So while on my trip I have, elsewhere, a sort of journal I’m keeping, with beer involved. I thought I’d pitch my two cents (Euro cents, of course) by sharing this crap here. The vocabulary and descriptions are geared towards an northwest American audience. . . I’m off to Munich in the morning so perhaps I’ll try to load up on Bavarian goodness while I’m there. . .
I must say that with a pair of exceptions I have encountered no “bad” Belgian beer. It’s all various degrees of brilliant.
Quoting myself:
Here are the compiled excerpts from my Belgian beer joy, to date.
"Beer report-- I find the Leffe a bit too thick and sweet and caramelly for my tastes, but a lot of people like that. Hoegaarden isn’t as brilliant as I remembered, but they might be giving it to me from bottles. I did find the Hoegaarden cafe downtown in Antwerp so maybe I will try it at the source
(Break)
So to catch up on the beer report:
Hoegaarden- is a white beer (that is to say, not a hefeweizen but it might remind you of one–even lighter in color and opaque in the same way)-- this one is sort of the standard. They tend to have some esthery taste and often have coriander instead of hops. Yummy. Another good witbier I tried was Haecht. I think I might like it more- less bite-y.
I also tried something called Popperdings Hommelbier (I need to look that up-I think it means honeybee?) [later–yep. Ed.]-sort of like Delerium Tremens (so a “golden ale”) without the acidic bite or the banana-like aftertaste. Swell.
Currently I am drinking a Westmalle Trappist. I think this one is the trippel. There’s nothing I can complain about- a nice brown caramelly monastic thing. Their Dubbel is close- a bit lighter in color.
Yesterday: Gouden Carolus- by Brouwerij Het Anker (est.1369) in Mechelen-nice and smooth mid-red thing.
The Rodenbach is swell- it’s called a “sour ale” but I’m not sure what that means. It has a touch of cherry to it. This might be my favorite drinking beer.
Palm speciale and de Koninck are the “Bud” of Antwerp (the local swill, if you can call it that. What a great town!) but much better- amber ales with some character.
Ok, but a BAD review-- something called Tourtel. Tastes like Rainier. I’m not a big pilsner fan, though, and I don’t think I’d like any of them so this might not be entirely fair. (later-- I discover from a more thorough menu that the Tourtel is an Alcohol-free Beer! Aiegh!)
(Break)
I apparently forgot to report on Straffe Hendrick from de Halve Maan (Bruges). Brilliant-- a strong but very drinkable “golden ale”. They also make a darker version I need to try.
There was something called Poppering’s Hommelbier which was good-- I might have already mentioned it. Although the name suggests honey I don’t think any is actually involved. It was good, but not world-rocking.
Corsendonk Bruin (Pater): it’s called bruin but it has a sort of interesting fruity thing going on, too, sour like Rodenbach. There’s also a coppery taste but that might be this sample (later report-- I had another one and it was entirely different, bland, and not too hot-- seems to be a bit unstable: ed.). The lighter colored Corsendonk (Agnes) doesn’t do much for me either: it has the worst characteristics of a pilsner and a witbier. Not “bad”, per se, but “eh”, with something vague and muddy about it. Blanche du Bruges is a witbier but makes me think of soap but isn’t really bad. Witkap Pater, another witbier, I like, though: very tart and nice.
Orval has a very interesting taste. It’s hard to describe. There’s something fruity about it but it tastes much stronger than it is. Good-- lots of character and complicated. In the same odd family is Pauwel Kwak which comes in a third-yard glass so it’s quite the affair. Lovely, 8 percent. I also had another kriek lambic, Morte Subite, but I find it too sweet.
St Sixtus Abt 12 (no idea what the numbers and letters mean) is nice, but very thick. It tastes like a porter. I also can’t remember if I mentioned Westmalle Doppel, which is nice and caramelly and dark red.
Ah, beer related historical tidbit. The Flemings developed hops for beer, actually, I have learned, in the early 15th century. As the hops acted as an anti-bacterial agent, beer with a lower alcohol level was now possible as it still wouldn’t spoil (previously it had had to be very strongly alcoholic to resist infection). As the Flemings exported a lot of beer this pissed the English off a lot, who were certain that hops were a horrible marketing conspiracy, enabling the Flemish to sell sadly weak beer, cheating the English. Trade wars ensued. The Belgian brewers also use a goodly amount of coriander and let a lot of their beers (lambics, Rodenbach) contract wild yeast strains for character (hence the name “sour beer” for some Rodenbachy things, and tales of Trappist beers brewed in huge open vats with cobwebs and dust). Rodenbach, in fact, is fermented for the normal 2 months or so, but it then infected with wild yeasts and tossed into oak barrels for another 2 years. Interesting, no? (actually, later I learn it is the Rodenback “Grand Cru” which is stored that long). . .
(Break) Beer boutique in Bruges. Rodenbach Grand Cru is like the regular one but maybe even more strongly flavored, as it is aged longer. Yum Yum. Brouwerij Bios te Ertvelde’s Vlaamse Bourgogne is similar to Rodenbach (I asked for a suggestion in that line) which is a feat. Underneath the acidity I think there is more meat to it-- it’s more beer-like. I’d call it an old crypto-brown.
(Break) I popped by the other beer boutique I’d heard about, which is in a surprising spot deep in a tiny alley in the tourist center that most peole can’t possibly notice. Things I learned : there are five true Trappist breweries: Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and something you rarely see (they don’t bottle), Westvleteren. Things like Leffe, Grimbergen, Affelinghem, Maredsous . . . are “abbey” beers but NOT Trappist, as some connoisseurs are likely to passionately insist. Like you care. Anyhow, the house brew, “Triple van de Garre” (the street, which was once south-soap-makers-street, is now ‘la Garre’ after some French guy last century) is very nice and continues in that “It said ‘blonde’ so I thought it would be light and fluffy so why am I waking up under this jeep?” Belgian tradition. Then I thought as a counterpoint to all my witbier (white-beer) drinking I would try the only beer I’ve seen described as “zwaart” (black), which was the Rochefort ‘8’ (they have one called “8 percent”, which is 9.4 percent, and a “12 percent” which I don’t want to know about). Rochefort 8’: dark, but not “black” like a real porter or stout but tastes porter-y. Nice. Actually it reminded me of Portland for some reason."
More to come. Discuss.
