts they knew exactly what they were doing all along as this beer is more welcome than a flu jab and the side effects are much more enjoyable.
La Trappe Witte Trappist is the only Trappist Witbier made anywhere. By way of background explanation there are only seven Trappist beer producers in the world – six in Belgium and La Trappe (the brewery behind this beer) based in the Netherlands.
To qualify as a Trappist beer means passing three strict criteria; the beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the supervision of Trappist monks; the monks need to be in charge of operations and finally all proceeds must go to charities or the running of the brewery.
Witbier is the Belgium interpretation of a wheat beer, brewed with a proportion of unmalted wheat and then traditionally spiced with Curacao orange peel and coriander.
La Trappe Witte pours a stunning pale hazy gold. It looks like I’d imagine home-made lemonade would look like poured by a kind ol’ Texas grandma on a scorching hot day in the deep south.
And zesty lemons clearly play their part mixed in with the beer’s aroma too, together with flower petals, green herbs and spicy bitter oranges.
In the mouth the creamy wheat smoothens out the spice heat and you’re left with a mild and uplifting acidic finish, with a lingering sensation as though you’ve just squeezed a drop of lemon juice on your tongue.
La Trappe Witte Trappist
A witbier from De Koningshoeven in the Netherlands
5.5% ABV
Article Number: 1573-03
(ps: It’s the yeast that largely makes the beer cloudy. Remember to swirl the bottle halfway through pouring it into your glass so you get all that yeasty goodness!)
I tried it…och liked it. Funderar dock på vad man skulle kunna äta till. Förslag Mr Beer?
Witbiers are great food beers, pairing up much better with more dishes in my opinion than their bubblegum-and-banana German wheat beer ‘cousins’.
Witbiers are very summer-like beers for me – light and crisp with a pleasant acidity. This makes them great companions to all types of salads, delicate white fish, mussels and even Thai cuisine, where the spices in the beer work together with the food to reduce ‘heat’ and the lemon acidity cuts through the coconut milk in many dishes beautifully. Damn, it’s only 9.30am and now I need a takeaway!
Måste pröva det.
Tyckte dock att det fanns en del av banan i when swirling/smelling. Men det kändes helt klart som ett mer raffinerat veteöl. Kanske inte så konstigt.
Very, very good review. Truthful, factious and humorous. Just waiting for a review on a Harboe Pilsner/Arboga 10.2 with a little bit of British humor in honor of Monty Python’s 40th anniversary
I’ll get on it! But while you’re waiting here’s some classic Python to enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPFClJGqjBQ
Haha, a TRUE classic overall with the making love in a canoe being a classic in the beer world