Ever try Lindeman’s Strawberry? It’s great. So is their Framboise (raspberry ).
Lindeman’s Kriek is my #1 favorite beer. A moment in heaven - sitting outside of the cafe in the citadel at Namur, sipping a Kriek and taking in the vista of those massive rivers rolling through the old town…
Yeah, Lindeman’s - GREAT call!
j
I am really pleased to read that Belgian, German (well, Oktoberfest…) and Checz beer are favourably mention here so often. I concur.
Drinking the soon to be last Leffe Été/Zommer (French and Flamish for summerbeers) for this year. Their winterbeers are too syrupy for my taste though, I will switch back to Leffe Blonde soon. Those are all bottled beers.
If I can have a draft beer, I turn conservative: König Pilsner, or a hopsy-bitter north German pils.
I was at a beer event a few years back. There were groups of guys who were kinda cliques, sitting together, taking up multiple tables. I ran into a friend and we got a table.
A younger guy walked by looking for somewhere to sit. He asked if he could join us, we said sure.
Turns out he had just returned from Belgium. He brought a very special beer back with him, wrapped in towels, in his luggage. I’m blocking on the brewery/beer, but it wasn’t available in the US, and the Cicerone in charge of the event was impressed, taking pics and telling everyone he was proud to just be in the same room as the bottle.
The kid opened the bomber and shared it equally between the three of us at the table and the Cicerone. Cool memory.
ETA. TLDR: Belgium rocks!
Fun thread to read. I’m afraid my latest beers have all been from local breweries/brewpubs. Said establishments both came back from this years GABF with gold medals. Although anybody in SoCal should be able to find the offerings of Brouwerij West. They operate out of Pier 7. Great takes on Belgian standards.
Your tastes are similar to mine, I think. Agreed on all the Yards beers: liked Jefferson and Washington, and wasn’t a fan of Brawler.
I wanted to visit the Brooklyn Brewery last time I was in NYC but didn’t have enough time.
Almost everything Deschutes makes is great, except for some of their citrus fruity crap. I visited the Deschutes Brewery in Bend, OR. If you can get your hands on it, I recommend Cinder Cone and Red Chair NW IPA. Those tend to be less widely distributed though.
Not really into Yuengling, but Great Lakes is another excellent brewer
Heck, even if it’s just inspired or trying to copy a Belgian, I’m willing to give it a try. Belgium is the heavy metal of beers. They launched 5K different varieties, and almost all of them and their imitators have something delicious to offer. I might not like that particular expression of the style, but there’s a wide variety within most of them. So, I gotta try it at least once, right?
Reporting back. I think this is my first red IPA and it is quite tasty. It has a decent bite, 66 IBU, and a clear taste-I’m glad she got me this 12 pack.
This is something some folks don’t grasp. For every imported beer available in the U.S. that country has hundreds of other beers that will never be imported here. Just another reason why I encourage people to travel during their lifetime. Going on a quest for beer is all the motivation I need.
And Belgium should be atop the list. Brussels is just a train ride from Amsterdam. Check out the Grand Place. There is an eccentric but affordable place right on the edge of the square called Hotel Mozart. The variety of different beer to try at taverns and restaurants is almost infinite.
Great Lakes is the one place we seem to differ. Their Porter along with Southern Tier are the only Porters I don’t like and as mentioned I didn’t like their Irish Ale either.
My nephew actually likes the Great Lakes Porter though.
I love Leiny’s Snowdrift Vanilla Porter and Toasted Bock, their Oktoberfest was OK but not as good as many others. I hate their Shandies. But I hate shandies.
I have to find their Chocolate Dunkel sometime.
I just wish there were more IPAs to choose from!!
You can have all of mine, I think there are far too many and nowhere near enough low IBU ales.
Give me Stouts, Porters, Red Ales, Pale Ales, Irish Ales, Brown Ales but save me from IPAs. Go into a bar with 80 taps and half are IPAs and over a dozen are mass brew swill. It is a small miracle if they have a stout that isn’t Guinness, only see Porters in the Winter in most places.
Thankfully Smithwicks is still semi-common around here. Bass is pretty much gone, thanks InBev, you jerks.
Hell, if it wasn’t for Yuengling Lager, a lot of places don’t have much on tap for me. My local Irish Tavern had Yuengling’s Hershey Porter on tap last year. That was awesome.
Even when I went to Ireland, I was in the wrong parts for Murphy’s Stout and Red Ale. Most places were Guinness, Smithwicks, Bud (of all things), Harp Lager and I think Carlsberg rounded it out for some reason.
Sorry for the mini-rant
Oh a few Bocks on tap would be most welcomed also.
I second this. Belgium has unbelievably good beer. Brussels is good, and I also recommend Brugge.
For such a small country Belgium has an insanely large selection of beer.
Another thing many don’t realize is Europe has it’s el-cheapo brews as much as we do. Not everything is top notch. For our Blatz and Milwaukees Best there are European brands that are low priced.
But European swill beer is usually better than our higher priced macros.
The only American brand I ever see in Europe is Budweiser. What I never see is anyone drinking it. I saw Miller High Life in Rio back in 2015. How that got there is beyond me. I rarely see Brazilian beer here. Stands to reason. The only decent one I had down there was Bohemia (not to be confused with the Mexican version sold in the states).
Can anyone recommend a barleywine where the taste isn’t overwhelmed by the the alcohol content? I don’t mind an alcohol content of 14% or higher, but I want to experience a taste to match at the very least.
American macro-brews used to be somewhat common in Asia, but I think they’ve probably been gradually displaced by their own macros and even domestic micros. When I left Japan back in the mid 2000s, micros were just becoming a thing, but there are actually some good micros there - I think Whole Foods even sells a brand or two.
What’s the other?
I think my first beer where I thought “oh… this is different” was Kentucky Breakfast Stout, while back before they had to rename it KBS. That or Bourbon County Stout.
Recently I’ve enjoyed sours, Sour Monkey from Victory is pretty good, tart and high ABV. More than two is probably too many though.
Have you tried Bigfoot barleywine?
Are we talking real IPAs or the Abominations Unto Nuggan that are current IPAs on this side of the pond? (I swear by all that is Holy, if I ever run into the guy that developed Citra hops I hope it’s with a large, heavy truck going a good clip.)
I have had Bigfoot, and was not impressed.