Brewery: Duvel Moortgat
Location: Puurs, Belgium
ABV: 6%/8%
Version: 330ml bottles

Maredsous beer was originally brewed by the Benedictine monks at the Maredsous Abbey in Belgium and you can read a bit more about them here. The beer is now made by Duvel but closely supervised by the abbey. There are 3 beers made with the Maredsous name, the Blonde 6 and Dubbel 8 covered here, and a Triple 10 I haven’t sampled yet.

Maredsous 6 is a rich dark golden colour with a lively fruity hoppy aroma. Taste is typical of the blonde abbey style, full of sweet hoppy flavours at first with a touch of bitterness pushing through towards the finish. I found the sweetness tended to dominate a bit too much though, not well enough balanced to the detriment of the overall taste and not one I’d revisit.

Maredsous 8 was a much better experience. Pouring a rich dark brown, it has a fruity aroma with a hint of cherries and pears, and some dark malty notes in the background. The flavour is quite complex. Starting off with a very pleasant lightly sweet malt character and with just a hint of bitter chocolate, this is soon added to with some wonderful cherry and plum fruit notes, all carried through to a warm lasting finish. The whole combination is a much more balanced affair than the 6, with no one flavour dominating over any other, and that hefty 8% strength doesn’t make itself apparent in the taste. One to drink slowly and savour. I’ll happily get this one again if I see it.