Tuesday – February 14^th – Valentine’s Day
Come join La Trappe Cafe and The Sea Forager of San Francisco and creator of the Monkeyface News blog, Kirk Lombard, for very different Valentine’s Day Event.  Forty guests will  enjoy various seafood dishes with beer pairings while Kirk entertains our guests with his passion and knowledge of self sustainable seafood in a convivial setting.
40 Special Guests starting at 5pm
$40.00 per person
Price Includes Beer Pairings
For tickets go to:

http://latrappeloveislikefish.eventbrite.com/

Thursday – February 16th
 Meet the brewers from New Belgium in a sour symposium. There will be a slide show and talk with the brewers and later all attendees will mix various sours, to their liking, brought by New Belgium, in their own personal growler to take home.

There will be two seatings of 30 people at 4:00pm and 8:00pm.
$40.00 per person
For tickets go to:
4:00pm – http://latrappenbsoursymposiumfourpm.eventbrite.com/

8:00pm – http://latrappenbsoursymposiumeightpm.eventbrite.com/

Saturday – February 18th
Join La Trappe for an all Italian six course beer pairing menu with rare Italian artisanal brews from such birrifici as Del Borgo, Baladin, Del Ducato, Almond 22, Birrificio Troll and others will be paired with chef Chris Keeley’s creations to bring San Francisco a night to remember.
50 special guests starting at 5pm
$65.00 per person
Price includes Beer Pairings
Go to the following link for tickets:

http://latrappeallitaliannight.eventbrite.com/

We are also working on more events for the week with TCHO chocolates, Lost Abbey Brewing and Vive La Tarte Belgian bakers and we also contemplating a final Sunday Brunch with beer pairings to end SF Beer Week 2012.

Thank you, Draft Magazine for all the
kindness and hardwork bringing beer
media to the masses.

Thank you from the bottom of our glass!

La Trappe Cafe
While there’s an upstairs bar, the dimly lit,
intimate basement of this San Fran haunt is the best place to experience a taste of Belgium:
19 taps lean toward the motherland, with lovely choices from Cantillon and Affligem making
frequent visits, while the twice-cooked frites are accompanied by your choice of 10 inspired
dipping sauces. 800 Greenwich St., latrappecafe.com

  Bogedal is an atypical brewery in that it is Scandinavian’s only Free Fall Brewery.

The beer runs from cask to cask by help of
pulleys and level differentiation…without the use of pumps and the herb is cooked over an open fire.  Because of the delicate methods in use, Bogedal can produce a nearly clear  beer without filtration, thereby retaining many of the important flavors and aromas.

Bogedal was founded in 2004, and has an annual
productionof 24,000 – 750ml bottles
Each brew has a capacity of 680 bottles

The brews are never identical even when the same recipe is followed.  Low technology without temperature control tends to allow the beer to live its own life and develop naturally.

Each brew has it’s own batch number this is even if they are brewed using the same recipe.  For example, No. 101 and No. 125 are the same recipe.  However, each batch will be somewhat different in flavor and aroma profile due to Bogedal’s very unique brewing process.

If you missed out last night, join Pac Brew Lab on their 3rd stop!

Join Patrick and Brian at Shotwell’s on
Thursday, December 8th
from 6pm to 8pm
to taste their new creation !

Congratulations to them on retaining that ever elusive license to bring their brews to the masses!

Patrick and Brian of Pacific Brewing Laboratories will be launching there first creation to be sold to the public.

For more information about Pacific Brewing Laboratory
Check out there blog

http://pacbrewlab.blogspot.com/

Reopening on Tuesday November 29th
Happy Thanksgiving!

A big birthday is coming up for Don and Wendy, the founders of Vanberg & DeWulf.  30 years of bringing Belgium’s finest beers to the U.S.

Don and Wendy have been an integral part of the Belgian beer community for a long time, and virtually created the market for Belgian beers in the U.S. What began as a hobby turned into a pioneering effort to educate the American population, and certainly provided a key component in the overall success of craft and artisan beers in this country.

To celebrate, they are doing a “Coast to Coast Toast” on November 16th and would love for you to get involved. They’ve started a blog to post updates with their thoughts and ideas as the November 16th date approaches with exciting updates and news regarding awards and accolades for their fine beers on the same page.

Already, over 100 of the country’s best Belgian-friendly bars, restos, and stores have signed on!

For more information go to:

www.belgianexperts.com or facebook.com/vanberganddewulf

Don and Wendy will be toasting at 2am eastern time, so we will be toasting with them at 11pm pacific time with ten brews on tap and too many bottles to count from the VanBerg and DeWulf Portfolio.  Come and join us for a festive night with Beer lovers from all parts of the country to celebrate with Don and Wendy!

 Tuesday, November 16th
Restaurant will be open as usual at 6pm
10:00pm – All guests will be greeted with a draft brew for the toast!
11:00pm – We will make a toast to Don and Wendy for 30 years of work and dedication to the beer world with the rest of America.

Beer Offerings

On Tap:
Avec les bons Voeux
Avril
Cuvee des Trolls
Foret
Monk’s Stout
Posca Rustica
Peche Mele
Saison DuPont
Scaldis
Scaldis Noel

In Bottles
Avec le bon Voeux -  750ml
Biere de Miel – 750ml
Castelain -  330ml & 750ml
Cuvee des Trolls – 750ml
Foret – 375ml
Foret Blanche – 750ml
Hop Ruiter – 750ml
La Bière de BelŒil – 750ml
Peche Mele – 330ml
Saison DuPont – 375ml & 750ml
Scaldis – 275ml
Scaldis Prestige de Nuit – 750ml
Scaldis Noel – 275ml
Scaldis Noel Premiun – 750ml
Scaldis Refermentee – 750ml
Scaldis Triple – 750ml
St. Amand – 750ml

A big birthday is coming up for Don and Wendy, the founders of Vanberg & DeWulf.  30 years of bringing Belgium’s finest beers to the U.S.

Don and Wendy have been an integral part of the Belgian beer community for a long time, and virtually created the market for Belgian beers in the U.S. What began as a hobby turned into a pioneering effort to educate the American population, and certainly provided a key component in the overall success of craft and artisan beers in this country.

To celebrate, they are doing a “Coast to Coast Toast” on November 15th and would love for you to get involved. They’ve started a blog to post updates with their thoughts and ideas as the November 15th date approaches with exciting updates and news regarding awards and accolades for their fine beers on the same page.

Already, over 100 of the country’s best Belgian-friendly bars, restos, and stores have signed on!

For more information go to:

www.belgianexperts.com or facebook.com/vanberganddewulf

Don and Wendy will be toasting at midnight eastern time, so we will be toasting with them at 9pm pacific time with ten brews on tap and too many bottles to count being from the VanBerg and DeWulf Portfolio.  Come and join us for a festive night with all Beer lovers from all parts of the country to celebrate with Don and Wendy!

 Tuesday, November 15th
Restaurant will be open as usual at 6pm
8:00pm – All guests will be greeted with hors d’oevres and a brew for the toast!
9:00pm – We will make a toast to Don and Wendy for 30 years of work and dedication to the beer world with the rest of America.

Beer Offerings

On Tap:
Avec les bons Voeux
Avril
Cuvee des Trolls
Foret
Monk’s Stout
Posca Rustica
Peche Mele
Saison DuPont
Scaldis
Scaldis Noel

In Bottles
Avec le bon Voeux -  750ml
Biere de Miel – 750ml
Castelain -  330ml & 750ml
Cuvee des Trolls – 750ml
Foret – 375ml
Foret Blanche – 750ml
Hop Ruiter – 750ml
La Bière de BelŒil – 750ml
Peche Mele – 330ml
Saison DuPont – 375ml & 750ml
Scaldis – 275ml
Scaldis Prestige de Nuit – 750ml
Scaldis Noel – 275ml
Scaldis Noel Premiun – 750ml
Scaldis Refermentee – 750ml
Scaldis Triple – 750ml
St. Amand – 750ml

ALFONS VENDERMOLEN WILL BE JOINING US FOR A WARM VISIT AND
GOOD CONVERSATION WITH OUR GUESTS FOR THE EVENING.

THIS IS A CASUAL EVENT OPEN TO ALL WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND
NO RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY

RESTAURANT AND BAR OPEN AS USUAL

HISTORY

Around 1230, Gilles de Walcourt, count of Roochefort founded a monastery for Cistercian nuns called Secours de Notre-Dame.
In 1464 Louis de la Marck ordered the nuns to leave the monastery which had decayed and they were replaced by monks.
The monastery was the latest Daughter-house of the abbey of Abbey of Citeaux. During the Eighty Years War the abbey was ravaged
by the protestant armies of the Seventeen Provences (1568) and the Austrian armies of John of Austria (1577).
Around 1595, the first brewery was founded within the abbey.

In the 17^th century the abbey suffered from war, famine and the plague. On 30 April 1650, an army from Lorraine, led by baron Châtelet,
invaded the abbey. The monks had to flee to Marche, as well as in 1652 and 1653.

In 1789 the French revolutionary army invaded the Austrian Netherlands, and in 1797 the abbey was closed and sold to Lucien-Joseph Poncelet.
Poncelet demolished the abbey around 1805 and converted it to a farm. Material of the abbey was used for buildings in Rochefort.

On 11 October 1887, father Anselmus Judong from the Trappist Abbey of Achel came to the old abbey and on 21 December 1887 the buildings were
bought by the monks of Achel. The abbey was restored and new buildings were raised. A new brewery was founded, but it would take until 1952 for
the brewery to produce enough beer to be sold.

DESCRIPTION

The Trappist Abbey of Rochefort or Abbey of Notre-Dame de Saint-Rémy, which belongs to the Cistercians of Strict Observance, is located
in Rochefort in the province of Namur (Wallonia, Belgium). The abbey is famous for its spiritual life and its brewery which is one of few Trappist beer
breweries in the world. Life in the abbey is characterised by prayer, reading and manual work, the three basic elements of Trappist life.
The motto of the abbey is Curvata Resurgo.

The three topics of its motto “Curvata Resurgo”(Curved, I straighten up)
illustrate the three theological virtues: the palm tree(faith), the rose(hope) and the star(charity).

THE BREWS

Rochefort 6(red cap, brown beer, 7.5% ABV). Reddish colour, very consistent texture with a slightly spicy aroma and an intense taste of caramel,
fruit, and hints of raisins. It is only brewed about once per year, representing approximately 1% of total beer production, thus is quite difficult to obtain.

Rochefort 8(green cap, brown beer, 9.2% ABV). Yellowish-brown colour, with a more pronounced aroma, more fruits and a slight amount of Demi-Sec.
This variety constitutes the largest proportion of production.

Rochefort 10(blue cap, dark beer, 11.3% ABV). Reddish-brown colour, with a very compact head and an aroma of figs, feels like honey in the mouth.
The alcohol profile is a major component in the flavour of this rich ale. It is very similar to 6 and 8, but has much more of everything.