Engelszell Gregorius 11.2OZ

Engelszell Gregorius 11.2oz is a 10.5% ABV Belgian-style Quadrupel brewed at Stift Engelszell, Austria's only Trappist monastery and the eighth recognized Trappist brewery in the world. It holds an 87 score on BeerAdvocate and has drawn over 56,000 ratings on Untappd, establishing it as one of the most sought-after Trappist ales outside Belgium and the Netherlands.

Quick Facts: ABV: 10.5%  |  Origin: Engelhartszell, Upper Austria  |  Style: Belgian Quadrupel (Trappist)  |  Brewery: Stift Engelszell

Production & Heritage

Stift Engelszell is a Cistercian-Trappist abbey situated on the banks of the Danube in Engelhartszell, Upper Austria. The monastery's brewing operation earned its official Trappist designation — marked by the Authentic Trappist Product hexagonal logo — making it the first and only Austrian brewery to hold that distinction. Gregorius is brewed with organic honey harvested from beehives kept on the abbey grounds, and the monks employ an Alsatian wine yeast during secondary fermentation rather than a conventional Belgian ale strain. This unusual choice traces back to the monastery's founding community, who originally came from Alsace, and it gives Gregorius a fermentation character distinct from its Belgian Trappist counterparts.

Tasting Notes

Aroma: A rich, malty nose opens with licorice and toasted grain before giving way to dark stone fruit — plum and fig — laced with chestnut and honey. Subtle grassy and herbal notes hover underneath.

Taste: The entry is sweet and full-bodied, with ripe dark fruits like date, raisin, and cherry layered over brown sugar, treacle, and honey. Mid-palate, coffee and toasted malt emerge alongside overripe banana, nutmeg, and clove. A faint sweet-and-sour interplay from the wine yeast keeps the substantial malt backbone from becoming cloying, while a delicate salinity adds unexpected depth.

Finish: Warm and lingering, with bittersweet chocolate, a whisper of smoke, and a vanilla aftertaste. The 10.5% ABV is remarkably well-integrated, revealing itself only as gentle warmth on the close.

How to Drink Gregorius

Gregorius is best served at cellar temperature — around 50–55°F (10–13°C) — in a chalice or goblet to concentrate its layered aromatics. Pour carefully, leaving the yeast sediment in the bottle unless you prefer a cloudier presentation. While primarily a contemplative sipper, the beer's honeyed sweetness and dark-fruit depth lend themselves to a few creative applications: a Trappist Flip, shaken with a whole egg and a touch of maple syrup for a rich, dessert-like cocktail; a Quad Shandy, lengthened with tart cherry juice and a squeeze of lemon for a lighter warm-weather drink; or a Belgian Black Velvet, floated half-and-half with dry sparkling wine for an elegant brunch serve.

Best For

• Gifting a craft-beer collector something genuinely rare
• After-dinner sipping alongside a cheese course or dessert
• Expanding a Trappist tasting flight beyond the usual Belgian selections
• Cellar aging — high-gravity Quads develop complex sherry-like notes over years

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Gregorius taste like? Gregorius delivers a rich, malt-driven profile dominated by dark fruits like fig, date, and plum, layered with honey, coffee, and bittersweet chocolate. The warmth of its 10.5% ABV is balanced by subtle spice, a touch of smoke, and a lingering vanilla finish.

How does Gregorius compare to Chimay Blue? Both are high-gravity Trappist ales with dark-fruit and malt character, but Gregorius uses organic monastery honey and Alsatian wine yeast, which gives it a slightly more vinous, honeyed sweetness compared to Chimay Blue's drier, more classically Belgian yeast profile. Chimay Blue is also marginally lower in ABV at 9%, making Gregorius the fuller-bodied of the two.

Is Gregorius good for sipping neat? Absolutely — it is designed to be savored slowly at cellar temperature, and its complexity rewards unhurried drinking. The high ABV is well-hidden, so it drinks more smoothly than its strength suggests.

Where is Gregorius made? Gregorius is brewed inside Stift Engelszell, a Trappist abbey in the town of Engelhartszell an der Donau in Upper Austria, directly on the Danube near the German border. It is the only brewery in Austria authorized to carry the Authentic Trappist Product label.

What foods pair well with Gregorius? Aged Gruyère or Comté, whose nutty intensity matches the beer's malt depth; dark chocolate truffles, which echo its cocoa finish; roasted duck or braised short ribs, where the fruit-forward sweetness cuts through rich fat; fig and walnut tart, complementing the dried-fruit aromatics; and blue cheese such as Roquefort, whose saltiness contrasts the honeyed body.

What sizes does Gregorius come in? The standard format is an 11.2oz (330ml) bottle, which is the traditional serving size for Trappist ales.

Is Gregorius worth the price? Gregorius positions as a premium Trappist offering, reflecting both limited production at a working monastery and the cost of organic honey sourced on-site. Within the Trappist category it sits at the higher end, but its rarity as the only Austrian Trappist beer gives it a collectibility that few peers can match.

Why Gregorius?

Gregorius stands apart within the Trappist canon because of two deliberate production choices no other certified Trappist brewery makes: organic honey from the abbey's own apiary and an Alsatian wine yeast that links the beer directly to the monks' French heritage. The result is a Quadrupel that tastes unmistakably Trappist yet carries a honeyed, faintly vinous signature you won't find in Rochefort, Chimay, or Westvleteren. With an 87-point BeerAdvocate score and tens of thousands of community ratings, it has earned critical and popular recognition in a field dominated by centuries-old Belgian houses. For anyone serious about experiencing the full breadth of Trappist brewing, Gregorius is not a footnote — it is essential drinking.