What beer ya drinkin'?

[Anonymous]

What do the Belgians here think of De Koninck Tripel + Brugge Tripel? I only seem to get Belgian beer anymore.

Can't speak for the Belgians, but this American is fond of both. Straffe Hendrik (De Halve Maan, Brugge) is a particularly good tripel.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Can't speak for the Belgians, but this American is fond of both. Straffe Hendrik (De Halve Maan, Brugge) is a particularly good tripel.

I didn't get a chance to respond before cause the post got buried in the ever contentious Politics thread.
I have tasted the Dogfish Head 90 it is very good. Myself I prefer the less malty west coast styles like Port Brewing High Tide, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid, and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Unfortunately at least half of those are seasonal, but at least they are availible during cross season.

 

[craig1985]

This post is brought to you by Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, and Coles home-brand Cola.

 

[L'arriviste]

Can't speak for the Belgians, but this American is fond of both. Straffe Hendrik (De Halve Maan, Brugge) is a particularly good tripel.

Brugge Tripel is a beer you can easily find at a supermarket here - it's one of Palm's brands, I believe - but I haven't tried either that or the De Koninck, which is also fairly common.

I have quite a few Hendriks in my crates - lovely stuff indeed - but today I've left them there in favour of a couple of Sint Bernardus 12s for today's World Cross Champs.

Reason is because it snowed again here in Brussels last night and we took a drive round Brabant this morning, where it was -5C. So it's still winter and winter is donker weather!

 

[krebs303]

Microbreweries turning from glass to metal

Baxter Brewing in Maine has joined a growing number of small craft-beer breweries distributing their brews in cans -- just like mainstream mass-produced beers -- rather than in bottles. A decade ago, it's believed there weren't any U.S. craft breweries canning their suds. Nowadays, nearly 100 sell at least one beer variety in metal.

 

[Barrus]

This post is brought to you by Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, and Coles home-brand Cola.

Crap stuff that really messes with you stomach, that is Jim Beam
Jack Daniels, not that good and way overpriced

Really, for the same price as those two crap ones you could get a nice cheap scottish blend and although it is not perfect it is miles beyond anything those two crap "whiskeys" can offer

 

[usedtobefast]

 

[craig1985]

Crap stuff that really messes with you stomach, that is Jim Beam
Jack Daniels, not that good and way overpriced

Really, for the same price as those two crap ones you could get a nice cheap scottish blend and although it is not perfect it is miles beyond anything those two crap "whiskeys" can offer

TBF I never paid for it.

What am I drinking right now? Hoegaarden.

 

[L'arriviste]

TBF I never paid for it.

What am I drinking right now? Hoegaarden.

Never been much keen on it myself - it lacks the strong coriander flavours I like to find in a wit - but the Café Nieuwhuys microbrewery in Hoegaarden is a marvellous place to be.

 

[patricknd]

pomme lambic

quite tasty

 

[craig1985]

Myself, my two other housemates, and some friends have ended up having a Sunday session on the beer and bourbon. This will not end well.

 

[fifty3eleven]

Tank house

from Mill steet in Toronto Canada, yum

 

[The GCW]

With 5 microbreweries in my county...

BRECKENRIDGE BREWERY

Microbrewy in Breckenridge, Colorado

A couple months ago the double chocolate cream stout was good, now it's gone.

Now the Pandora’s Bock has been good and it wasn't there last week and could be gone http://www.breckenridgebrewery.com/beer/pandorasbock.html

Last week they had Brown Ale.

Missed the Christmas Ale

Otherwise Avalanche Ale is the regular



Buy the pitcher, not the bottle.

-0-

As a rule I don't buy beer from breweries that support cannabis prohibition or purchase beer from distributors that support it either.

Fat Tire.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Discovered this recently.
Really really good!

 

[Ryaguas]

Ahhhhh Judas

 

[pedaling squares]

What beer ya drinkin' on April 3?

... but the Café Nieuwhuys microbrewery in Hoegaarden is a marvellous place to be.

Can you and others with knowledge of Belgium recommend some breweries to visit in and around Brugge?

 

[L'arriviste]

Can you and others with knowledge of Belgium recommend some breweries to visit in and around Brugge?

This is a decent resource to start with:

http://www.belgium-mapped-out.com/breweries.html

It's not completely up to date, but it might be useful to you.

Also make use of Rate Beer's top 50 as a quality index.

Most breweries do not openly encourage visitors and even when they do, it's usually a question of bringing a large party along in order to make it worth their while.

Some of the more tourist-friendly breweries set out a fixed timetable, like...

De Halve Maan, Brugge (not on the map above)
Both ScottSoCal and I are fans of their Straffe Hendrik, which I buy on most trips to my beer shop, though I personally found their other brew - Brugse Zot - a bit watery when I tried it once on tap, so I've avoided this latter ever since.

Elsewhere...

The beer corridor in West Flanders is also worth a shot if you have some time. Scott will tell you about the Sint Bernardus brewery at Watou - there's a terrific little inn there but I'm not sure if they would welcome impromptu visitors.

Apart from that, you have the West- and Oostvleteren axis. In Westvleteren, there's the world famous Sint Sixtus brewery - which is trappist, so no visits - but you can check out an "exhibition room" and taste what is widely considered the best beer ever produced in the unatmospheric bar (In De Vrede) opposite. Meantimes, a couple of kms away in Oostvleteren, the De Struise guys have recently set up in an old schoolhouse. They will be happy to see you on certain days (Wed-Sat only).

 

[craig1985]

I saw Oranjeboom for sale at the local bottle shop. Win or epic fail?

 

[L'arriviste]

I saw Oranjeboom for sale at the local bottle shop. Win or epic fail?

More mass-produced crap from InBev. Used to drink it when I was a student because I thought it was cooler than, say, Lowenbrau. Definitely a case of branding over substance.

 

[Ferminal]

I saw Oranjeboom for sale at the local bottle shop. Win or epic fail?

It's average... but not bad for its price.

 

[mewmewmew13]

...just finished a Negra Modelo after some Mexican food and now reading the forum....

 

[palmerq]

i was drinking a bottle of bacchus beer, i think that's it name, it's from belgium and is a fruit beer I guess you call it. This one was cherry, although I have seen raspberry too. It is pretty good but expensive, £2.50 a bottle and it doesnt taste so much like beer but I like it.

this thing btw

 

[Rip:30]

Anyone have comments on either of these from Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre (northern France)? How do they stack up to other Flandarian beers?

 

[baby2011]

Love to drink 3 Coins and vomit. Lol

 

[L'arriviste]

Anyone have comments on either of these from Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre (northern France)? How do they stack up to other Flandarian beers?

I'm not overly familiar with Chti beers, but as a general rule I hear they tend to be rather syrupy.

The only one I can think of that I know is Pelforth, which I tried when a former colleague brought back some from yonder. It was once a popular bière des ouvriers (a "workers' beer" - they also used to sponsor a cycling team in the sixties), but I understand it's now a Heineken brand even though it's still brewed in the Lille métropole. It came off a bit thin and sweet.

This brasserie that you mention is bang in the middle of the old war country, a coal and wheat region that suffered a lot economically too, first with mechanisation and then the closure of the pits. As they say on their site:

Small village brewers have either closed down or been absorbed. Of 2000 breweries at the beginning of the 20th century, only 30 remain open now, and two thirds of those are in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In order to survive, these small breweries specialise in traditional beers in contrast to the big boys who mass-produce for common consumption.

Hope you get on well with these ales.