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[Version]

I'm hoping Danko will "hop" in on this one.

This week, it's been Belgian brews.

Delirium Tremens


La Chouffe


Saison Dupont


All of them superb. Any opinions here?

[Barry Hufker]

My opinion is I don't think we get those here in Saint Louis, Missouri.  I'm sure I'm missing out....

[ktownson]

Yummm...Belgian Ales. Chimay blue label.

And for something completely different, try Xingu, the Brazilian black beer...like liquid silk.

We used to brew our own...we tried a Belgian recipe. It had triple the sugar of more common stouts...the lid blew off our fermenter, blasting beer foam all over a bedroom. What a mess. Came out pretty tasty, tho.

[JDNelson]

Can't say as I'm all that much anamored of Belgin lambics.  A mite too sweet for me.  My fave Euro brew was this Calanda Dunkel Brau I had in Switzerland... yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/calanda-dunkel-brau/6606/

Bombs away!

[TotalSonic]

Got to agree that generally the Belgians are either too sweet or too wheaty for my tastes.
Been really enjoying Belhaven on tap at my local though -



Best regards,
Steve Berson

[jimmyjazz]

Ha!  Just polished off a 4-pack of the Belhaven Scottish Ale in "pub draft" can form last night.  (Not all in one night.)  Nice brew.

I tend towards the terrifically balanced British ales, just as I prefer a great French red to a specific varietal.  Fuller's ESB, Fuller's 1845, Young's Special London Ale, etc.  I like some American ales, too, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam Liberty Ale.  Most American microbreweries are pushing the hops to the extreme these days.  It's ridiculous.

[TotalSonic]

jimmyjazz wrote on Sat, 28 June 2008 19:33

Ha!  Just polished off a 4-pack of the Belhaven Scottish Ale in "pub draft" can form last night.  (Not all in one night.)  Nice brew. I tend towards the terrifically balanced British ales, just as I prefer a great French red to a specific varietal.  Fuller's ESB, Fuller's 1845, Young's Special London Ale, etc.  I like some American ales, too, like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Steam Liberty Ale.  Most American microbreweries are pushing the hops to the extreme these days.  It's ridiculous.

Definitely agree that Sierra Nevada's Pale Ale is really nice.  Their summer ale was mighty tasty - and their Stout is actually really nice as well.  Got to add that come summertime I tend to go for lighter fare that works more as a thirst quencher like Pacifico or Presidente.  

Haven't tried Fuller's or Young's yet - guess I'll have to look for them around here.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[Version]

I go up to the Sierra Nevada brewery when I get a chance. 22 brews on tap at the restaurant there. I have to say, I like their darkest brews the best.

Agreed with everyone here, the Belgians are turning out to be quite sweet. Strong, though. very strong.

I tried this one today:



I am enjoying.

Looking for the Xingu! Sounds interesting!

[Tomas Danko]

Ah, did someone say beer!?

Delirium Tremens from the rather large family brewery Huyghe outside of Ghent is a way too easily drunk triple at 8.5%. It'll sure get a lot of people drunk, even those who do not fancy Belgian beers.

La Chouffe from the d'Achouffe in the south of the Ardennes is a better beer. But it is very sweet, there is something like 50 gr of sugar in one of those 750ml bottles. The two guys who started the brewery sold it last year, after 25 years of brewing, to Moortgat Duvel. I suspect things will go downhill from here. I was out drinking with Chris, one of the founders, last September and he was in a helluva better mood all relaxed and fun now that he's "retired".

Saison Dupont, now there's a beer! I love this one. It is a very typical season beer, which they used to make as a thirst quencher for the farmers when it was time for them to start working out in the fields with the crops. So it's not as strong (for a Belgian), and it's got a drier aftertaste. Dupont is an awesome brewery that does only great stuff, but they don't stand out compared to the competition. This is just because others tend to do huge bold beers that will always stand out in a crowd, but at the end of the day do you really want to drink that stuff every day? Dupont rocks just because their beers are top notch without trying to be something they're not. Dupont is situated very close to the French border south west in Tourpes.

For those of you who find Belgian beers too sweet, try the Saison Dupont. It's got a hoppier aftertaste, it's very clean tasting but still with a very long aftertaste.

Personally I'd stick to the Saison Dupont until I started to get a buzz, then I'd probably open a bottle of La Chouffe or two.

Cheers!

[KB_S1]

Not entirely sure what that Belhaven is.
We don't get anything labeled as that here.
I suspect it will be similar to one of the domestic varieties but adapted slightly for export.

One of their best here is the 'St Andrews'.

I was just holidaying on a couple of our West Coast islands, Arran and Islay.
Both have breweries, the Arran one was in trouble due to hop and fuel prices but it has been saved.

If you can get hold of either breweries produce do so. Fantastic stuff.

My usual pub tipple is Duechars IPA, good in a bottle too but so much better from a real pump.
There is a pub I enjoy greatly in Glencoe called the Clachaig Inn. It usually has between 5 and 8 real beers on tap.
It is a recurring theme at New Year to work your way from top to bottom of the 8 beer board. Then by that time something has usually ran out and replaced so you start on the new ones!

Foreign beers, some of the Belgians are good indeed. Prefer the wheat beers like Hoegaarden.

[Tomas Danko]

JDNelson wrote on Sat, 28 June 2008 23:25

Can't say as I'm all that much anamored of Belgin lambics.  A mite too sweet for me.  My fave Euro brew was this Calanda Dunkel Brau I had in Switzerland... yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/calanda-dunkel-brau/6606/ Bombs away!

Lambics may be very much an acquired taste but I simply love them. You've got great taste.

Two days ago I had what I consider the best geuze ever made:

The oldest beer inside that bottle is about 12-13 years by now. It still has foam like nobody's business.

FWIW, the real Lambic ones are completely dry with NO sugars left, NO bitterness from any hops, they can range from tart to ridiculously sour and acidic. The good ones are very complex with an aftertaste reminding you the next morning what a good evening last night was.

Don't confuse these with the commercial crap where they pour sugars, juices and syrup into the brew and pretend it's a traditional lambic:

3 Fonteinen
De Cam
Cantillon
Girardin
Hanssens
Boon

Anything from those breweries or blenders is amazing.

[Tomas Danko]

While a lot of Belgian beers can be quite on the sweet side, there are some sides to this.

With such a tiny country having 180+ breweries making perhaps around 1200-1500 different beers one can't really claim them all to be sweet. The range of totally different types of beer in Belgium can not be beaten anywhere else on earth.
You try 500 of their brews, and will still find several new tastes afterwards that you didn't think existed.

That's why Belgian beer is such great fun!

Initially, they often range between 6-9% in alcohol which balances the sweetness to an extent. The idea is to have a lot of everything in the beer (although bitterness is historically not a Belgian thing).

The newer micro breweries in Belgium started to add a lot of hops the last two years or so. Some of them even started using American hops that contains higher amounts of alpha acids. Traditionally speaking, Belgian beers used local hops that are very low on alpha acids, and they use much more aroma hops than bittering hops.

So today you can find lots of beers from Belgium that are heavy on the bittering hops, some are even dry hopped. And this has also turned out to be the trend for this year, so more and more beers are turning out drier and bitter.

Some examples regarding drier Belgian beers that are not at all sweet but instead hoppy:

La Rulles Esteval
La Rulles Triple
De Ranke XX Bitter
De Ranke Guldenberg
Orval
Chimay Triple
Westmalle Triple
Duvel
Duvel Tripel Hop
Gandavum Dry Hopping
Saison IV
Poperings Hommelbier
Slaapmutske Dry Hopped Lager
Arabier
Dulle Teve

Cheers!

[stevieeastend]

Tomas,

you disappoint me! How can you cheat with americans on beer? It´s like trying to educate an Aussi on ski-jumping

cheer
ST

[KB_S1]

Thomas,

what would you recommend for a wheat beer?
I would like to try something that is from a small independant.

Another couple that may be of interest to all.

Innis & Gunn, it is stored in whisky barrels to give a very strong aromatic taste.
A bit syrupy to have more than 3 or 4 of the small bottles.

Fraoch, a heather ale. Very different again but very nice, especially after a meal.

[Tomas Danko]

steveeastend wrote on Sun, 29 June 2008 11:34

Tomas, you disappoint me! How can you cheat with americans on beer? It´s like trying to educate an Aussi on ski-jumping cheer ST

Hehe oh my.

By the way, there are a huge amount of great micro breweries popping up in America the last few years. No need to drink that fizzy crap stuff they insist on calling beer just to stay local!

Hair of the Dog
Three Floyds
Smuttynose
Stone

I could make a very long list, but those are some awesome US micro brewers.