posted on 30 May 2009 by dan
Yeah, I know IPAs not an American original or anything, but still. The stateside brewers pretty much hijacked the style, for better or worse, by sheer force of will. We sure do loves our beers BIG here, and the style’s perfectly suited to BIGness, what with its natural hoppiness that we can just tweak and tweak to get even BIGger. It’s at the point now where foreign markets are brewing IPAs just to expand their US market.
For instance, Belgium. A country steeped in the brew tradition, the Belgian tastes run towards the subtler end of the spectrum. The IPAs we call fascinating, they might call over-hopped. But a few breweries over there have been experimenting with the style, largely for export - the Belgians won’t have it.
So dig this Gaspar, a Belgian IPA offering. It claims to be the hoppiest beer in Belgium, which is a loaded statement if there ever was one. I checked out the reviews on Beer Advocate, just to get a sense of what people thought about it. And it’s funny. The collective BA impression is that somebody must be lying to them somewhere along the line, what with the beer not being as bitter as the IPAs they’ve come to know and love.
Here’s the thing, though: this is a hoppy beer, no doubt about it. But the hops here aren’t the same American hops found in the US. These are Belgian hops, more citrus-y then flat out bitter. If you go into this beer knowing that, you maybe won’t set unrealistic expectations for it. You can sit back and just enjoy it on its own merit, rather than comparing it unfairly to something American.
And it’s easy to enjoy it, that bit taken care of. It bites your tongue with those citrus hops teeth, but it’s all wrapped in this coat of lingering sweetness. Most of the real bitterness comes at the finish, rebounding back over all that sweetness, so even after you’ve swallowed it, your tongue is teased with this rotation of alternating flavors. Very cool.
If you can get it out of your head that all IPAs are created with the same intentions, you’ll dig this beer. You’ll dig it for what it is, not for what you want it to be.
dJp
Tags: beer, Belgian, Belgium, IPA
Category: Beer Reviews, The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
posted on 1 May 2009 by dan
I really wish I could somehow pull off the inverted question marks and exclamation points in that heading - I can’t. The ha-ha hilarious Spanish-tinged headline is a result of my fiance, who’s a Spanish teacher and currently pacing back and forth behind me working through her quiz for manana. Yup.
Anyway, we just finished dinner. She had a plate of… well, I’d rather not describe the plate, but suffice it to say she’s going to get fitted for wedding dresses this weekend and so she’s following some diet for women going to get fitted for wedding dresses (ridiculous, says me, seeing as to how she’s in ten-million-times better shape than anyone I know, but I’ve learned not to argue on the point). Me? Having a strange desire to actually taste my food, I cooked up the only dish I’m capable of not screwing up. I had pasta with red sauce.
The problem being: before I decided on pasta (or my limited abilities decided for me), I had uncorked a bottle of Foret Saison. No implicit problem with the Foret. Actually, it’s pretty cool. A wholly organic ale out of Belgium by the co. that gives us Saison Dupont, it’s a fairly crisp farmhouse ale with everything you could want out of the style. The thing is… well, I’d rather have it with a nice sharp cheese or something along those lines.
But I guess that’s just convention talking. Because as it played out, the Foret was AMAZING with the pasta. I don’t know, it might have been a situational thing, a perfect storm of awesomeness (dig the irony there): a beautiful night, my beautiful fiance, a home-cooked meal (!)… but the crisp citrus slipped in under the pasta sauce and somehow seemed to hit the noodles first. It transformed every bite into an experience that felt like molding a clay pot… the food on my tongue was this wild mush of complex flavors that built to a different shape on my tongue with every bite.
Again, maybe it was just situational. Maybe tomorrow, the same pairing would taste terrible. But it just goes to show you… trust your own pallete more than any book or piece of “sage” advice. Por supuesto! (sorry…) (that means “of course”, by the way, which makes no sense there)
dJp
Tags: Belgian, Farmhouse, Foret, Saison
Category: The Beer Blog | Comments (1)
posted on 25 April 2009 by dan
No pun intended. This is a sweet beer, so if that’s not up your alley, then steer clear. But if you can wrap your head around a brew that digs its sugar-claws into your tongue, then this Draak’s for you.
Imports, especially Belgian imports, can be a difficult category to break into, if only because of the enormous variety and strange, strange names - names like Gulden Draak, for instance. Which is why most budding beer freaks cut their teeth on American crafts, leading to the inevitable palette-screwing wherein drinkers tend to think that all well-made beers should taste like American crafts. The thing is, American crafts are largely over-the-top hopped beers, in your face, subtlety be damned.
But, should you find the courage to venture down the import aisle, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Take this Gulden Draak. Where the Americans rip your face off, this beer could take you or leave you; it simply exists. Classified as a Strong Ale, due to the high ABV (10.5 % booze, kid!), the alcohol hides itself well inside the sugar rush. This beer is sweet, so expect that. But its not a cloying sweetness, a pixie stick kind of sweetness. It’s like roasted caramel, were I to try and pinpoint it. The finish post-swallow has a bit of bitterness to it, but that’s the only suggestion of hops you’ll find. And that bitterness sticks around, making this a good bet for beer with a meal, each sip getting you ready for the next bite of… well, whatever you’re eating. I’d recommend something like bbq, with its own spicy sweetness rubbing up well against the beer.
Trust me, try it. That’s all I got.
dJp
Tags: bbq, Belgian, Gulden Draak, high ABV, Import, Strong Ale
Category: Beer Reviews, The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
posted on 5 March 2009 by dan
We had a huge seminar-slash-wine-tasting at the store tonight, so we all drank our fair share of wine. Feeling fairly wined-out after the whole affair, Jeff and I and the Second Glass crew walked down to Redbones for a little post-work beer and a little bbq. Their taps were down, but they still had their whole list up, and right there in the first column: Delirium Nocturnum. The first time I had a Delirium was over in Belgium years and years ago; it was my first introduction to Belgian beer, yeah of course, but also my first introduction to a beer’s potential to blow your mind. The Nocturnum is this dark, smokey, high-alcohol brew. I ordered it without a second thought.
And then I ordered a bowl of mac and cheese. I did so, again, without a second thought. It arrived minutes later and I still had my Nocturnum. Dug in.
I’ve never had such a perfect pairing of beer to meal without trying to do so. The smokiness in the beer weaved its way through the sharp cheese in a way that… that… Y’know what? I’m not going to bother describing it. Like any booze-y experience, you gotta get at it yourself, draw your own conclusions. Suffice it so say, I could imagine hitch-hiking down some dusty Spanish highway, glaring sun, the horizon wavering in the heat. It’s the perfect pairing of food to booze (or just booze in general) that can transport your whole imagination from Underbones to some far-away locale like that.
Try it. Delirium Nocturnum and mac and cheese.
Tags: beer, Belgian, Belgium, Delirium, food-pairing
Category: The Beer Blog | Comments (0)
