Spencer Trappist Ale

Spencer Trappist Ale is a Belgian style Pale Ale, 6.5% ABV. Brewed by The Monks of St. Joseph’s Abbey. Spencer is the first, and currently only certified Trappist beer made in the USA.

The beer is a hazy and cloudy orange color, some bits of yeast floating in my glass, nice white head from a fairly gentle pour. I love the aroma: bready, a little banana and apricot, rich caramel and a dash clove as well. The taste has a huge drop off though. The carbonation is a bit too high, which is making it really hard to dissect the flavor profile. The spiciness (not heat) of this really dominates the taste. I’m tasting lots of clove, a pinch of black pepper, some dry cracker and a harsh yeasty finish.

A middle of the road Belgian inspired Pale Ale, this is far from being the type of quality beer we’ve all come to expect from their Belgian brothers. Then again, I have to wonder just how good the beer at Chimay was in just it’s first few years of production? There is enough here to think the monks at Spencer will improve their skills over the coming years.