Beer tasting celebration

My mother-in-law, Penny, asked me to host a beer tasting to celebrate her husband's achievement of full teacher certification. It was a heck of a time, and I succeeded in my task of getting through the whole tasting and then beginning to slur immediately afterward. Here's what we had, with notes and apologies to the websites that I lifted some verbiage from:

1.     Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene

Gueuze – 5% abv – Brussels, Belgium

A traditional Belgian blend of young and old Lambics (spontaneously fermented), which are then bottled after blending, then aged for 2-3 years to produce a dryer, fruitier and more intense style of Lambic. There is no hop character. It is a golden turbid wine-like beer that balances a malty fruit and a complex yeasty acidity.

2.     Kira Wit

Witbier – 4.7% abv, Melle Belgium

A Belgian Style ale that's very pale and cloudy in appearance due to it being unfiltered and the high level of wheat used in the mash. Kira is brewed using barley malt and raw wheat and spiced with coriander and Curacao bitter orange peel. Sometimes served with a lemon, but if you truly want to enjoy the untainted subtleties of this style you'll ask for yours without one. Often referred to as "white beers" (witbieren) due to the cloudiness / yeast in suspension.

3. Bavarian Barbarian Square feet Wheat

Dunkelweizen – 5.5% abv, Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Similar to a Hefeweizen, these southern Germany wheat beers are brewed as darker versions (Dunkel means "dark") with deliciously complex malts and a low balancing bitterness. Fermented with a weizen yeast strain from the Andechs Brewery in Germany, Square Feet Wheat Dunkelweizen bears a taste of clove along with some fruity esters that include apples and pears.

4. Sierra Nevada Glissade

Bock – 6.4% abv, Chico, California

The Maibock style (or helles bock) of beer tends to be lighter in color than other Bock beers and often has a significant hop character with a noticeable alcohol around the same as a traditional Bock (German strong lager). Maibocks are customarily served in the spring and are oftentimes interrelated with spring festivals and celebrations more often in the month of May.

5. New Holland Imperial Hatter

DIPA – 9.40% abv, Holland, Michican

Take an India Pale Ale and feed it steroids, ergo the term Double IPA. Robust, malty, alcoholic and with a hop profile that might rip your tongue out, look for spots of citrus, pine resin, grass, and maybe even a little bit of onion, all of which come from the different varieties of hops added during the boil and fermentation. This Hatter came from a firkin – a non-force carbonated quarter-keg. 

6. Left Hand Fade to Black

Export Stout – 8.5% abv, Colorado
A special style of stout that is brewed bigger than normal for a long journey, the more traditional Foreign / Export Stouts will be found in the tropical regions of the world. Higher in alcohol with a very pronounced roasted character. Fade to Black shows some very aggressive coffee, chocolate, roasty, and even nutty notes. But not as nutty as Phil Mest.

7. De Struise Pannepot Reserva 2008

Quadrupel – 10.0%, Oostvleteren, Belgium

Inspired by the Trappist brewers of Belgium, a Quadrupel is a Belgian style ale of great strength with bolder flavor compared to its Dubbel and Tripel sister styles. De Struise Brouwers take on the style is every bit as complex and deep as the true Trappists. Look for overtones of dark ripe fruits and some vanilla from aging in oak barrels. 

Winter Blues

Short days, crappy weather, minimal exercise...all that adds up to the winter blues. On top of that, I've been seriously busy lately between house hunting (settlement is February 25) and organizing 1400 volunteers for MLK Days of Service. So I'm a little beat...lucky for me, I have a wife who knows exactly how to treat this ailment.

This was waiting for me when I got home one night last week. A few of my favorite winter seasonals, pretty much concentrated hop juice. And suddenly, it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Other awesome things going on right now:

Anne Hathaway cast as Catwoman in next Batman movie

Drink Philly's Adam Schmitt on Preston and Steve

Cheers!

Happy Birthday

Today is a day for celebration in the BeerGeek household, and one of our most important holidays of the year.  My wife, Desiree, turns another year more lovely today.

We're marking the occasion by opening up two bottles from the Belgian beergrimmage we took back in August - which I lazily never wrote about, so I'll rectify that now.

My favorite beer of the trip came with dinner on our first night in Brugges, at the Erasmus Hotel where we stayed. Desiree ordered a Drie Fountainen Oude Gueuze, and I ordered a 2006 Destruise Pannepot from the vintage list. Pannepot is the excellent upstart brewery Destruise's take on the Trappist quadrupel style, and though brewed secularly, has as much of a holy aura as the originals. The cellared version was complex, slightly boozy yet smooth, and alive with notes of dried fruits, licorice, and heavy malts.

We later visited Destruise Brouwers in Oostvleteren, during a bike ride that took us to the St. Sixtus Abbey at Westvleteren, Trappist home of one of the most sought after quads on the planet. Though we knew that Destruise was not open for business on Tuesdays, we knocked on the door anyway, and were greeted quite hospitably by Urbain and his staff.

We scored a great haul, including Black Albert Batch Zero and Cuvee Delphine, some of the greatest Imperial Stouts I've had the pleasure of tasting, as well a few different variations of Pannepot. Over the years, Urbain had tried a few different versions of the quad, and even changed the name from Pannepeut (Old Monk's Ale) to the current name (Fisherman's Ale) as the recipe changed, and we were lucky enough to grab a few of each.

Tonight, we're drinking the oak aged variation, Pannepot Reserva, from 2008, and Destruise's 10% abv Christmas beer, Tsjeeses. I knew as I hauled a backpack full of bottles from Oostvleteren back to Popperinge by bike that my score would be destined for a special occasion. Couldn't be anymore special than this.

Happy birthday, Des!