It was Belgian beer that kick-started my love of beer. In particular, a trip to the Occidental where I tried a small amount of each beer they had on tap and discovered that they actually taste pretty good. Of these beers the one I enjoyed the most that day was the Leffe Brune, the darkest and maltiest of the beers they had on offer (I guess this was an early sign that I’d be drawn towards beer that is dark and brooding). As I extended my tastes for different styles of beer, Belgian abbey style beer remained my favourite style, with a particular fondness for Trappist ale (beer brewed by or under the supervision of Trappist monks).

Over the next wee while I tried different Trappist beers when I had a chance, but this reached its pinnacle when I tried a bottle of Rochefort 10. Stronger than any other Trappist I’d tried, it was also substantially darker and maltier and quickly became my favourite beer. Sadly, after a while Galbraith’s (the place I tried it) stopped stocking it and it became significantly harder to get hold of. Since then other beers have become available and I’ve tried new styles, but in my head I always held Rochefort 10 to be one of my favourite beers.

Recently I had the good fortune to discover that New World Victoria Park has begun stocking Rochefort 10. I couldn’t help but buy a bottle or two to see whether it still lived up to my fond memories. I shared it with some friends alongside an 8wired iStout, a recent New Zealand example of an imperial stout – the style of beer that has become my favourite in the time since Rochefort was last available to me. The Rochefort was fizzier than I remembered, but still had that strong malty taste that I so loved. However, at 11.3% abv the alcohol was quite tastable, which detracted slightly from the overall flavour. Still a very nice beer, but the almost as alcoholic iStout had an even more intense malt flavour with coffee notes coming through and an amazing aroma, and as such would now be my pick of the two. I guess you could say that Rochefort 10 was the stepping stone that led me into darker, stronger styles of beer. Either way, I’d highly recommend both beers, just in small doses as they are both very potent.