Gaspar - An IPA From Not-Here

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)

Accidental Perfection by way of Delirium

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)