Beer of the Week - Rodenbach Vintage 2014

This week's Beer of the Week comes from Rodenbach Brewery located in that most favorite of ale countries of the world, Belgium.

According to BeerTourism.com, Rodenbach Brewery has been around since 1836 and was founded by Pedro Rodenbach and his wife, Regina Wauters, who just happened to be the daughter of a a rich brewer. In 1864, their son, Edward, took over the brewery and expanded it. The Rodenbachs again kept the brewery in the family when Edward's son, Eugene, took it over in 1878.

Eugene brought in the huge oak foeders, giant wooden barrels, to age the beer in. Some of those original foeders are still used to day while most others have been replaced. When Eugene died in 1889, the brewery was run by his daughters and granddaughters for a hundred years until it was finally sold to Palm Belgium Craft Brewers.

The Rodenbach Vintage 2014 sour ale undergoes two fermentation stages and is aged in the oak foeders for two years. Before being bottled, one quarter of the mature sour ale is blended with three quarters of younger ale to smooth out the sourness.

So, how is the sour ale?

The first thing that is noticeable is that the beer is not capped but corked. It's a nice looking 750 ml bottle with a faded picture of brewery, glass in hand, standing in front of a foeder.

The sourness is noticeable right away in the aroma and is quite pronounced. It pours with a reddish hue to it and an off white head.

On my first sip, my mouth explodes with a wonderful sour kick and I notice a slight tingle on my lips. During my next sips, I notice that that sourness has leveled off and is replaced somewhat with an oakiness.

This ale is full of flavour. Because of this, it will be very hard to drink in one sitting. I'll have to save half for tomorrow. I would buy this again but only if I had someone to split it with. Teena does not like sours and will definitely scrunch her nose up at this one.

Me? I'm pouring another.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 344 
Breweries 315 
Countries 49

Beer of the Week - Vedett Extra White

This week's Beer of the Week comes from a Belgium brewery which I have written about before, Duvel.

When I first spotted Vedett Extra White, I had to take an extra careful look to ensure that it wasn't, in fact, a white wine. The guy at the cash did the same thing. In my defense, I will say that I didn't have my glasses with me or might have noticed the word "beer" in small font on the label, although that label was turned backward on the shelf,. Maybe it wasn't as both labels could easily be the front label.

The labeling and website indicated that this beer is aimed at a younger crowd. Question is, will it be good?

On the back (side/front?) label shows how the beer should be poured. I have never seen where a brewery wants you to swirl the contents of a bottle two thirds of the way through a pour.

Interesting!

So, after pouring the Vedett the way the bottle instructs, how does it taste?

Vedett pours a very light, almost white straw colour with a white head. The swirling near the end picks up the sediment in the bottle, as it is bottle conditioned and pours out of the bottle quite foamy so the beer ends up cloudy with a very frothy head.

There is an excellent aroma to this. I sense banana and some form of citrus in this, maybe orange. It has a very watery mouth feel to start with a light taste but flavours of banana and citrus are emphasized in the finish.

There are better white/wheat beers out there but this proved to be an enjoyable refreshing one. If it were on tap on a hot day, I would order it but likely would not be buying more to bring home.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 248 
Breweries 221 
Countries 46

Beer of the Week - St-Feullien Saison

The saison style of beer is one of my very favorites and, so far, I have not found a saison that I haven't loved.

A saison is a summer beer originally brewed during the fall and winter by Belgium farmers to help quench their farmhands thirst during the summer harvest. Hops were used as it is a natural preservative and spices added to help keep the flavor supported during it's long storage period. Saisons originally were low, around 4% APV, so the workers would not get drunk during their breaks.

This week I found a new saison on the shelves of my local LCBO, a Belgium Farmhouse Ale Saison from St-Feullien.

Brasserie St-Feullien was started by the Friart family back in 1873. The brewery is still family run by the fourth generation of Friarts. St. Feuillien was an Irish monk who went over to Belgium to spread the word of God way back in the 7th century. He was killed, beheaded and became a martyr. A church was built on the site of his beheading. When the Friart family opened the brewery, they did so in conjunction with a foundation dedicated to the memory and works of the monk, now known as St.Feuillien. The Friart family to this day still ensure that proceeds from each sale go to that foundation.

And the beer?

The saison is amber in colour with a slight orange hue. It  poured very lively with a large white head that took it's time in dissipating. As the beer is unfiltered to allow it to go through a secondary fermentation, which allows it to age much better in the bottle, it is not a clear beer, but cloudy.

Spice and orange are really prominent in the aroma and those flavours really come through which each sip. Hints of orange stay in the long finish. This is one fabulous saison!

It's just too bad that it comes in at 6.5% APV as it tastes very sessionable. I bought two bottles and know right now the second will not make it through the day.

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 234 
Breweries 210 
Countries 44

Beer of the Week - Houblon Chouffe

Recently Teena and I looked after our neighbors' cat, Maybeline, while they were on vacation.  When they returned, they gave me a couple a couple of bottles of beer as a thankyou. One was an Ontario craft beer and the other was a Belgium beer, Houblon Chouffe from Brasserie d'Achouffe.

Whenever I hear of a Belgium brewery, I automatically assume it is centuries old. Not Brasserie d'Achouffe. This one was founded in 1982 and seems to have a great affection towards gnomes. There is a picture of a gnome on all their products and gnomes run around the breweries website. In fact, in an article from Atlanta Cuisine, brewery founders, Christian Bauweraerts and Pierre Gobron, give full credit to the quality of their beers to a recipe given to them by a goblin,  A. Chouffe, who was the lone survivor of a colony known as the Dwarves of Achouffe.

The brewery is located in Achouffe, Belgium, and Chouffe means Gnome in one of the dialects of the area.

According to the Brasserie d'Achouffe website ... Houbloun Chouffe was first brewed in 2006 and  is an ‘Indian Pale ale’ type of beer, with a harmonious balance between a marked bitterness (three types of hops are used to make it) and a pleasant fruitiness. The HOUBLON CHOUFFE is unfiltered, and re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg.

And the taste?

The beer pours yellowish in colour with a good white head and, yes, lacings are left behind as I sip. A glass lined with lacings shows that there is nothing added along with the malt such as corn or rice. There is a nice aroma which comes off this. It's a little yeasty perhaps with a little malt. I do not detect any hops in the aroma of this Belgium IPA.

Although the hops do not come through in the aroma, they are there in the taste. The beer starts with a little bitterness that fades for a moment and comes on stronger in the finish. I like the way it does that. Belgium brewers use a different yeast for their IPAs so the taste is quite distinctive from and English or West Coast American IPA. This beer is very well done and a little dangerous. It goes down too smooth and delicious for a 9%  APV IPA.

But am I complaining? No just sipping and enjoying

Thanks, Steve and Simone! Greatly appreciated!

Beer of the Week Stats 

Beers Profiled 210 
Breweries 192 
Countries 40

Beer of the Week - Guoden Carolus Hopsinjoor

Teena and I were at the Monk's Kettle today which advertises itself as a craft beer emporium. Hey, they do keep up those standards!

On the menu was a beer called Gouden Carolus Hopsinjoor from Belgium. I had to give it a try.

Although this beer has only been around since 2008, the brewery Brouwerij Het Anker (The Anchor Brewery) is much much older. In 1471, Charles the Bold (I love that name!) granted the beguine sisters of Mechelen permission to brew beer but only for their private use. It seems that this went on for 400 years until Louis Van Breedam bought the brewery and modernized it in 1872.

It sounds like the brewery brewed nothing but lagers until after the second world war and in 1945 decided to start brewing ales. In the 1960s, the ale line was renamed "Golden Carolus" and became so successful the brewery decided to drop the lager line.

So, what about the beer?

It pours a cloudy straw colour due to yeast added into the bottle before capping to allow the beer to continue to ferment (called bottle conditioning). The head is very white and reminds me of a meringue you might find on a pie. The head is tall and takes a long while to dissipate. The beer is very lively in the glass and there is a sourness to the aroma.

Sediment lies in the bottom of the glass. The weird thing is some of the sediment is reddish in colour. I have no idea where this might have come from.

The beer starts sour in my mouth and the sourness intensifies throughout the finish. This is a beer I could only have one of, not because of the 8% APV but due to the sourness. One would be refreshing but more would be too much.

I was used to the sourness by the time I finished but am unsure if I would ever try another one of these. I definitely would try another beer from this brewery but think I would pass on this one, only because I am not a fan of sour beers. Someone who enjoys a sour beer I think would love this.

***

Notice the red specs floating near the bottom of the glass

On pouring near the end of the bottle one also found it's self in the head.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 155
Countries 31
Breweries 133
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Saison Dupont

I was reading an article (which I have since lost) about the Beer Bistro. At the end of the article, it talked about food pairing and the name Saison Dupont came up. I am a huge fan of Black Oak Brewery's Summer Saison and have wanted to try other saison.

Here was my chance so Teena and I headed to the Beer Bistro to give it a try. Teena's review of the Beer Bistro is here.

So, what is a saison?

The style originated in Wallonia, which is a French speaking area of Belgium close to the border of France. The region was all farmland and centuries ago, the farmhouses would brew beer in the winter for the workers, also known as "saisonniers" who tended their fields in the summer. Originally it was not a great quality beer and each farmhouse had their own ways of making it using barley, wheat, rye, spelt and spices.

Brasserie Dupont still brews saison from a classic farmhoouse brewery. Beers, especially the one I am trying today, have been brewed from this site since 1844. Alfred Dupont purchased the brewery in 1920 to help persuade his son, Louis, to stay home rather than moving over here to Canada to start his own farm. It was then purchased again in 1950 by the Rossier family who have run the brewery ever since.

It is said that Saison Dupont, also known as Saison Vielle Provision, is the "quintessential version of the saison style" It has gained high praise from famous English beer writer Micheal Jackson (1942 – 2007) and other critics which help to raise it's fame across the world.

Wow! This should be good.

We arrived at the Beer Bistro and there was no need to look at the extensive beer menu, except to ensure that it was there. Greg, our server and really knows his beers well, is also a fan of this style and beer and this particular one.

The beer arrived and Greg poured it with a full fluffy white head. The beer is yellowish, maybe the colour of straw and cloudy due to extra yeast being added during the bottling process for allow the beer to further condition in the bottle. Spice, and I cannot name which one or ones, come through in the aroma.

The beer starts surprisingly a little sweet. I notice on the bottle that there is sugar along with malt in this but that sweetness quickly evolves in a slightly spiced taste with citrus notes. The saison finishes with a long slight sourness. Despite the spice notes, the beer is light, fresh tasting and very refreshing.

Having this confirms my love for the saison style of beer. My disappointment is that this is not available at Ontario liquor or beer stores. I know where I can get it though. Hot Friday nights may find me on the Beer Bistro patio reading and having a Saison Dupont.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 154
Countries 31
Breweries 132
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Jupiler Blonde

In May of this year, I injured my knee. I ended up with a small tear in my meniscus. The healing process meant that I couldn't walk to and from work. This also meant I didn't stop along the way home on a Friday night to "read" at a pub or patio.

There are no decent places in our 'hood at the end of my ride home. To have a pint or two before my ride meant having to transit in overfull streetcars, so I said to hell with it and gave up my Friday night "read".

Monday Lauren, my physiotherapist, cleared me for walking again so tonight I stopped at patio of the Bier Markt on King W for my "read". This brings me to this week's "Beer of the Week", Jupiler Blonde from Piedboeuf Brewery, the Bier Markt's feature for the summer.

It was a perfect night to hit the patio. I was near the end of my book (review to come tomorrow), it was not too hot, there was a slight breeze and a great spot in the shade.

My beer came and I was impressed. The beer was a nice golden colour, with a beautiful white head. As I wrote my notes, the head barely disappeared leaving behind lots of lacings along the inside of the glass. Being a beautiful evening meant that there was a slight breeze which meant I could not get anything from the aroma.

The beer has a bit of a watery mouth feel but quickly the hop character comes through. It is not a bitter beer but the hops are there. I was worried ordering a blonde as usually I find them a little sweet, which I do not enjoy, but this was not sweet and had some hoppiness which I liked.

This is a nice patio beer. A good one for summer. This is a beer I could have a couple of to start, before moving along to a more serious lager or ale. Not to put it down. This is an OK beer.

This posting is backwards to how I usually do my "Beer of the Week" post. I usually research and write about the brewery before trying the beer. Now I am home having tried the beer and then doing my research.

Piedboeuf Brewery was founded in 1853 in Jupille Belgium, which at the time was know for the purity of its water. In 1920, the brewery was sold to the Van Damme family. By 1987, it was the largest brewery in Belgium.

So what do you do when you are the largest brewery in the country? Form a partnership with the second biggest brewery in the country Artois and rename your brand Interbrew. Then you go out and take over the brewery world.

Today Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest brewery in the world.

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 127
Countries 24
Breweries 111
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week - Lindemans Cuvée René

When I heard the LCBO had brought in Lindemans Cuvée René from Belgium, I was excited. I had only had it once at the Bier Markt when I spent an afternoon a year and a half ago sampling lambic beers.

It was not available in Ontario at the LCBO until recently and so I am very happy to be trying this today. I asked Teena to join me and to give me her impression.

Yeast was not discovered until sometime in the mid 1800s. Up until then nobody really knew what gave beer its alcoholic bump. Once discovered, brewers have been developing thousands of different strains of yeast to use in their brews.

Before the discovery, beermakers would leave there brew, or wort, uncovered, out in the open, not realizing that airborne yeasts were falling into their recipe, which reacted with the sugars already there and made their beer into beer.

There are now only 7 breweries in the world which make beer the old way. Six are in Belgium, including Lindemans. Today the wort is left in open air vessels called cool ships to pick up the airborne yeasts. Lindemans' cool ship is pictured to the right.

Cuvée René is what is called Gueuze.

"The height of the blender's art is the production of gueuze, a blending of lambics from casks that are at least one and three years old. This blending creates an additional fermentation in the corked bottle, as the yeasts alive in the aged lambic eat the sugars present in the young lambic. The result is a slightly higher alcohol beer (an average of 6 % alcohol by volume versus 5 % for other lambics) and, most important, carbonation."

Time for us to give it a try.

The bottle is capped and when we both opened our bottles were surprised to find it was also corked. Not surprising as there is a fair bit of pressure in the bottle. The beer pours light amber in colour with lots of aroma and a very active head.

From here I wish to go to Teena's experience first.

She was quite surprised at how active the head was when she poured hers. She took the first sip as if it was a regular beer. She found it a surprising strong sour taste. From there, she decided it was better to sip it as you would a wine. She found the Cuvée René had a different feel about it and enjoyed the bubbly champagne experience. When it came to the taste, it reminded her of a dill pickle, a briny kind of taste. Blindfolded she would not know what it was and would have guessed a wine product and definitely not a style of beer. Even though it is only rated at 5.5% APV, she could feel the alcohol content. Enjoyable to have one but would not want any more.

Like Teena, the sourness caught me by surprise and, yes, it is much better to sip like a wine. I found it quite refreshing, especially on a warm day like today. I could have a second but would want to switch away after. A big surprise was between sips was when I licked my lips, the sourness was there to experience once again. If I was given a blind taste test, I would guess a very dry champagne.

In describing the experience of having a lambic beer, the last word goes to the Beer Hunter Micheal Jackson ...

"The Lambic family are not everybody's glass of beer, but no one with a keen interest in alcoholic drink would find them anything less than fascinating. In their 'wildness' and unpredictability, these are exciting brews. At their best, they are the meeting point between beer and wine; at their worst, they offer a taste of history."

No better way of putting it!

Beer of the Week Stats

Beers Profiled 122
Countries 23
Breweries 106
Provinces 8

Beer of the Week- The Beers of Maredsous Abbey

OK, I must admit that when it came to choosing this week's beer, the glass chalice is what put it over the top. The Maredsous Gift Box comes with three abbey ales from Maredsous Abbey, a blonde, a brune and a tripel... oh yes, and a beautiful glass chalice.

To do this properly, I tasted the beers in succession, starting with the light Blonde and working to the tripel, with a proper rinse of my new glass in between. This is the first time, though, that the beer of the week has taken two days to complete.

Maredsous Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Belgium which was opened in 1872. The monks of Maredsous are Benedictines who follow the thousand year old rule of life composed by St. Benedict who opened the first Benedictine monastery around 529.

Abbeys provide food and drink for themselves. It seems brewing beer is always a part of any monastery and for good reason. In times of fasting, beer is the monks liquid bread.

Maredsous makes an abbey ale. Abbey ale is a term associated with beer brewed by non-monastic types, frequently under such a license. In 1963, Moortgat brewery, which also produces Duvel, began brewing the beer under license from the monks of Maredsous using the original recipes. As it is brewed off site, it is considered an abbey ale. Profits are used to help the monastery and to fund charitable projects.

Trappist and Abbey ales are types of beers are meant to be drank from a goblet or chalice in order to "enjoy the generous nose". Hey, I have the proper glass. Time for some tasting.

Maredsous Blonde: This was the Abbey's very first beer. Their website says that the monks still drink this beer for lunch each day and logs in at 6% APV.

The beer pours amber in colour and the head and lacings did not disappoint. I am a little stuffed and could not detect any aroma. I handed the glass to Teena and she, with her excellent sense of smell, could not detect any, although she too is a little stuffed.

In the taste, though, the flavour really comes through. The list of ingredients on the bottle may state water, barley, malt, hops, sugar and yeast are involved. I am a little surprised at the sugar as it's the malt which usually provides the alcohol.

I was also surprised about the spiciness in the beer. There are no outside spices added so this must come from the strain of yeast used. Excellent.

A wonderfully crafted ale.

Brune: Originally this was only made for Christmas but is now brewed year round. Good to know that I am drinking this during the proper season. It pours brown in colour with a nice head and decent lacings. Again not much in the way of aroma but more malt in taste than the blonde.

There is a slight spiciness which must come from the yeast working with the malt, as there is no spice added. There is also a slight taste of alcohol in the taste. This is a nice beer but not a great beer.

Tripel: This one used to be produced by the monks for special occasions. Today I had to miss my fencing tournament due to bad whether so in a way is a special occasion as usually on tournament day I am not home. Now it too is now brewed year round.

This one pours coppery in colour. It has a nice head with lots of lacings on the glass. I can smell the alcohol in this one, not surprising as it weighs in at 10% APV. I can also smell spice and again there is no spice added to this one.

The tripel is a little heavier in taste but quite similar to the Brune. Once again I get the sensation of spice and surprisingly ... very slight caramel?! Again, a nice beer but not a great beer.

This gift set is a decent set to try. I had a wonderful blonde and two other nice beers and am left with a very nice chalice which I will use for winter warmers. If you have a chance to pick up a gift set for yourself or someone else, this would be a good one to get.

Beer of the Week - Duvel

One thing that I like about the Christmas season is that all the gift packs come out for many of the foreign breweries.

This week I picked up a gift pack from Duvel, which featured two Duvels and a Duvel "Tulip" Glass.

The Duvel Tulip Glass has been described as "quite possibly the best beer glass known to man". Etched in the bottom of the glass is a small "D" which causes bubbles to form and rise to the top of the glass creating a better head. Duvel claims the tulip shape helps to release the flavour of it's beer.

We'll see.

The Moortgat brewery-farm was opened in 1871 by Jan-Léonard Moortgat and his wife. In 1900, Jan's sons joined the brewery with Albert becoming the brewer. During the first world war, Albert had a chance to try English ales, which he really enjoyed and came home wanting to create his own version.

After bargaining for some yeast from Scotland, it took five years of trial and error to create the beer of his vision. Legend has it that when he finally found success, he declared "This is a real Duvel (Devil)." Thus the name too was founded.

The Duvel website claims that this is an all natural beer which still uses the same original recipe.

They even describe how to properly pour beer into their tulip glass. "take your time and pour the beer slowly into the glass that is held at a slight angle. Avoid contact between the bottle and the glass and gradually lift the bottle a bit higher to form a full, creamy head. You should also leave approximately 1 cm of beer in the bottle. This contains the yeast which can make the beer somewhat cloudy and bitter.
You should also leave approximately 1 cm of beer in the bottle. This contains the yeast which can make the beer somewhat cloudy and bitter."

OK, time to do it.

I was pretty successful with the pour but may have over poured as there was definitely not one cm left in the bottle. The glass holds much more than just 1 bottle of beer. The beer does pour with a nice white head and is golden in colour, which is what you might expect from a golden ale. Interesting as you can see the bubbles constantly rising from the small D in the bottom of the glass. It stops working.

The beer is very aromatic. I could smell the flavour and the hops. It is a very nice tasting ale. It starts with a slight sourness and ends with a nice hop finish. Not a strong hop presence but you know the hops are there. It is a very drinkable beer but when drinking, one must remember that this is an 8.5% APV ale. Better not to have too many. I only have two so can't have too many but know both bottles will be empty by day's end.

More beer excellence coming from Belgium!

Look from the middle of the bottom of the glass and you can see a bubble trail rising to the right side of the "U".

Beer of the Week - Urthel Hop-it

Last night Teena and I were on a walkabout and came across the pub, Sin and Redemption. I had heard quite a bit about this place on the Bar Towel website so we checked it out.

The bar area was nice, the amount of beer on tap and the quality of brews offered was excellent. The staff was excellent and quite friendly as well. The furniture was jammed together in all three rooms which made it all seem very crowded. Teena and I took a spot at the bar, my favorite place to be in a pub.

The place had many international beers, many from Germany, and one that really stood out to me, Urthel Hop-it. Urthel Hop-It is brewed with only malt (pils) and three European Nobel hops. It's a truly unique beer for hop lovers. Pale golden in color with billowing white foam, the nose is hoppy and spicy.

When I got home, I Googled Urthel and was surprised. Belgium beers always seem to come from century old breweries so to me. Finding that Urthel has only been around since 2000 was quite unusual. The brewery was started by brew engineer Hildegard van Ostaden (pictured right) who does the brewing and her artist husband, Bas, who does all the artwork on the labels and tap handles.
The brewery started in Ruiselede, Belgium but since 2006 have been produced, according to the authentic flemish brewing style, at Koningshoeven in Tilburg, Holland.

Of the three beers they produce, the lightest beer is their Urthel Saisonnière at 6%. The Hop-it comes in at 9.5% but is not their strongest, which is the Samaranth 12 Quadrium Ale weighing in at 12%.

And the beer?

Considered Belgium's first Belgian Style IPA, Urthel Hop-it as said earlier is brewed with a Pilsner malt and three types of European Nobel hops. The Hop-it pours amber in colour, with a beautiful white head which does not dissipate. Floral hop notes are in the aroma. This is a very delicious looking beer.

The taste lives up to its look. It is fabulously hoppy but the hops are not overbearing. It is a very nicely balanced beer, one which I enjoyed every sip of.

My mission now has become where else to find this great beer in Toronto. I checked the LCBO website but they do not carry it in bottles. Now to find out which places carry this on tap. Hopefully someplace local.

I would hate to think that this is my first and last time having a Hop-it!.

Beer of the Week - Mort Subite Framboise Lambic

So what is Lambic beer?

According to the Beerbistro in Toronto it is ... "A spontaneously-fermented style of wheat beer called lambic forms the base for this popular line of sweetened, perfumey fruit beers. The unique raspberry flavour of Mort Subite has converted scores of people here at the restaurant who swore they'd never touch a beer, and continues to please and surprise on a daily basis."

I had only had it once before back in December and really enjoyed it.

Lambic beer is produced the same way as beer has been made for thousands of years, where all the ingredients are combined, placed in a vat for a day or two to pick up all the airborne yeasts and then left to work their magic. It wasn't until the mid 1800s when it was discovered that the magic came from something called yeast.

There are only 6 or 7 breweries left who still use this process.

Morte Subite is one of them. Mort Subite is the brand name for a number of lambic beers brewed by the Belgian brewery Keersmaeker (pictured bottom left) which take their name from a café in Brussels, A La Mort Subite (pictured to the right)

The last time I tried Lambic beers, I found the flavour "explosive". Would I find it the same this time. Teena was to try some. What would she think?

The beer pours with an quick forming head. The reason for the two different heads in the picture, is the one with the head I poured trying for a head which had to be tamed and the other I went too far the other way to control the head.

The beer has a reddish tinge to it, no doubt due to the raspberry (love to state the obvious). When sipped, there are lots of fabulous lacings which remain along the inside of the glass. In fact the lacings were there a half hour after we had finished. Quality is in this beer.

Raspberry is definitely in the aroma and very predominate in the taste. The beer starts with raspberry and ends with raspberry. It is a very refreshing beer, not not with the explosive flavour I remembered from previous lambics. I enjoyed this beer but found it quite sweet. It would make an excellent desert beer or a replacement for a rose sparkling wine.

And Teena's thoughts ... "I liked it. It would have been nice to have a couple all to myself. The raspberry taste is there but I didn't find it too sweet. I liked it better than Amsterdam's raspberry beer."

Obviously there will be more coming into our fridge. As much as this is a beer which I find too sweet for me, it sure is a very very quality beer.

Beer of the Week - Berthold Keller Premium Lager

I'm not to sure what to say about this beer. Finding information on the brewer was tough, info on the beer even tougher.

When I first Googled the beer, I found a link for Bethold Keller which only was a one page ad saying "When you name is Berthold "beer" Keller, it seems inevitable that you become a master brewer." Then I went to a free translation site an entered Bethold Keller, which I found translates to "beer cellar".

Oh, come on now.

Already I'm not too impressed. Does Berthold Keller really exist or does he hang out with "The worlds most interesting man"?

This beer is brewed by Brouwerij Martens, in Bocholt, Belgium. It was the Belgium part which drew me to this beer. Belgium a beer person's Nirvana. The company is in its 8th generation of private ownership since it started brewing in 1758. It is the 3rd largest brewer in the country.

Much of this I found on engineering websites, as the brewery have come up with a new style of low cost production. Perhaps that is why I could get a 500ml beer for only $2.

Now to the beer.

It pours a golden colour, forms a good foamy head with a hop note to the aroma. The head did dissipate fairly quickly. With the slight hoppiness in the aroma, I was expecting a slight bitterness when I sipped. Instead I was surprised by the slight sweetness. There is not much to the finish. No lacings could be found on the glass.

Just like you can't judge a book by it's cover, I have found you can't judge a beer by the country it is made in. Even beer Nirvana has it's so so beers and this is one of them., a mainstream lager with not much to it but would appeal to those who enjoy mainstream style beers. The price is sure right though!

From Beer to There - Glassware & Belgium Beer

Tonight was my final class in the "From Beer to There" course put on by Harbourfront Centre and taught by Mirella Amato from Beerology.

This week was a session on glassware and Belgium-style beers, and was held at on of my favorite places in Toronto, C'est What.

The session on glassware was quite interesting and why certain shaped glasses help to compliment a style of beer. For instance, the size of the glass and the size of the rim both come into play. A tall narrow glass with a small rim opening would be used for lagers and pilsners to help concentrate the head to capture the lighter flavour, plus show off the golden colour of the beer.

A large glass with a wide opening would be used for an English ale, as the head is not that important here. Plus when you drink, you want a bigger volume to cover the mouth so it can enjoy all the complex flavours.

I have to go beer glass shopping and know which 3 glasses I want to buy ... well, maybe 4.

Then it was on to sampling. We started with a Belgium Wit from Mill Street Brewery. I could smell and taste the coriander and orange peel in the beer and taste some of the yeast character. It is a great beer, one which find itself in my fridge this summer.

Next up was another wheat beer, this time from Unibroue, an Ephemere, which too was fabulous. I am fast becoming a big fan of wheat beers, thanks to Mirella.

Next was a authentic Trappist beer, a Dubble from Chimay. Only 7 breweries have the Trappist Designation. It was 7% alcohol, cloudy, dark brown in colour and I could taste toffee in it as I sipped. Someone suggested they sensed bread in the taste but I did not get it. I do know I enjoyed this beer.

For the final beer of the night, and sadly of the course, was a Belgium-style trippel again from Unibroue called La Fin du Monde. It was loaded with flavour, I found it a little peppery, sour, carbonated and at 9%, could taste the alcohol. A fabulous beer to have on a cold night.

I had a fabulous time in this class. My classmates were great, the course was well organized and Mirella was a fabulous, fun, enthusiastic, and interesting teacher. If you see a course she is presenting, I would recommend that you take it.

For me now, my beer geek factor has gone up. Time to put into practice what I have learned.

Beer of the Week - Dec 18- Lambic Beer

I have read about Lambic beer in the past and was excited to find that the Bier Markt carried this style of beer. So this week instead of writing about one beer, I decided the Beer of the Week should be about one style of beer, the Lambic.

So what is Lambic beer and why am I excited?

The book I am reading, Beer (Eyewitness Companions), says that "Ancient brewers must have stumbled across fermentation by happy accident." Grain which had become wet during storage would have released starch and sugars. The unseen and, at the time unknown natural yeast that floats through the air, would have transformed this substance into a very primitive beer. That is a happy accident!

We now call this "spontaneous fermentation".

For many centuries, this was the way beer was produced. Beer makers prepared a primitive "wort" and would let it sit and magically turn into beer. In fact, it was not 'til the mid 1800s that it was discovered that yeast was the necessary agent that transformed wet grain into beer. Now brewers had more control over the brewing process, could make larger volumes of beer quicker, and the old process was nearly forgotten.

There are brewers in Belgium that still produce beer in this same ancient way by using "spontaneous fermentation". The wort is prepared and left to sit in shallow cooling trays called "cool ships", rooms where the windows are left open to invite the airborne yeasts to enter and settle into their brew. The the brew is casked into barrels and left to ferment for up to three years. The beer produced by this method is called Lambic beer.

And the Michael Jackson's Beer Companion, states,"to sample Lambic is to encounter one of the world's most complex drinks: it is also to experience a taste of life half a millennium ago."

Most of the Lambic brewers age their casks for three years. They then mix some of the three year old or "old Lambic' with the "young Lambic' which has fermented for just a year to create what is called Gueuze.

And the Bier Markt has some!

First choice was the Mort Subite Gueuze. At $11.30 for a 375 ml bottle of 4.5% beer, it was costly but hopefully worth it. The original brewery was founded in 1686 but according to a book that I just purchased, The Beer Book, bought out in 1970 by De Keeremaeker Brewery. This recipe lives on.


So ... how does it taste?

It had a very strong malt flavour, not surprising as hops are only used to preserve the beer and not to add flavour. This beer was unfiltered but fairly clear, something I did not expect. There was a slight head but it did disappear fairly quickly.

I was surprised at the initial sweetness of this beer. Although, as far as I know, no apples were added, it quickly developed a strong apple cider taste. It was a very enjoyable beer, one I intend to have again and share with Teena.

After a nice glass of water, I then tried a St Louis Gueuze Lambic. Again I was surprised when the label said that it had "artificial" added ingredients in it, which were sugar and Acesulfume Potassium which is an artificial sweetener. I found this beer started off sour but the taste diminished quickly.

My final selection was "Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze". The bar manager, Alex, had not yet tried this so I told him to grab a sampler glass for himself. He said he would pay back with sample but I have had so many from there and we were enjoying a nice chat about Lambics.

This may sound more like a bubble gum commercial but when I took a small initial sip, my mouth exploded in flavour. It had a very strong citrusy sourness to it which nicely faded but stayed with you. Alex too was surprised by the powerfulness of the flavour.

Even after drinking most of the glass, each taste gave the same wonderful explosion of flavour. After I was done and left, there was an enjoyable lingering taste in my mouth.

So my verdict on Lambic beers?

Very enjoyable but for the price, one to enjoy only on occasion. I loved the Mort Subite Gueuze and the Lindemans Cuvee Rene Gueuze. They are very refreshing and I would love to sip on one on the patio on a warm summer day, which I am sure I will next summer. I would pass of the inferior St Louis Gueuze Lambic.

It was a fun way to start my vacation, though!