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February 18, 2008

Back in the USA, drinking Belgian beers

Returned home from my visit to Mexico just in time to catch the last day of the Belgian Beer Festival at Max's on Broadway. I got there at a little after noon on Sunday and the place was packed.

 A barkeep told me that beer drinkers had formed a line outside the front door at 10:30, waiting for the 11 a.m. opening. He also said they had gone through 30 kegs of Belgian beers on Saturday.

 I had three small, $3 glasses of big beers. I started with a Grant's Goliath, very smooth for 9 percent alcohol by volume. Next I had a gorgeous Gouden Carolus Ambrio, which since it packed 10.5 percent alcohol by volume, I sipped very slowly.

I finished with a Slaapmutske Triple Nightcap, at 8.1 percent alcohol by volume. This golden and slighlty sweet brew got its Nightcap name when the brewer soothed his crying child by dipping his finger in this beer and letting the child suck on the finger. The child immediately went to sleep.

Anybody else have tales from the festival?
What was your favorite? Any disappointments?

Posted by Rob Kasper at 2:08 PM | | Comments (6)
        

Comments

I was there on Saturday and missed out on some that were sold out, but was able to enjoy the Strubbe Keyte Double Triple. I also enjoyed the De Glazen Toren Onedinke, as well as the Ommagang Brews (even though I knew what I was going into with those).

I'm glad you could get there for at least one day.

I took some pictures Friday and Saturday.

I didn't have any beers I disliked. Here's what I remember of the draft selections:

Alvinne Gaspar -- a muddy-brown Strong Ale, I don't remember its reputed hoppiness, perhaps due to its appearance. It might have been better to try this blindfolded (and without having so many other beers).

De Proef La Grande Blanche -- a wonderful "imperial" White Ale.

De Regenboog Catherine The Great -- struck me as an Imperial Stout with Belgian yeastiness.

De Regenboog Plus -- an Imperial IPA.

Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence -- a delicious Chocolate Stout that doesn't over-do the chocolate, and my one American beer of the weekend.

Slaghmylder Witkap Pater Triple -- every good thing I expected from an Abbey Triple.

Van Honsebrouck Kasteel Rouge -- Brown Ale with cherries. Sweet cherry flavor, and very red. Recommended to me because I don't like the more common sour cherry flavors. My favorite of the weekend.

Here's what I remember of the bottles:

Chapeau Banana -- I expected to dislike this Banana Lambic, but I was surprised. I can't rave about it, but I didn't dislike it.

Pannepot Old Fisherman's Ale -- a Belgian Quad, available in both the original Belgian version and the one-time Danish version (Pannepøt). More flavorful and spicy in the original version.

d'Achouffe N'Ice Chouffe Limited Edition 2007,
Dubuisson Scaldis Noel,
St. Bernardus Christmas Ale
-- Three wonderfully spicy Belgian Strong Dark Ale for the Christmas season.

(I may have had the Dubuisson Scaldis Noel on tap; details are hard to remember.)

I got in there for a little while on Saturday afternoon. It was a bit overwhelming with all the choices. So many great choices. I just sat there staring at the list. Eventually, I told the bartender to just start bringing out small glasses. The worst one I tried was merely good. The rest were outstanding. Next year, I need to do a little more research ahead of time. Good times.

Were there Friday night, where the only disappointment was the hour plus long food orders--never got any frites or escargot. Saturday, there were 50+ people in a line to get in the door in the morning.

Ommegeddon
3fourquett wheat
Catherine the Great and Plus--The most surprising part about both was a touch of tabacco on the dry finish.
Chocolate Indulgence--Bitter coffee and choco goodness, had it in concert with a sampler of:
Kasteel Rouge--Very cheeriness which was different enough to cleanse the pallet for other brews.
and a bunch of funky lambic and gueze on Saturdya

Please refer to my blog, www.beerinbaltimore.blogspot.com for all the notes I took in your absence! (And by the way, you may have spelled Slaapmustke correctly, but according to the lists it's Geant's Goliath, which as I recall has a different name in Belgium.)
You're Sandy, it is Geant's, I must have misread the chalk board, and that was before I had anything to drink.
And welcome to the world of beer bloggging

I am not a huge Belgian beer fan, so I drank a lot of the Brewer's Art Proletary. Yum! I too was surprised by the Chapeau Banana. It was good, but very sweet. The Catherine the Great for me was not what I expected. It was labeled as an Imperial Stout, but didn't taste like one to me. It was pretty bitter.

I need my list to refresh my memory!

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About Rob Kasper
Rob Kasper, a features columnist, has been writing about beer for 20 years, and he remembers when Anchor Christmas and Noche Buena were about the only beers at a holiday tasting and Sisson’s was the only brewpub in Baltimore. A collection of his columns, "Raising Kids and Tomatoes, Amusing Tales and Appetizing Recipes," was published in 1998. He lives with his wife, Judith, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in a downtown Baltimore rowhouse. They have two grown sons, who come home from time to time and drink their father’s beer.
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