On Belgian Beer

Now that I've finally recovered from my last night in Bruges I feel like I should write about some of the beers there.


"You know this beer is sour?" yeah.
"You know it comes in a big bottle?" yeah, I know.



Of course, the Belgians have more breweries than any other country in the world, but I think they prefer to think they are the only country in the world that brews at all. The beer bars I found in Bruges and Ghent served almost exclusively Belgian products, and when they had something from the Americas it was usually Budweiser or Corona. And who can blame them? The Belgian beer tradition makes for some of the best beers on the planet, and some styles that are very difficult to find in other countries.

For example my favorite beer there, John Martin's Bourgogne de Flandres, was a Dark Flanders. Flanders are, as you know, from the region of the same name and are very sour and usually red (often called Flanders Reds). This one was dark amber in color, and had corresponding deep maltiness, but was still sour and dry! I was blown away.



It should always be like this



The other beer that I really enjoyed was a Cuvee by De Ranke. Fortunately, you can also find this in the states, at least at Charles St. Liquors. Yes, it comes in a 75cl bottle, and you don't want to share.

Another hard to find variety is the Oude Geuze (pronounced like 'ode hhherser'). This is a mix of aged and new Lambic, so you get mellowness and complexity of age with the brightness of youth. Hansenns' was particularly good.

In Ghent I had their local Tripel, which had the aroma of apples and the crispness to match, but little of the high alcohol flavor in many trippels. Other +1 beers from Belgium: Leffe Radieuse, Straffe Hendrik (Heavy Henry), Urthel Saison, Westvleteren Trappist 12, La Guillotine Trippel (spicy).



This pub is 500 years old

 Today is Thursday. Since last Friday I've only had one beer, which I think is some kind of record. Fortunately the Dutch aren't known for their breweries (Heinekin, Amstel), and now in Copenhagen I'm ready to get back into it!