In an effort to find an non U.S. beer off the beaten path for Sip with us Saturday, I found La Divine by Brasserie De Silly from Belgium.  Admittedly, I wanted go a bit more off the beaten path for this one but my choices were a little more limited.  Not that I’m complaining, I really enjoyed the brew.  Plus, I've already had a good beer from them. The Pour: La Divine poured with a hazy copper colored head and offered a small, finely carbonated, and only minimally retained head.  The carbonation wasn’t as high as I would normally expect a Belgian Abbey brew to be.  However, there was a touch of decent lacing the liquid level reduced. The Nose: Sticky and sweet, that is the best way to describe the nose.  The aromas of a barley and wine were very present.  Actually, the beer reminded of half beer, half red table wine.  There was a certain youngness and freshness to the brew, like a young wine.  Of course the sweet candy sugar tones were present as well as a bit of fruitiness. The Taste: Like the nose, the taste was very refreshing and a bit sweet.  The wine-like qualities were ...

Thus spoke Zoetzuur, "Sweet & Sour." Whenever I see this bottle on the shelf, I think of Nietzsche's token Persian prophet from his epic work, Zarathustra, which comes across in English as Zoroaster.  It sounds uncannily like Zoetzuur.  While Zarathustra represents perhaps the rediscovered and empowered self of man, Zoetzuur, from the Flemish, means "sweet and sour," which actually reminds me quite a bit of the attitude of the Nihilist's great philosophical work. But how was the beer? I'll skip to the resolution of the review and state, It was fantastic! The reason I liked Zoetzuur so much, was due to it's incredible balance and mildness, while maintaining considerable complexity.  This would be a great beer to serve to a young beer geek as an introduction into sour beers. This beer, which utilizes brettanomyces as well as classic Belgian yeast strain(s?) has a simple grain bill:  Pilsner, Munich, and Caramel malts. What is interesting, is that the brewery--DeProef--deviates from tradition and uses Tomohawk hops, a Pacific Northwest hop, in addition to Saaz hops.  Additionally, black cherry juice was utilized to maintain equilibrium.  It always amazes me how Belgian breweries can achieve such complexity with such simple ingredients. The Pour: The beer pours an beautiful burnt umber.  ...

Pure lambics are hard to find no matter where you go or where you live.  Of course, it might be easier to find them in Belgium.  It seems that, for now, brewers and the public are content to drink blended lambics. Gueuze is about as close as we get to an unadulterated version of the style.  If you look, you can find straight lambics, which are quite an experience.  For now, we must taste the beauty of the gueuze. As was suggested to us, we decided to make Lindeman's our choice for Sip with us Saturday.  Many are familiar with their Pomme, Framboise, or Kriek versions, which tend toward sweetness.  Few people are prepared for their Rene simply because they've grown accustomed to Lindeman's sweet lambics.  Well, brace yourself. The Pour: I love taking the cork out of these beers.  You really can see the French influences on the Belgian bottles.  The pour on this beer is innocuous enough.  It has a straw pilsner color and a slight haze. The stable white soapy looking head (in part to the 30% un-malted wheat in the beer) sits atop the brew like an easy breezy afternoon.  Body-wise, the carbonation is almost violent, pointing toward ...

In all honesty, to some extent, I am affected by the presentation of a bottle of a beer as I walk through the beer aisle.  I don't base my judgment of the flavor and quality of the contents on such superficialities, but a nicely dressed bottle is eye catching.  That being said, there is something about the outfit that Delirium Noel (and all the other Delirium brews that screams from the shelf, "Try me."  Since the other two Delirium beers--Nocturnum and Tremens--from Brouwerij Huyghe fared well in under my scrutinizing sensory nerves, Noel stood a fair chance. The Pour: After pouring Delirium Noel into my tulip glass, I was astonished to see two Christmas bulbs, some green garland, and a donkey from the nativity scene in my glass!  Just kidding; but, the beer did pour a deep mahogany color with striking ruby red highlights that reminded me of the metallic red foil that had ensconced the rubber (surprised that real 'cork' material was not used) stopper.  The beer was crystal clear...not a hint of sediment or suspended protein.  A luscious white head left sticky lacing. The Nose: The aroma was moderately complex.  Typical for the style, notes of banana, clove, and nutmeg were present.  ...

Orval is really a classic Trappist ale.  A few may argue that it even the classic beer within the style...I would beg to differ, perhaps citing Rochefort or Chimay; regardless, it is a pinion of what is "Trappist." A beer is better appreciated if the brewery and brewers can first be appreciated, in my opinion.  I am not suggesting that the beer itself will taste better in some psychosomatic suggestive sense, just the beer will take on a character of its own.  For that reason, I suggest heading to the Monks' website and read the exhaustive article that details their brewing process.  It is really insightful as to how the flavors of Orval are achieved (and gives me a boat load of homebrewing ideas). The Pour: Orval pours just like a Trappist should:  Fizzy, thin, and with a thick marshmallow-like head.  The beer is mostly clear but there is a faint filmy quality.  It is orangish brown in color. The Aroma: The aroma surprised me a bit.  Right off the bat there was a piney aroma that hinted of juniper berries, gin, and brisk hops.  There was a distinct aroma of musky grains, lemon, the classic clove, subdued banana, and oddly enough...mint. The Taste: While I thought ...

With Thanksgiving officially behind us, it seems natural to segue into some Christmas and seasonal beers.  What better way to do that then to first indulge in a true trappist beer?  While all Monks have devoted their lives to the adoration and propagation of Christ, the focal point of Christ-mas, some monks have also devoted brewing beer, which has historically been given away to weary travelers and/or sold to support the monestary and various charities. Yes, we are aware that there may be followers of this site who disdain religious things, maybe even Christmas itself...to these folks we ask that you just enjoy the beer, Oval, just as when we sipped on Nosferatu at Halloween we did not suggest that our followers participate in a vampire cult. Anyway, Orval is a world class, highly regarded beer.  Take some time and visit the brewer-monks' website. Upon entering the website one reads, Let all guests that come be received like Christ, for he will say, " I was a stranger and you took me in." I suppose that statement simply sums up the good-will-toward-men spirit of Christmas. Throughout the pious site, one will find that beer was and still is regarded my the monks as ...

A Quick Background for This Post: 2008 was a scary year for the Mrs. and I.  For four months, I was unemployed.  With my wife being a stay at home mom, four kids, and a mortgage, unemployment is hardly an option.  To make matters worse, I had been working as the director of a small non-profit organization where my meager paycheck was often late in coming or missed entirely resulting in a very thin savings.  The disaster was compounded by the fact that non-profits can opt out of unemployment insurance, as did my employer, so I was plumb out of any income. One of the first things to go in the budget was beer.  For a beer geek, this is a tough sacrifice, but family comes first!  When I did land a job, it took a long time to catch up on bills, pay of credit cards, and ease moderate beer consumption back in to the budget.  Even in 2009 I still found/find myself trying to be as economical as possible. So going to Dark Lord Day in April with Mike was not just a rite of passage, but a treat.  While my wife, Sandra, and I stayed with Mike and Andrea, I ...

As I've mentioned previously, I occasionally like to write something about the local beer scene.  So, if you are in Southern California (close to Claremont, specifically), then this is a post of particular interest for you. About twenty minutes or so from my apartment in Pasadena, there is a place called The Back Abbey.  A friend of mine, let's call him Dan, introduced me to this place.  As a lover of Belgian Ales, I was already intrigued by this place since I knew that Belgians are their specialty. I've written before about how important a beer selection is to me vs. simply having a large quantity on tap. Although these guys don't have the number of beers to match corporate models, what they do have is what one might call a deep cut.  So, when Dan told me that they didn't have tons of beer on tap, I wasn't too deterred...and that's a good thing. When we arrived, I immediately took note that the Back Abbey had a display above the bar of bottles from every Trappist Ale, even the rare Westvleteren selections.  That is the one Trappist coveted by beer drinkers that can't be obtained very easily since they do not ...

Beer is beer...right?  Grain, water, and yeast? Not always. While those who favor craft beer often deride the big brewers for skimping on grain and using fillers such as rice and corn to achieve alcohol and thinner bodies, fillers can be used to ad wonderful characteristic to beer.  Belgian candy sugar, for example, can be used to up the ABV of a beer while keeping the body thin (sugar from malt thicken the body of the beer) and adding some delicious caramel flavors.  The result is a very smooth beer that goes down easily. As a home brewer who has a affinity these styles of beer, I frequently find myself loading up on Belgian candy sugar at my local brew shop.  Two things irk me as I throw the one pound packages in my cart.  First, is the price.  One half pound costs $4.99.  Second, I realize that someone else made the candy sugar.  one of the many enjoyable aspect of home brewing is the sense of ownership you feel as you sip on one of your creations.  Each step of the process that I can take away from a manufacturer, the better I feel about my brew. Recently I designed an imperial recipe ...

I'm a fan of Ommegang, which is from Cooperstown, New York.  They always make solid, respectable, and sometimes surprising beers.  I've had Rare Vos on a few occasions and thought that I ought to put up a review of this product.  Do yourself a favor and try their stuff.  Here is my review of Rare Vos. The Pour: Rare Vos poured with a maple-orange body and steady, full head.  The head was slightly off white and creamy in appearance.  It shivered in the glass with an active and bright appearance. The Nose: Once again, as is pretty common with Belgians, there was a powdery yeast aroma on the nose. More esters (fruit aromas) came through on this beer than some of the other Belgians that I've reviewed recently, although it did share in the metallic qualities of beers past.  Rare Vos also had a mineral earthy tone to the nose along with herbal spice and vinous (wine-like) notes.  A promise of some malty sweetness was also held out on the nose.  Very nice aromas. The Taste: The nose held a lot of promise, and I have to say that I experienced a touch of disappointment when the taste didn't live up to my ...