2011 beer dinner schedule | Aroma Thyme Bistro

 January 21st: Oskar Blues

February 18th: Trappist

March 18th: Unibroue

April 15th: Victory 

May 20th: Dogfish Head 

 

September 16th: TBA

October 21st: Ithaca

November 11th: TBA

Trappist Beer Dinner, February 18th 2011

Welcome to the king beers. We are talking about Trappist beer made by Trappist monks. These guys know how to make beer.




Join us for our Trappist beer dinner at Aroma Thyme.





What:

Trappist Beer Dinner
When:
Friday February 18th, 2011
Where:

Aroma Thyme 

165 Canal St

Ellenville

How much:
$49 per person

RSVP 845 647 3000

Five Course Beer Pairing Menu

Chimay Red
Brie Tempura & Spicy Apple Relish

Orval
Grilled Potato Salad, Mustard & Bacon
Baby Lola Rosa Greens, Walnut Vinaigrette

Achel Blonde
Seared Scallops & Fennel

Rochefort 8
Braised Turkey Wings, Black Mission Fig & Sherry Glaze

Chimay Blue
Chocolate and Raspberry Petite Mini

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About Trappist beer
A Trappist beer is a beer brewed by or under control of Trappist monks. Of the world's 171 Trappist monasteries (as of April 2005), seven produce beer (six in Belgium and one in the Netherlands). Only these seven breweries are authorized to label their beers with the Authentic Trappist Product logo.
History
The Trappists, like many other religious people, originally brewed beer as to feed the community, in a perspective of self-sufficiency. Among the monastic breweries, the Trappists were certainly the most active brewers: in the last 300 years, there were at least nine Trappist breweries in France, six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, one in Germany, one in Austria, one in Bosnia and possibly other countries.

Chimay is one of Belgium's famous Trappist beers
International Trappist Association
For the beers, these criteria are the following:
♣ The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist abbey, by or under control of Trappist monks.
♣ The brewery, the choices of brewing, and the commercial orientations must obviously depend on the monastic community.
♣ The economic purpose of the brewery must be directed toward assistance and not toward financial profit.
♣ This association has a legal standing, and its logo gives to the consumer some information and guarantees about the produce.
There are currently seven breweries that are allowed to have their products display the Authentic Trappist Product logo.
Trappist Breweries

Beers from all seven trappist breweries available in 2009, from left to right: Achel, Westvleteren, Orval, Rochefort, Chimay, Westmalle and La Trappe (Koningshoeven)
1) Achel Brewery
Achel brewery or Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse Kluis is a Belgian Trappist brewery, and the smallest of the seven currently approved Trappist breweries. It brews five trappist beers:
♣ Achel Blond 5°, 5% ABV
♣ Achel Bruin 5°, 5% ABV
♣ Achel Blond 8°, 8% ABV
♣ Achel Bruin 8°, 8% ABV
♣ Achel Extra, 9.5% ABV Brown (75cl only)
2) Westvleteren Brewery
The Westvleteren Brewery (Brouwerij Westvleteren) is a Belgian brewery founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in the Belgian municipality of Westvleteren, not far from the hops-producing town of Poperinge and the medieval city of Ypres.
The brewery currently brews three beers:
♣ Westvleteren Blonde (green cap), 5.8% ABV.
♣ Westvleteren 8 (blue cap) (formerly Extra), 8% ABV.
♣ Westvleteren 12 (yellow cap) (formerly Abt), a 10.2% ABV.
3) Orval Brewery
Orval Brewery (French: Brasserie d'Orval) is a Belgian trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval monastery in the Gaume region of Belgium.
The brewery produces two trappist beers:
♣ Orval Trappist Ale, 6.2% ABV.
♣ Petite Orval, 3.5% ABV, beer brewed only for the monks (Patersbier).
4) Rochefort Brewery
Rochefort Brewery (Brasserie de Rochefort) is a Belgian Trappist brewery. It produces three Trappist beers :
♣ Rochefort 6 (red cap, brown beer, 7.5% ABV).
♣ Rochefort 8 (green cap, brown beer, 9.2% ABV).
♣ Rochefort 10 (blue cap, dark beer, 11.3% ABV).
5) Chimay Brewery
The Chimay Brewery ("Bières de Chimay") is a Belgian brewery founded inside Scourmont Abbey, in the Belgian municipality of Chimay in 1862. The brewery produces three widely distributed ales and a patersbier exclusively for the monks; they are known as Trappist beers because they are made in a Trappist monastery.
♣ Chimay Rouge (Red), 7% abv.
♣ Chimay Bleue (Blue), 9% abv darker ale.
♣ Chimay Blanche (White), or Chimay Triple, 8% abv golden tripel.
♣ Chimay Dorée (Golden), 4.8% ABV ale.

6) Westmalle Brewery
Westmalle Brewery (Brouwerij der Trappisten van Westmalle) is a Belgian trappist brewery located in the Trappist Abbey of Westmalle.
The brewery produces three beers.
♣ Westmalle Dubbel is a 7% abv Dubbel.
♣ Westmalle Tripel is a 9.5% abv tripel.
♣ Westmalle Extra is a 5% abv beer.
7) De Koningshoeven Brewery
De Koningshoeven Brewery (Brouwerij de Koningshoeven) is a Dutch Trappist brewery founded in 1884 within the walls of the abbey Onze Lieve Vrouw van Koningshoeven in Berkel-Enschot (near Tilburg). It is the only producer of Trappist beer outside of Belgium, and produces four regular and two seasonal beers:
♣ La Trappe Blond (6.5% ABV)
♣ La Trappe Dubbel (7% ABV)
♣ La Trappe Isid'or (7.5% ABV)
♣ La Trappe Tripel (8% ABV)
♣ La Trappe Quadrupel (10% ABV) [3]
♣ La Trappe Witte Trappist (5.5% ABV)
♣ La Trappe Bockbier (7% ABV) (Seasonal)
Difference between an abbey that make beer from regular monks as to a trappist abbey
Abbey beers ("Bières d'Abbaye" or "Abdijbier") are made by commercial breweries, who take advantage of the positive associations of the Trappist breweries by imitating the styles and names of Trappist beers, and either brew under license from an existing abbey, or brand their beers with the name of an abbey ruin or some other religious connection, such as a local saint.
Abbey beers mainly came into being following World War II when Trappist beers experienced a new popularity. The Abbey beers were developed to take advantage of the public's interest in the Trappist beers. This is why the single key component of an Abbey beer is its name: there is always the name of a monastery (either real or fictious). Like the Trappist beers, Abbey beers do not connote a beer style, but rather a general type of beer.

Stoudt's Pale Ale Cask Beer at Aroma Thyme | Hudson Valley Beer Bars

Cask Beer Night is back Friday February 11th at Aroma Thyme Bistro in Ellenville NY.  The cask is tapped at 3pm. 

The Cask:
Stoudts Pale Ale

The Description:
This uniquely American beer offers a crisp, medium-body with a light amber color. It is assertively hopped with Pacific Northwest Cascades for a firm bitterness and delightfully floral aroma.

The Brewery:
Stoudt's Brewery is one of Pennsylvania's first micro breweries, located in the Lancaster County borough of Adamstown. Stoudt's Brewery was started in 1987 by Ed and Carol Stoudt, both of whom desired to own a restaurant, bakery, antique shop, and a brewery together. This was realized with the creation of Stoudt's as it includes a restaurant, a bakery, one of the East Coast' largest antique shops, as well as the brewery itself. The complex also includes even more antiques as well as gourmet coffee, kettle corn, jewelry, floral arrangements, robots, and arts and crafts at Stoudtburg Village.

The Place to drink cask beer:
Aroma Thyme Bistro
165 Canal St
Ellenville NY 12428
845 647 3000
http://www.aromathymebistro.com

What is CASK-CONDITIONED BEER ('REAL ALE'):
What exactly is real ale?
Cask-conditioned beer, often referred to as 'real ale', is brewed from only traditional ingredients and allowed to mature naturally.

The unfiltered, unpasteurized beer still contains live yeast, which continues conditioning the beer in the cask (known as 'secondary fermentation'); this process creates a gentle, natural CO2 carbonation and allows malt and hop flavors to develop, resulting in a richer tasting drink with more character than standard keg ('brewery-conditioned') beers.

Real ale is always served without any extraneous gas, usually by manually pulling it up from the cellar with a handpump (also known as a 'beer engine'). This is the traditional way of brewing and serving beer; only a few decades ago did filtered, pasteurized, chilled beer served by gas become normal.

The only place in the world where cask-conditioned beer is still commonly available is Britain.
Is there much difference to keg beer?
Keg beers are generally sterile filtered and pasteurized as part of the brewing process. This kills the yeast, preventing any further conditioning, and the beer is then racked into sealed, gas-pressurized kegs. Such beers generally taste blander than their cask-conditioned counterparts, and the use of flash-chillers or cold rooms (*very* cold!) is standard as part of the serving process. That said, some microbrewers rack cask beer into kegs - though these are usually served with extraneous gas.

In many common brands of keg beer, cheap ingredients ('adjuncts') such as rice or maize are mixed with the malt to cut costs, but resulting in a 'light' beer with hardly any aroma or flavor. Chilling and the absorption of extraneous gas jointly mask the lack of flavor - with carbon dioxide you get an unnaturally fizzy pint; with nitrogen (or mixed gas with a larger nitrogen ratio) you get a pint with an unnaturally smooth and creamy head - either way these beers are always refreshing but usually taste of very little. Micro-breweries generally avoid the use of cheap adjuncts, so their keg products usually taste far superior to the nationally available brands. Also, all beers imported from Germany are required by that country's laws to be free of non-traditional ingredients.

I'm not criticizing all keg beers, simply outlining the often little-known qualities of real ale by comparison. There are many really tasty ales which are 'keg' (but plenty more which aren't tasty!), though well-kept cask versions of the same brands would undoubtedly be found to be even more flavorsome if compared side-by-side.
But keg beer is 'normal' -
what's it got that real ale hasn't?
Keg beers have a much longer shelf life, especially when compared to a partially full cask. Real ales have to be manually vented and tapped, and left to settle (or the customer gets a cloudy pint due to the presence of yeast and protein - though harmless if drunk like this). Also, real ale will start to taste of vinegar (known as 'oxidising') if left in a part-full cask for too long. This is caused by acetic acid forming from a reaction with oxygen in the atmosphere.