Belgian Beer Review 1: Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont

I thought I'd ring in 2010, my year of Belgian Exploration, with a bona fide Belgian Holiday beer, one that even the name suggests holiday greetings (translated as "With the best wishes of the brewery Dupont"). Thanks to Jay over at Hedonist Beer Jive for drawing my attention to this brew.

Brewery: Brasserie Dupont
Brewery Location: Belgium
Beer: Avec les bons Voeux de la brasserie Dupont
BJCP Style: 16C. Saison
Serving: Bottle

Appearance: Golden straw colored, with tiny carbonation bubbles

Smell: Sweet, like a golden ale. Some funk hidden deep in the back end; low hops, some wit-beer like spices

Taste: Definitely of Belgian origin, with the distinct phenolics of Belgian yeast. Although technically a Saison, this amped up version (9.5%) is really more reminiscent of golden ale than Saison. Very few hops, and not a huge malt flavor, something more delicate, sweeter, with subtle spiciness and light fall fruits, like apples and pears.

Mouthfeel: Bursting with effervescent carbonation, sweet upfront but quick into dry on the swallow.

Drinkability: This was a great beer to start the new year with. Complex, strong, but surprisingly easy to drink. I expected more funk, but the funk was subdued under some strong sweet flavors. I shared the 750ml bottle with my father-in-law, but had the lion's share and could have easily had more, had the beer's ABV not been so potent. Nothing that knocked my socks off, but a solid, easy drinking Belgian with a lot of kick.

Technorati Tags: Saison, brasserie Dupont, Avec les bons Vœux, Belgian beers, Belgian, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew

2010: Year of the Belgians

I originally started this blog for two primary purposes: to learn more about blogging, and as an avenue for my personal explorations into craft beer. Early on, I reigned in my focus, with my sites set on learning more about the local brewing community. In that time, I've tried some fantastic mid-western beers, traveled to 6 or 7 of the premier breweries in the 4 states region, and blogged about (most) of it along the way. At this point, I have a pretty good sense of what the region has to offer, and have found quite a few solid resources (see links to the left) regarding brewery maps, tasting calendars, and local beer guilds.

Now, in the same spirit of exploration, I'm turning my focus to another beer subgroup, Belgian beers. The holy grail of beer exploration, and the original extreme beers, Belgians range from Trappist dubbels and tripels to lambics and gueze to some of the newer styles who are challenging what it means to be Belgian. This beer subgroup is a complete world all its own.

In a trip to my local beer store, Belmont Party Supply, I discovered that they carry about 75 different Belgian beers (the top shelf of one long aisle and half of the second shelf). They probably have about that many Belgian-inspired beers as well. My goal for this year is a simple one--to work through those two shelves, researching and sampling as many of those Belgians as I can, logging about it here. In addition, focusing my homebrewing efforts, which have picked up in the last 6 months, on brewing these interesting beers, so that I can explore from a foundational level.

I'll still continue my exploration of mid-western beers as well, but over the coming months, look for new content, with a focus on Belgian beers, as I work to understand this complicated, challenging brewing class.

Technorati Tags:Belgians, Belgian beers, Belmont Party Supply, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew

Great Lakes Brewing News Beer Maps

While I was exploring the Brewing News calendar site, I also stumbled upon the regional beer maps. There's a map of all the brewpubs/breweries, broken down by state. I've seen and used the Michigan version put out by the Michigan Brewers Guild, but didn't realize that there were similar maps for other states. Adding this link to the resources section of the page, also.

Technorati Tags:beer maps, Brewing News, Great Lakes Brewing News, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew

Brewing News Regional Calendars

I'm dismayed that I didn't discover the calendar feature of Brewing News earlier. I read the Great Lakes email updates regularly, so I generally have a good sense of the key beer events in the area, but didn't realize that Brewing News also aggregated the events into an online calendar. I've added the link to the resources section of this page. The link takes you to the Great Lakes region, but be sure to check out the other regional calendars, which are accessible at the same location.

Technorati Tags:Brewing News, Great Lakes Brewing News, events calendar, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew

Review: Bell's Porter in a cask at Boston's Bistro

On a fairly regular basis, Dave Boston of Boston's Bistro taps a firkin of some delicious cask-conditioned ale. This week, it was Bell's Porter. I've reviewed this beer before, and confessed it to be one of my favorites--one of the two or three beers I'd be happy to be stuck on a desert island with (you know, assuming an unlimited supply, refrigeration, etc). So I was pretty excited to get to try the cask version.

The first sip was not what I was expecting. In fact, the first pint was a huge let-down because of a lingering musty after-taste. I mentioned it to the bartender, who told the owner, and they swapped out the beer engine. Turns out the beer was fine; the beer engine needed a good bath.

After the wash-down, I ordered another pint, and this was the beer I had come for. I love the complexity of this beer, with some rich, roasty chocolate and coffee flavors. On CO2, there's always a bite at the end that I like, but in the cask, that edge is completely gone. In fact, I can't believe how smooth this beer is in a cask--it's like drinking a tall frothy glass of chocolate milk! I could have had this all night, and would have if I wasn't driving and hadn't promised to be home in time to tuck the kids into bed. Below are some notes I pounded out on my phone while tasting it, although they hardly do the beer justice.

A: black as William Blake's soul

S: roasted malt, light coffee, cocoa

T: chocolate and black patent malt, in a brilliant balance; less assertiveness than draft; there is a chocolate up-note that is usually a little harsher, like a dark, bitter chocolate; this is more smooth chocolate milk, with the kind of warm embrace of a heavy quilt on a cold winter's morning--wrap me up in a blanket of this and let me hibernate.

M: smooth, low carbonation, silky

D: this is an all night session beer; did I mention sssssmmmmmoooooooottttthhhhh?

Technorati Tags: Bell's Porter, cask conditioned, Real Ale, Boston's Bistro, beer engine, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew

Tactical Nuclear Penguin

Tactical Nuclear Penguin from BrewDog on Vimeo.

The BrewDog boys from Scotland launch a nuclear strike on beer drinkers, making what is essentially a barrel-aged ice beer and claiming the record for the world's strongest beer. Given Ohio's brew laws, I'm likely to never try this, which is a damn shame, given how enjoyable the video promo for the beer is. I also find it curious that the brewers are being bombarded with questions as to why they would brew something so strong. Why? Because they can. Can't imagine an American Brewer, with our taste for extreme beer, being asked the same thing.

GABF Winners from MI, IL, IN, and OH

Congrats to the medal winners at the Great American Beer Festival. Of the four states that are the focus of this blog, Michigan led the pack with 9 medal, Illinois came in second with 7 medals, Indiana in third with 3, and Ohio with a paltry single medal. Ohio, you gotta step up your game!

REGIONAL MEDAL WINNERS BY CATEGORY

Category 7 Specialty Beer, 21 Entries
Bronze: Drunken Angel, Rock Bottom Brewery - Chicago, Chicago, IL

Category 10 Session Beer, 27 Entries
Bronze: Bam Biere, Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales, Dexter, MI

Category 12 Experimental Beer, 32 Entries
Silver: Bloody Beer, Shorts Brewing Co., Bellaire, MI

Category 15 American-Belgo-Style Ale, 51 Entries
Silver : The Crow and The Sparrow, Rock Bottom Brewery - Chicago, IL

Category 16 American-Style Sour Ale, 32 Entries
Bronze: Diamond Kings ‘09, Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN

Category 17 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Beer, 33 Entries
Silver: Red Woody, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

Category 18 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, 110 Entries
Gold: Cereal Killer Barleywine, Arcadia Brewing Co., Battle Creek, MI

Category 22 Smoked Beer, 43 Entries
Silver: Up In Smoke, Fat Head’s Brewery & Saloon, North Olmsted, OH

Category 25 Bohemian Style Pilsener, 39 Entries
Bronze: Bell’s Lager Beer, Bell’s Brewery, Inc., Galesburg, MI

Category 37 Bock, 40 Entries
Bronze: Fornicator, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL

Category 44 English-Style India Pale Ale, 40 Entries
Silver: IPA, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

Category 57 American Style Brown Ale, 43 Entries
Gold: Dirty Helen Brown Ale, Barley Island Brewing Co., Noblesville, IN

Category 59 German-Style Sour Ale, 13 Entries
Bronze: Bad Kitty, Brugge Brasserie, Indianapolis, IN

Category 60 South German Style Hefeweizen, 66 Entries
Gold: Top Heavy Hefeweizen, Piece Brewery, Chicago, IL

Category 63 French- and Belgian Style Saison, 56 Entries
Bronze: Saison Du Bastone, Bastone Brewery, Royal Oak, MI

Category 64 Belgian and French-Style Ale, 41 Entries
Silver: Demolition, Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, IL

Category 65 Belgian-Style Lambic or Sour Ale, 29 Entries
Silver: Red Rock, Big Rock Chop House & Brewery, Birmingham, MI

Category 69 Robust Porter, 57 Entries
Bronze: Pirate’s Porter, Sullivan’s Black Forest Brew Haus & Grill,
Frankenmuth, MI

Category 73 Sweet Stout, 27 Entries
Silver: Cream Stout, Redwood Brewing Co., Flint, MI

Category 77 Old Ale or Strong Ale, 29 Entries
Bronze: 4th Dementia Old Ale, Kuhnhenn Brewing Co., Warren, MI

Technorati Tags: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Great American Beer Festival, GABF, GABF winners, GABF medals, beer, craft beer, brewing, homebrew