Beer Man is a weekly profile of beers from across the country and around the world.
This week: Weyerbacher Merry Monks
Weyerbacher Brewing Co., Easton, Pa.
Can the Weyerbacher brewery do no wrong?
I have never been disappointed in any beer from the Pennsylvania brewery, including its hoppy offerings.
Its beers that I can highly recommend include Blithering Idiot Barleywine, Old Heathen Imperial Stout, Double Simcoe and Tiny — the latter a Belgian-inspired imperial stout.
Merry Monks is no exception. It’s a Belgian tripel that excels in all aspects of the style, and at about $12 a four-pack is much less the cost of what many imported Belgian beers are going for now — about $20 a four-pack.
Merry Monks has the light golden malt flavor of a Belgian tripel, and aromas and flavors of pear, orange and apple. Simply delicious. The Belgian yeast esters also give off a bit of bubblegum and banana flavor, slightly similar to German weiss beers, but not as much sweetness.
Most of these aromas carry over into the flavor and there are no pesky “Americanizations,” such as pine-grapefruit hops, to mess with anything.
In every aspect — the frothy head, sticky lacing, decent carbonation, even a hint of alcohol in the aftertaste — it replicates everything that is the excellence of a Belgian tripel.
The high alcohol content, 9.3% ABV, is not noticeable at all while tasting, although you will notice the warming effects after a few sips. This is not a bad attribute.
I do have to say that the beers offered by traditional Belgian breweries such as Chimay, La Chouffe, Lindemans, De Dolle, Rodenbach, Verhaeghe, Liefmans — that is a short list — still make the better beers. After all, many of them have centuries of experience as opposed to the American breweries that have a couple of decades of experience.
But beers such as Merry Monks come very close to their excellence and are a much better consumer choice.
Weyerbacher beers are available in 18 states, mostly in the east and south, but also in Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, plus the District of Columbia. It has a distributor list here.
Many beers are available only regionally. Check the brewer's website, which often contains information on product availability by mail. Contact Todd Haefer at beerman@postcrescent.com. To read previous Beer Man columns, click here.
