OT: Belgian Beer

awavey

rick_chasey said:

ridgerider said:

Well...as it looks like we are leaving, I thought I would renegotiate this thread and show you all my Festive Collection of British beer...



So a strong presence of Black Sheep Ale from Masham and Long Blonde from the Long Man Brewery just round the corner from here. With the remainder being a random selection from various other local sources...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS PRO RACERS AND HERE'S HOPING FOR A HEALTHY 2020!

I'd say Black Sheep Ale is very appropriate for a 2019 christmas sesh, given where the World's were held.

Have a good and healthy Christmas ridge. I'm sure I'll see you fit and ready to go in 2020.

should have been a Velo though

blazing_saddles

Has this thread already Brexited?

No_Ta_Doctor

Had a draught Gouden Carolus Tripel at my local on Friday. Not bad. Another local had Rodenbach Alexander recently (barrel aged Flanders Red on Kriek cherries), also pretty good. Brought a couple of bottles of Affligem to an Xmas do yesterday, which went down nicely.

So no, I've not Brexited :-D

awavey

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Had a draught Gouden Carolus Tripel at my local on Friday. Not bad. Another local had Rodenbach Alexander recently (barrel aged Flanders Red on Kriek cherries), also pretty good. Brought a couple of bottles of Affligem to an Xmas do yesterday, which went down nicely.

So no, I've not Brexited :-D

draught do you live in Belgium ? blimey I thought I was lucky to be in a pub the other night that had Delerium Noel on draught

No_Ta_Doctor

awavey said:

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Had a draught Gouden Carolus Tripel at my local on Friday. Not bad. Another local had Rodenbach Alexander recently (barrel aged Flanders Red on Kriek cherries), also pretty good. Brought a couple of bottles of Affligem to an Xmas do yesterday, which went down nicely.

So no, I've not Brexited :-D

draught do you live in Belgium ? blimey I thought I was lucky to be in a pub the other night that had Delerium Noel on draught

Nope, Denmark. Some of the craft beer bars get some Belgian draught beers every now and then. Also had draught of a Gouden Carolus Noel, but that wasn't very nice (far too much aniseed) and a Kasteel chocolate quad, which was also pretty disappointing (not enough body to hold the overdone chocolate, no comparison to the imperial porters that can manage it).

awavey

No_Ta_Doctor said:

awavey said:

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Had a draught Gouden Carolus Tripel at my local on Friday. Not bad. Another local had Rodenbach Alexander recently (barrel aged Flanders Red on Kriek cherries), also pretty good. Brought a couple of bottles of Affligem to an Xmas do yesterday, which went down nicely.

So no, I've not Brexited :-D

draught do you live in Belgium ? blimey I thought I was lucky to be in a pub the other night that had Delerium Noel on draught

Nope, Denmark. Some of the craft beer bars get some Belgian draught beers every now and then. Also had draught of a Gouden Carolus Noel, but that wasn't very nice (far too much aniseed) and a Kasteel chocolate quad, which was also pretty disappointing (not enough body to hold the overdone chocolate, no comparison to the imperial porters that can manage it).

ah, cool and yes Id agree the Carolus Noel is too aniseedy which isnt a nice taste in a beer

No_Ta_Doctor

Mmmmmm. the Rodenbach Alexander was back on in my local..... hic...hic...

blazing_saddles

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Mmmmmm. the Rodenbach Alexander was back on in my local..... hic...hic...

Mmmmmm 40YO single malt was back on in my glass.....hic.....hic.

Crappy Histmas.

No_Ta_Doctor

Hmmm... Onto the hard stuff is it? Not got anything 40yrs old, but I reckon I might find a decent dram somewhere in this lot...

bobmcstuff

Since I said I'd post my stout collection... it's been somewhat depleted.

L-R

Loch Ness Darkness (odd one out as only 4.4%... did have another 3.9 but drank it
Buxton Brewery Kentucky Woods - 13.8%
Magic Rock Strongman (rye barrel aged) - 11.5%
Pomona Island If I only had the guts (marsala barrel aged) - 11%
Bakunin Enzo (chili imperial stout - not very excited about it really) - 13%
Hawkshead x Cigar City Tiramisu Imperial Stout - 10%

Need some friends to help with the two 750mls....

There were a few others but I drank them.

No_Ta_Doctor

Mmmmm. Some heavy hitters there.
Had a draught Even More Jesus (2017) from Evil Twin yesterday. Not bad at all. Quite often get some of the Stay Puft series from Tiny Rebel and have a bottle of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (2017) waiting for me to splash out on it at my local.

orraloon

Somewhat of a Poperinge evening.

A Westvleteren 8, a St Bernardus Tripel, a St Bernardus Christmas. And if I can cope, a Westvleteren 12 to come.

A merry Christmas y'all.

bobmcstuff

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Mmmmm. Some heavy hitters there.
Had a draught Even More Jesus (2017) from Evil Twin yesterday. Not bad at all. Quite often get some of the Stay Puft series from Tiny Rebel and have a bottle of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout (2017) waiting for me to splash out on it at my local.

I like the Imperial Puft. Founders is always good - I like the Kentucky Breakfast Stout a lot and also the Backwoods Bastard. The Founders Centennial was one of the earlier craft beers I had where I was like "wow"...

Just bought another to take home, Left Handed Giant - Woodland Creatures. 6.9% pistachio honeycomb stout. After my Amundsen Barrel Aged Triple Scoop in the pub... was a bit sweet for me tbh. Love a pastry stout generally but in a neapolitan, the strawberry is a bit much.

awavey

I like the Stay Puft, but only in small doses its far too sweet otherwise and Tiny Rebels many variations of it never really deliver anything other than the same taste imo because you cant get beyond the sweetness to get to anything else, it just blankets it IMO which ruins it:)

I have saved a St Bernadus Christmas Ale for Christmas at some point, got an Abt 12 kicking around too and a Westvleteren 12 I should probably save for New Year, though its one of those maybe keep for another year type beers considering how much it cost even 2 years ago, and darent look up the prices they go for now.

orraloon

awavey said:

...and a Westvleteren 12 I should probably save for New Year, though its one of those maybe keep for another year type beers considering how much it cost even 2 years ago, and darent look up the prices they go for now.

About €4 in the cafe shop 😊

bobmcstuff

Some new ones from my wife - she knows me well... more thematically appropriate for this thread too!

Spontanbeet
Spontancherry
Spontanfruitnelson

The spontancherry is a kriek.

ridgerider

Merry Christmas Day...

Apart from this thread, is there a tasting database website that us amateurs could use to provide some guidance in this dark art?

Wheelspinner

No_Ta_Doctor said:

Hmmm... Onto the hard stuff is it? Not got anything 40yrs old, but I reckon I might find a decent dram somewhere in this lot...

Oooh nice choices there! What's the little square bottle front row? Can't read the label.

No_Ta_Doctor

The square bottle is a Nikka "From the Barrel". It's Japanese and ludicrously underpriced, definitely recommended.
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/nikka/nikka-whisky-from-the-barrel-whisky/

No_Ta_Doctor

ridgerider said:

Merry Christmas Day...

Apart from this thread, is there a tasting database website that us amateurs could use to provide some guidance in this dark art?

https://www.beeradvocate.com usually comes up in my search results if I type in the name of a beer.
You get some decent lists of varying styles, e.g. "fruit lambics": https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/styles/10/

bobmcstuff

I use Untappd. But beeradvocate is probably better for actual recommendations and getting an overview of styles.

With wine I use Vivino which is much better than Untappd for developing a taste profile and finding new things you might like etc etc.. Untappd isnt really so good for making active recommendations.

However, recording what you've had and rating it is a great way to keep track of what you like and figure out what styles you like. I've been on it since mid 2013 and it's great for looking back at what I've ranked highly or poorly and how my taste has changed.

Basically just drink as much variety as you can and try to keep track of what you did and didn't like so next time you see a beer in a certain style or by a certain brewery you can be pretty sure whether it'll be up your street or not.

bobmcstuff

For example I went though a big Belgian phase back in 2014-15 (coincidentally after six degrees north opened their Aberdeen bar...), but these days the only Belgian styles I really go back to a lot are the sour ones (lambics) and funky ones (saisons etc). Not to say I won't drink the odd Delirium of course.

The best thing about beer is the variety and the discovery. But then it's my main hobby along with cycling (possibly ahead of...) so I'm kinda biased.

No_Ta_Doctor

I've never had the commitment for Untappd, always felt like I had 30 years of drinking I needed to enter into it :-D

I can see the point of it though, especially for craft beers. There are soooo many of them, and loads of them you won't see again except for a random encounter, so it makes sense to keep track of the ones you like. Drinking ales in England was never like that, you had a few different breweries with their own pubs and you knew what you'd get in each of them. Some might have a single guest beer on as well, or an occasional season brew. Then there were a couple of open houses, which would still usually stock a few regular beers alongside a few pumps with a bit more variety. And if you went outside whichever region you lived in you'd find different breweries but the same setup, and all the regional differences would be clear. I had mates that claimed (not preposterously) that you could blindfold them, drop them in a pub in any part of a country, give them a beer and they'd know roughly where they were.

ridgerider

Cheers for that!

Will check the websites mentioned, but keeping notes of what I have tried would be tbe key task for me. Not sure I could carry all the names of the brews in my head.

bobmcstuff

ridgerider said:

Cheers for that!

Will check the websites mentioned, but keeping notes of what I have tried would be tbe key task for me. Not sure I could carry all the names of the brews in my head.

Yeah that's why I like Untappd.

bobmcstuff

No_Ta_Doctor said:

I've never had the commitment for Untappd, always felt like I had 30 years of drinking I needed to enter into it :-D

I can see the point of it though, especially for craft beers. There are soooo many of them, and loads of them you won't see again except for a random encounter, so it makes sense to keep track of the ones you like. Drinking ales in England was never like that, you had a few different breweries with their own pubs and you knew what you'd get in each of them. Some might have a single guest beer on as well, or an occasional season brew. Then there were a couple of open houses, which would still usually stock a few regular beers alongside a few pumps with a bit more variety. And if you went outside whichever region you lived in you'd find different breweries but the same setup, and all the regional differences would be clear. I had mates that claimed (not preposterously) that you could blindfold them, drop them in a pub in any part of a country, give them a beer and they'd know roughly where they were.

Yeah that's very much my dads world and the world I grew up with beer drinking. Then around 2011 or 12 (basically after uni when I got a proper job and could afford not-carling) I started drinking craft beers and never looked back really, although I still love a real ale. Unfortunately the proper chestnut coloured bitters and ESBs are getting harder to come by these days.

This year I've been to 2 CAMRA beer festivals and 5 craft beer festivals... including IMBC which I volunteered at and went to 2 sessions.

Wheelspinner

No_Ta_Doctor said:

The square bottle is a Nikka "From the Barrel". It's Japanese and ludicrously underpriced, definitely recommended.
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/nikka/nikka-whisky-from-the-barrel-whisky/

Thank you. Not many places here stock the Japanese ones at all, since there’s a proliferation of local distilleries vying for shelf space these days in the malts section. They keep a few of the better known Scottish ones and the rest of the stuff is blended crap.

I’ll have a look for it.

awavey

orraloon said:

awavey said:

...and a Westvleteren 12 I should probably save for New Year, though its one of those maybe keep for another year type beers considering how much it cost even 2 years ago, and darent look up the prices they go for now.

About €4 in the cafe shop 😊

I was quoted £20 for a bottle this year, 2019 vintage too, in the UK, which is naughty anyway as the monks say you arent supposed to buy the stuff to resell like that, I do remember walking into a bottle shop in Brugge and buying a bottle for perfectly standard price and thinking blimey, but its why I stick with the St Bernardus instead in the UK doesnt carry the premium pricing but tastes virtually the same

No_Ta_Doctor

Wheelspinner said:

No_Ta_Doctor said:

The square bottle is a Nikka "From the Barrel". It's Japanese and ludicrously underpriced, definitely recommended.
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/nikka/nikka-whisky-from-the-barrel-whisky/

Thank you. Not many places here stock the Japanese ones at all, since there’s a proliferation of local distilleries vying for shelf space these days in the malts section. They keep a few of the better known Scottish ones and the rest of the stuff is blended censored .

I’ll have a look for it.

It's often available at airports. It's a blended one, but not requiring a descriptive term that gets censored :-D

I've also got Welsh and Swedish whiskies!

navrig2

Just stumbled onto this thread.

I moved to the middle east in the summer and came home to find our high street as a new shop.

https://shop.beerzoo.co.uk/

Interesting range of beers, ciders and wines. Great selection compared to the booze shops in Bahrain however the prices are worryingly similar.