Starting to feel like winter

Awoke this morning to a light dusting of snow. It was really very scenic on the cobblestones. We used the opportunity to go into Brussels center to visit the Winter Market. Hundreds of small kiosks set up with small gifts, food and chaude adult beverages. We enjoyed the Boudin blanc sandwich with onions. Unfortunately, I am still trying to get over the cold that I caught in the US and so our usual forced march was a little more than I was up for. So we returned home to watch College Gameday on ESPN America. So the afternoon was not a total loss. Actually, this 6 hour time delay works out in many respects. I cant always see the games that I want, but She who must be obeyed doesnt get nearly as irritated as football doesnt really get going until 7PM. Which bring us to a new beer.




Gribousine Blonde de Malonne is a beer that my wife picked up while I was away in the US. As the name suggests, it is a Blonde Ale with a very golden color. It pours out with a small creamy head. The aromas are very yeasty although I had a hard time smelling it over the garlic that was on my wife's hands. The taste is fruity and herbal with a slight hint of garlic (obviously from my wife's pour). Quite a nice beverage that will likely go really well with the garlic bread tonight.

three and a half drunk monks.

Are those angels singing???

I was prepared to be dissappointed. Something as overly hyped as Westvleteren 12 cant be as good as they say, right? But it is Thanksgiving so I thought I would crack it open. And the result is, it's pretty damn good. I had the Westlvleteren 8 previously at the Belgian beer festival and enjoyed that immensely. It is the standard by which I have been judging all the others. The 12 is more complex. It pours a dark brown with a very small head. The taste is nutty and chocolatey with an really interesting mix of bitter with the sweet of the caramel malt. It is far too rich to drink much of. It is really a lot like a desert wine. Rich, sweet, complex. A good finish to a nice meal. Wish I had been able to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner prior to enjoying it, but turkey's are scarce in these parts. Even still, it is a beer worth being thankful for.

5 Drunk Monks!!!

Long time No Blog

Just got back to Belgium. Jet-lagged after 10 days in the US that had me hitting Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Frederick (MD) and Philadelphia. When I traveled a lot, these time changes didnt hit me as hard but I am really feeling it this time around. Add to that, I caught a cold and my ears keep popping. Whilst I was gone however, She who must be obeyed, was busy shopping. Including scoring a Westvleteren 12 which I will review when I am feeling a little more human.

Kwak

OK, So I really wanted to hate this beer. The stupid beer glass and holder. It seems like the originators all got hammered and decided on a glass design that made you look drunk even when you were sober. I think it was an act of aggression and not creativity. It is generally accepted, that most of the people who drink this beer in Belgium are tourists. But...they sell it in the grocery. And you see people buying it. Hmmmm. Must be something else going on here. And there is. Kwak has a bit of residual sweetness, a fairly nice yeasty flavor and a surprising complexity. The color is a medium amber and quite clear. Overall, it is not a bad beer. Solid. Three drunk monks.

Sightseeing on a Damp Saturday

Woke up to a rather moist Saturday morning. After the last few weekends of errands and residency issues, we decided to take a sightseeing trip to Namur. Namur is a centrally located city about 40 minutes from Brussels. One of the things that strike me about Belgium is how compact it is. In two hours of driving, you can hit three countries and three different linguistic regions. We weren't that ambitious today however, so we only crossed two linguistic zones and drove 30 minutes.



We arrived in Namur in about 30 minutes and quickly found some on street parking. 3 euro for 4 hours! Bargain. We wandered about for a little while trying to orient ourselves and wound up finding a large Saturday Market. One of the great things about Belgium are the markets. Our town has one every Friday but it was much smaller than this one. They had everything from Bolts of fabric to whole pigs heads. (MMMMM Pigs Head). The smell of these markets is amazing because the stalls alternate between raw veggies and meats to cooked meals ready to go. There is everything you could imagine and probably a few things that you cant. My favorites are always the butcher carts and Charcuterie. Really an amazing quantity and quality of food. Currently it is the Chasse, which is game season, so in addition to the usual cow, pig, horse, duck, chicken selection, there is also a whole variety of game birds, wild boar and venison.



After the market, we decided to not scale the Citadel of Namur due to the rainy conditions and amount of leaves on the trail. We will save that for a spring trip out to Namur. It looks very impressive however, so we will definitely be back in better weather. We grabbed a leisurely lunch of steak frites and killed the rest of the afternoon enjoying the old city.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery to buy meals for the rest of the weekend. While there we purchased a Watou Tripel. This beer is lower in alcohol than many of the tripels that I have had at just 7.7%. It pours a nice amber color with a bit of cloudiness. In many ways it is very similar to the Leffe Tripel. Creamy mouthfeel, nice hop flavor and crisp finish. For me, the lower alcohol level is the key for this beer. It is a good balanced beer. It is not overly complex, but not bad at all. Two and a half drunk monks.

St Feullien Saison & La Guillotine

Last Friday, my wife took the trip into Brussels to scope out what was going on for activities. The Brussels websites all seem to be a bit of a mixed bag, so the best way to find out if there is anything going on is to go and find out. During her scouting mission, she was kind enough to stop by the Beer Temple and picked up a couple of new beers for me to try.

La Guillotine is one of Hyughe beers. A brewery familiar to anyone who has seen the Delirium Trmens pink elephant bottles. La Guillotine would probably qualify as a Belgian Strong beer at more than 9%. This is one I would definitely recommend. There is a nice hoppy herbalness to it that makes it crisp and refreshing. Four drunk monks.

St. Feullien Saison is a farmhouse ale with pronounced spicyness and hoppy flavors. I really like this style. It reminds me of some of the craft brews through the Pacific Northwest. The is clearly among the best beers I have had so far. Four and a half drunk monks.

My wife didn't find anything for us to do in Brussels, but the trip was not a bust as she brought back two excellent beers to try.

Kasteel Bruin

Catching up on some beer reviews.

From my first sip of Kasteel Bruin, I regretted buying the 4 pack. These things are a sugar bomb. Waaaay too sweet. Bruins generally are sweeter but in this case the overwhelming caramel malt flavor was just overpowering and at 11 percent the alcohol bite was pretty harsh as well. There are many better examples of the style. One and a half drunk monks.