OT: Belgian Beer

Le Commentateur

inkyfingers wrote:

Le Commentateur wrote:

5 hours RvV coverage on Eurosport! Have I enough bottles?

You need to work out a strategy as well, too many too early and you'll be asleep by the time they get onto the final circuit!

The skill is in not being tempted to have all the best members of the "team" in one race. Need to save a couple of good ones for Paris–Roubaix next week. There are some obvious leaders that can be supported by water-carrying Stellas or somesuch.

Macaloon

calvjones wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

I'm a big Chimay bleu fan.

Looks like Sagan is too:

Somewhat to my chagrin I now have to unconditionally like both Sagan and FF. How can you not like someone who likes Chimay?

Speaking of tactics I'm going to get some hard Leffe miles in the legs in the next few days so I'm not undercooked for Sunday PM.

I am still undecided on whether the Orval or Duvel gets the not for the Koppenburg

Thread rescued from "lashings of ginger beer" territory by that pic and stiletto deployment of chagrin. Chapeaux.

calvjones

Thanks - can one Chapeau be the kind with the over-ear holders for cans* of beer & straws attached?


*although in this case bottles of Orval and Duvel over left & right ears respectively.

No_Ta_Doctor

calvjones wrote:

Thanks - can one Chapeau be the kind with the over-ear holders for cans* of beer & straws attached?


*although in this case bottles of Orval and Duvel over left & right ears respectively.

If you drink either of those through a straw you're instantly excommunicated. Understood?

craigenty

Has anyone ever been to a bar in Ghent called De Dulle Griet?
Apparently you can get a litre of beer in a special glass but the glasses always tended to get pinched. So, the barman puts one of your shoes into a basket and winches it up to the ceiling and gives it back to you when you return the glass.
Typically Belgian!

gaddster

Had this when in Bruges a few years ago, lovely stuff..


http://www.st-feuillien.com/FbieresENG.html

Le Commentateur

I've had that one closer to home, probably at The Dovetail in Clerkenwell. Ditto Orval & Kwak.

BelgianBeerGeek

Right, stop that right now.

RVV is in Flanders. Wallonian beers - sorry chaps, save them for PR or some other half-hearted bike race.

Checked the beer cellar, and the stocks of de Ranke are running low. But...Liefmans Goudenband and some Rodenbach Grand Cru will save the day.

Thanks all. No Ta Doc can advise on other stuff

knedlicky

frenchfighter wrote:

I'm a big Chimay bleu fan.
Looks like Sagan is too:

Only perhaps because it's the closest he can find to Slovakian beer this side of Bratislava.
Small glass for a Slovakian though; in Slovakia, beer is often in 0.7 litre glasses, so about 1.5 pints size.

No_Ta_Doctor

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Right, stop that right now.

RVV is in Flanders. Wallonian beers - sorry chaps, save them for PR or some other half-hearted bike race.

Checked the beer cellar, and the stocks of de Ranke are running low. But...Liefmans Goudenband and some Rodenbach Grand Cru will save the day.

Thanks all. No Ta Doc can advise on other stuff

I reckon it's got to be the Duchess. Or maybe a Giradin Black Label.....

:-)

Macaloon

No tA Doctor wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Right, stop that right now.

RVV is in Flanders. Wallonian beers - sorry chaps, save them for PR or some other half-hearted bike race.

Checked the beer cellar, and the stocks of de Ranke are running low. But...Liefmans Goudenband and some Rodenbach Grand Cru will save the day.

Thanks all. No Ta Doc can advise on other stuff

I reckon it's got to be the Duchess. Or maybe a Giradin Black Label.....

:-)

Peerless geekery in this thread. Congrats to all 8) I know nothing about this beer lark but I'm now armed with a shopping list, and the whereabouts of Gerry's in Soho - The place for distilled beverages. Anyone know of a more specialist purveyor in Central London?

No_Ta_Doctor

Macaloon wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Right, stop that right now.

RVV is in Flanders. Wallonian beers - sorry chaps, save them for PR or some other half-hearted bike race.

Checked the beer cellar, and the stocks of de Ranke are running low. But...Liefmans Goudenband and some Rodenbach Grand Cru will save the day.

Thanks all. No Ta Doc can advise on other stuff

I reckon it's got to be the Duchess. Or maybe a Giradin Black Label.....

:-)

Peerless geekery in this thread. Congrats to all 8) I know nothing about this beer lark but I'm now armed with a shopping list, and the whereabouts of Gerry's in Soho - The place for distilled beverages. Anyone know of a more specialist purveyor in Central London?

Just a quick warning: none of the beers from BBG or me are anything like Leffe, Duvel, Chimay etc. Some are very much an acquired taste, you'll find nothing like them anywhere else in the world. And never, ever, drink any sediment from a gueuze! Make sure it's settled and pour carefully :-)

Macaloon

No tA Doctor wrote:

Just a quick warning: none of the beers from BBG or me are anything like Leffe, Duvel, Chimay etc. Some are very much an acquired taste, you'll find nothing like them anywhere else in the world. And never, ever, drink any sediment from a gueuze! Make sure it's settled and pour carefully :-)

"More toxic than cyanide"

Le Commentateur

Macaloon wrote:

Anyone know of a more specialist purveyor in Central London?

Otherwise there is the Beers Of Europe website. Amazing selection, the only place outside of Corsica where I have obtained Pietra, for instance.

http://www.beersofeurope.com/

frenchfighter

Last time I was in Brussels I had some twice fried chips which I had to queue up for 30mins for. Definitely not worth it.


(not my photo...cant find that one)

frenchfighter

slimreaper

I'm a very happy bunny.
In my post nights delerium, having been awake since 1pm yesterday, I stumbled accross a small beer shop not 2 miles from where I live. I have been looking for somewhere to buy some belgian beer as I haven't tried much other than supermarket Leffe, Duvel an Leffe Bruin. This is why I have started brewing my own.
Anyway, went to look in the shop and BOOM.
Came home with;

Tripel Karmeliet x2
Kwak
Orval
La Chouffe
Houblon Chouffe
Maredsous Brune
De Koninck
Westmalle Dubbel x2

Bring on De Ronde!

frenchfighter

Nice haul!

inkyfingers

slimreaper wrote:

I'm a very happy bunny.
In my post nights delerium, having been awake since 1pm yesterday, I stumbled accross a small beer shop not 2 miles from where I live. I have been looking for somewhere to buy some belgian beer as I haven't tried much other than supermarket Leffe, Duvel an Leffe Bruin. This is why I have started brewing my own.
Anyway, went to look in the shop and BOOM.
Came home with;

Tripel Karmeliet x2
Kwak
Orval
La Chouffe
Houblon Chouffe
Maredsous Brune
De Koninck
Westmalle Dubbel x2

Bring on De Ronde!

You are going to be mullered!

FJS

slimreaper wrote:

I'm a very happy bunny.
In my post nights delerium, having been awake since 1pm yesterday, I stumbled accross a small beer shop not 2 miles from where I live. I have been looking for somewhere to buy some belgian beer as I haven't tried much other than supermarket Leffe, Duvel an Leffe Bruin. This is why I have started brewing my own.
Anyway, went to look in the shop and BOOM.
Came home with;

Tripel Karmeliet x2
Kwak
Orval
La Chouffe
Houblon Chouffe
Maredsous Brune
De Koninck
Westmalle Dubbel x2

Bring on De Ronde!

Cool. Puritans would keep the Orval, Chouffes and Maredsous for the Fleche Wallonne and LBL, they're Walloon. Chouffe is from LBL territory Ardennes even. The others are Flemish.

slimreaper

Probably won't drink them all at once.
Might start on homebrew. Abbey style. Came out at 7.8% abv.

slimreaper

FJS wrote:

slimreaper wrote:

I'm a very happy bunny.
In my post nights delerium, having been awake since 1pm yesterday, I stumbled accross a small beer shop not 2 miles from where I live. I have been looking for somewhere to buy some belgian beer as I haven't tried much other than supermarket Leffe, Duvel an Leffe Bruin. This is why I have started brewing my own.
Anyway, went to look in the shop and BOOM.
Came home with;

Tripel Karmeliet x2
Kwak
Orval
La Chouffe
Houblon Chouffe
Maredsous Brune
De Koninck
Westmalle Dubbel x2

Bring on De Ronde!

Cool. Puritans would keep the Orval, Chouffes and Maredsous for the Fleche Wallonne and LBL, they're Walloon. Chouffe is from LBL territory Ardennes even. The others are Flemish.

Thanks. Will try to spread them out over the classics keeping them geographically correct.

BelgianBeerGeek

Sorry to be a pedant but Maredsous are Flemish, so imbibe away!
Had some on Thursday, lovely beers and often overlooked. The whole range are very good.
Tripel Karmeliet is one of my guilty pleasures, and I'm never without a few.

Just had some nice Gouden Caroulus (bruin) - nice beefy, sweet, rich satisfying ale. recommended.

mooro

sorted, kids out ice skating for most of the day. saved my last two bottles of brugge zot from my trip in november to see newcastle play.

the problem is when to crack them open as anything earlier than 2pm is a bit tricky later on in the day!

FJS

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Sorry to be a pedant but Maredsous are Flemish, so imbibe away.

Is it? Maredsous is in Wallonia, South of Namur and Charleroi, and I always assumed the beer would be too. Chimay's from around there too. Doesnt sound Flemish either.

ocdupalais

This thread is great - I get called a massive ponce because I insist on a few bog-standard Duvels to watch RVV with... There's always so much still to do in the world of Poncedom when you encounter folk even further down that route than yourself...
But as NotaDoc warned - trying some of the more "off-beat" Belgian beers for the first time during the race (as viewer or participant), without a solid stand-by to rectify matters, could be an unwanted distraction on so many levels...

slimreaper

Out of interest, how do you pronounce Duvel? One of the Drs. at work lived in Groningen for a few years. He speaks reasonable Dutch and as Dutch is closer to Flemish than English, I am inclined to accept his pronunciation which is "Doofle".

EKIMIKE

Tagged along with the old man's baccie run and landed myself a nice haul.

Spoilt for choice but fancying the Tripels for tomorrow: Westmalle Tripel, St. Bernardus Tripel or Tripel Karmeliet?
(Can't get too pissed 'cos I have essay writing duties )

BelgianBeerGeek

OCDuPalais - no way, Duvel is amazingly good beer at at time or place.

Maredsous is now a brand of Duvel/Moortgat. so although once upon a time it may have been Wallonian, I'm happy it's Flemish. Welcome to the interesting world of Belgian beer!
Caveat: anything can change in the world of Belgian brewing.

BelgianBeerGeek

slimreaper wrote:

Out of interest, how do you pronounce Duvel? One of the Drs. at work lived in Groningen for a few years. He speaks reasonable Dutch and as Dutch is closer to Flemish than English, I am inclined to accept his pronunciation which is "Doofle".

Sounds about right. The Belgians/Dutch have always been too polite to contradict me, anyway.