A Brace of wins for The Durham Brewery – Bede’s Chalice and Finchale Abbaye
Very well known for its bottle conditioned beers, The Durham Brewery has been winning with bottled beers since getting Gold at GBBF for Evensong. Steve got his initial bottle inspiration from Belgian beers many years before even thinking about starting a brewery. Well, this year came two awards for Belgian style beer.
Bede’s Chalice is a Belgian style tripel which has been winning awards with British Bottlers’ Institute and International Beer Challenge since 2010. This year brought Gold in the strong ales class with British Bottlers’ Institute. The name derives from St Bede who is buried in Durham Cathedral. Monks were brewers of ale, which was a part of their daily diet. We are sure Bede would have loved this strong, golden, coriander laced ale. A tripel is a strong light coloured beer, should not be too heavy, and should be well balanced. At 9% abv Bede’s Chalice fits the bill perfectly and can described as liquid bread.
Finchale Abbaye is a newcomer, and silver in World Beer Awards Belgian Style Strong is its first award. This 10% abv, full bodied and very dark beer has coffee and roast notes with a big punch of alcohol. Visitors to our shop say, “I couldn’t drink much of that”. Steve retorts, “you’re not supposed to!” Its complexity and massive body make it a sipper rather than a supper. The name comes from a local ruined abbey which the Durham monks used as a holiday retreat. Abbaye is the Belgian term for Trappist type beer brewed by lay brewers.
