Dribs and Drams, Brewtour Edition

Why not take a tour. If you’re coming to Indy, you have a choice between Brewery Tours of Indianapolis and Indy Brew Bus. Both are $30, Thursdays through Sundays. Check out their support of charity events also.

To go farther afield, BeerMBA is planning a Belgium trip in July. Nine nights. Brussels, Chimay, Rochefort, Brugge, Antwerp, DeKoninck, Westmalle. You can arrange to stay later - it’s a shortish hop to Cologne and Dusseldorf. Here are pictures*:

* Not, darn it, from previous BeerMBA trips. Your mileage may vary. Do not use on exposed skin. Heating elements will be hot to the touch.

 

 

 

 

Some to try:

• 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek - From the handpump. "Minimum 35% krieken". Pitch black with a bright pink foam. Tart, strong. An espresso of kriek. Both an aperitif and a desert beer in one.
• 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek - From the bottle in Brugge. Even tarter than from the keg. Seemingly less black but it was dark that night.
• 3 Fonteinen Lambik - From the handpump. One year in the vat. Plain brown and cloudy. Completely flat. Vinegary sour lambic brown ale. I would have returned this had it been at an American brewpub. No doubt it's that sour in order to produce such a good kriek.
• 3 Fonteinen Faro - From the handpump. Same brown but brighter and with a foamy head. Sourest faro in my experience. Pulls at the back of the throat. The Lambik base is identifiable and it doesn't seem as much candy sugar was used. An acquired taste, evidently.
• Arend - On tap. A home blend at a small, well-known bar in Antwerp, the De Groote Witte. Too sour. Turns out it's a wit with a cheap lambic added. Dark red with a flaming pink chunky head that leaves red chunks as the foam dissipates. Very little cherry notes. Disappointing.
• Augustijn - Light amber. Smooth and understated. A sneaker-up-on. Brother to Piraat from Van Steenberge. 8%.
• Barbar Winter - Deep brown. Non-obtrusive big bruin. Nose is of a delicate alcoholic tripel, then the bruin takes over in the taste. Recommended. Worth importing.
• Barbar Winterbok - Just out. On tap. Creamy ivory head on a dark brown. Dark honey comes through strong in taste as though it were a fruit in a lambic. Not sweet though. Very drinkable. Close to a Top 10.
• Bink Donkel - Dark brown. Not notable. From Brouwerij Kerkom.
• Bourgogne Des Flanders - On tap. Simple dark brown bruin. Plum notes.
• Brugse Tripel - On tap. Strong stuff. Nice. Right tasting. Dark, dull blond. Appealing ice cream soda head. From Gouden Boom. A typical triple but at 9.5%.
• Brugs Wit - On tap. Whiter than most but not weak. No orange nor tartness. Some bitterness.
• Bush De Noel - Dull brown. (Bush is a local Antwerp brewery). Strongly alcoholic brown ale. Not as spicy as expected. Actually rather bland, maybe due to the 12% alcohol being hidden completely. Just a nice brown ale. Deceptive.
• Carolus Margriet - Strong Belgium blonde. All the tastes of a triple in a 5% size.
• Chapeau Exotic - Lambic by De Troch. Pineapple and juicy fruit. Unsweet but not tart. Iron notes.
• Chapeau Mirabelle Lambic - Plums. No really, it's made with plums. From De Troch. Doesn't taste strongly of plum or dark fruit, in fact it's just generally fruity but earthier than apricot. Not as tart as most.
• Cuvee des Trolls - Fat side of tripel. Silly side of name and logo (right). Alcohol comes through as well as the aging. 7%.
• (De Garre) Tripel Van de Garre - House beer at De Garre brewed to their recipe by a East Flanders brewery (Huyghe?). Floral petals notes and very drying. There's candy sugar evident and plenty of hops. Still, the drying is the most prominent.
• Dentengem Wit - On tap. Crisp but very light.
• De Koninck Tripel - On tap. Bright oak blond tripel with lots of basic malt and lots of hops to bitter it up. 8%.
• De Witte Van Celis - Yep, Pierre Celis's latest. A wit, surprise. On tap at DeGarre and bottled at Beertje in Brugge. Both served in an Austin glass. Thin. Something just slightly unusual about it but hard to place at this time of day. "The wheat beer, developed by the Celis Brewery (Austin, Texas) with the 500 year old brewing art of Hoegaarden (Belgium) with the modern brewing techniques."
• Dikke Mathile - Fat Matilda named for a statue in Oostende. From Strubbete Ichtegm. Crisp and sharp with a sweet peach edge. Brown amber. Nice foamy head. Half hallertauer hops. Munich malt.
• Du Bocq Triple Moin - Orange juice blonde. Right to style. Lots of barley nose. A touch of orange/tangerine taste.
• Duchesse de Bourgoene - Dark "donker" beer with lots of sourness now. It's been altered a bit from the apple tartness of last year but that's still present. Quite fizzy.
• Ename Blond - Abbey ale. From the tap. Eh. A basic blond. Hoppy enough but not at all distinctive.
• Floris Fraises - A wit with strawberry added before bottling. Fresh and fruity.
• Galgenbier - From the tap. Special beer for 't Galgenhuisje. Dark ruby with a tan head. Mild amber ale. Slightly fizzy. 7.2%.
• Gandavum - House beer of Het Waterhuis Aan de Bierkant in Brugge. Brewed by Proffbrouwerij. Blonde. Dry hopped and proud of it although there's a minimal hop aroma. The fruit comes through. Taste is very mild blonde, maybe a saison. Certainly not a tripel even though 7.5%.
• Gentse Tripel - Very light yellow, verging on green. Poured from the bottle entusiastically, giving a 1/2 glass of head. Light and fruity. Quaffable and dangerous. 8%.
• Girardin Frambous - Quite tart. Brewed in Dilbeek. 5%.
• Gordon Highland Scotch - Just because it's so good and the thistle glass fits the hand so well. "Brewed in Benelux for Anthony Martin". 8.6% .On tap. Big malt scotch. Vanilla. Roast. Concentrated. Dark brown walnut.
• Gordon Xmas - On tap. So balanced. Actually in harmony. Like butter. Wonderfully quaffable. Could drink it by the quart. OK, maybe one quart. At Peters Vaetje sitting at the entrance to the cathedral listening to a street string quartet with the sun peeking through the clouds.
• Guillotine - Blond tripel. A bit of caramel but not really sweet. A little spice of not-quite-clove in the finish. Hides the alcohol completely. It's suggested that this is a Delirium Tremens with another name and a little stronger. 9.3%
• Hommelbier - Apricot. Blonde ale. Leffe with twice the bitterness. 7.5%.
• Kwelchouffe Special Blonde 2000. Never have I before seen actual turbulence in the effervescence of a beer. This had, for 2 full minutes after pouring, eddys and flocks of bubbles going up, down, and around like geese in the fall, only faster of course. Bright apricot color. Bubbles settled down to a 2" white head which dropped quickly. The beer was brewed as a tribute to, or maybe an attempt to copy, Duvel. Logo on bottle includes a 666 above the pitchfork and the gnome has horns. Peachy, fruity, salivating without being at all salty. A top 10 beer for sure. 8.5%
• Haecht Witbier - Somehow lighter in color, body, and presence than most wits. A quick-drinking beer.
• Halve Maan Brugse Zot - Darkish blond. Their summer seasonal. Light ale. A bit grainy. Shape on the tongue but not pleasant.
• Hoegaarden Grand Cru - On tap. They distill the essence of their great wit leaving out all the unnecessary stuff. Like Colman Chapman said at Lotus, "add lightness".
• Judas - On tap. Big blond worthy of the name. Big belch too. White grape in the nose. A bit hot on the tongue but not offensive. All light malt. Dark blonde character throughout. From Maes.
• Leffe Radieuse 10° - Dark amber. Massive malt, massive bitter. Where have you been all my life? Knows its place and doesn't attack the tongue or last too long. Polite. Nice belch though. Top 10.
• Lindeman's Gueuze - On tap. Subdued tartness and a light taste for the style. 4%.
• Lindeman's Kriek - On tap. All what we call black cherry. Tart and sweet.
• Malheur 12° - Big but not as massive as other 12°s. Plenty of malt and matching bitter but just to balance.
• Museum Bier - On tap at In 't Nieuw Museum. Dull gold. Mostly bitter with some Cascades probably.
• Oud Zottegems - Peach color. Light carbonation. Apple fruitiness. From Crombe brewery just south of Ghent. 6.5%.
• Pere Abbe Bruin - Black brown with a huge head. Yeasty. Butter smooth and thick. 6.5%.
• Petrus Bruin - Dark brown and delicious.
• Radar Ambree. "Is a traditional beer brewed in an old fashioned way with bottle fermentation flavoured with a subtle malt distillate aged in oak wood casks." By Radermacher Distillerie. Good smooth dark blonde. Not spicy at all. No gin character. A good drink.
• Reinaert Tripel - Blond with constant bubbles from all parts of a very clean tulip glass. Bold and thick alcohol hit. 9%.
• Rochefort 8 - Bottled. Same as in the U.S. Delightful brown chewiness. 7.3%. Served with some Rochefort cheese.
• Rochefort 10 - Served too cold at a singles bar in Rochefort.
• Roman Christmas Bell 1983. 3€. Pure black. No head. Old, old, strong ale. It could well have been a scotch ale but it's way past that now. Still a viable drink. Some molasses, some musty aroma and taste. 7.3%.
• Petrus Blanche - Bright solid gold.
• Petrus Brune Double - Served in a proper Brit pint glass. In fact a Bavik pint glass. Deep brown. Spicy background underlies the malty, sharp-edged brown ale with some toasty character.
• Rodenbach. On tap. Deep brown, black. Sour ale. Roasty sour. Malty sour.
• Rulles Triple - Lots of candy sugar in this one. Has a 14-day fermentation using Orval yeast, then 4 weeks in the secondary. Delicate sourness with citric and a bit of honey taste also. 8.3%.
• Saint Idesbald Brune - Cordovan. Strongish brune. Big aroma and long aftertaste of chocolate.
• Saint Monon Brune - Quite dark brown. Little head but fizzy on the tongue. Scotch ale aroma but a much more bitter taste. Dark toffee and coffee notes. 7.5%.
• Saison Regal - Dark for this type. Not stronger taste though. Maybe less hoppy than style.
• 't Smisje - Very red amber beer with sweet honey notes. Pronounced Shmisee. 6%.
• 't Smisje Halloween - Pompoen bier. Dark dull orange. Is it pie with nutmeg & cinnamon? Nope. They don't know proper pumpkin pie. It's unsweet pumpkin with a slightly burnt taste. Must be pretty strong because Terry tried to rip out her tongue and stomp on it after only one sip. She doesn't appreciate pumpkin very much. 10.5%.
• Steendonk Wit - On tap. Very cloudy. Very white; more so than bottled as I remember. Plenty of coriander. Plenty of bitter aftertaste.
• Straffe Hendrik Bruin - On tap. "Strong Henry" from De Halve Moon in Brugge. Served in a glass so wide it looks like a stemmed soup bowl. Brown, bold, spicy, citric, hoppy, bitter, raisin.8.5%.
• Stropken - Brewed by Steenberge for the Hop Duvel to their recipe. Dark blond. Bottle fermented. Served in a proper Hop Duvel glass. Not blown up on the menu as their exclusive beer. Some fruit; tropical and citric. Well balanced. Spicy dry finish that still leaves the palate coated. 7%.
• Tripel Karmeliet - On tap. Blond triple abbey. Bright nose and taste. All light malt. Solid.
• Tweespan Liselote - A Snoek Blonde (7.5% brewed by Bavik) with a shooter of hop jenever sitting in the glass. Bracing and quite complementary. (Bottom picture at right).
• Ultra Des Ecaussinees - From Brouwerij d'Ecaussinnes. Very dark brown with thick ivory foam. Flavor hits the roof of the mouth right behind the front teeth. 10%.
• Westvleteren 12 - Served warmish from the bottle at In De Verde. Very malty but my gawd it's very bitter. Leviathan strong of both.
• Westmalle Trappist - On tap. Served nicely warmish. Trappist with green "fresh" distinct edges between the malt, hops, chocolate, sweet, and burnt sugar. Not as strongly alcoholic as I remember.
• Witkap-Pater Stimulo - Bottle conditioned blond double. Sugar (honey?) added to the wort. Sweet, sour, and bitter in balance. Goes down quickly.
• Wittekerke Rose - Raspberry wit from Bavik. Dark electric cranberry color. Very mild raspberry flavor. 4.3%.
• Wostyntje Torhouts Mostaard Bier. From Regenboog Brewery in Asse broek. "Mout, hop, kanij, mostardzaan, gistenwater". Your basic mustard beer. Nice but not really much mustard character.