Happy New Year!

Another year comes to an end. Much to be happy about in our household however. Our Daughter is in Belgium visiting from the US for almost two weeks, which is providing me with some much needed family time. She is also doing really well at University which is all any parent can ask for. Our new life in Belgium has settled in and we are now through all of the associated immigration issues. And the new job seems to be going really well and is very interesting. So all in all, much to be thankful for.

So in a celebratory mood, I purchased a Deus, Brut des Flanders. Bottled in a champagne bottle, this is really a very interesting and festive beer. It is a very pale golden color with a fine head. As you approach the glass there is a distinct spicy scent with clove and ginger. The flavor is very complex with notes of spice and citrus. At 11.5% this is a very strong beer, but it does not drink like one. The flavor is crisp and clean and does not have the heavy alcohol bite one would expect from a beer at this level. Not a beer for every day, but it is festive and a good choice for New Years Eve. 4 Drunk Monks!

De Verboden Vrucht

Posts have been a bit absent the last few days due to a combination of the holidays and an upper respiratory infection that left me unable to taste anything I put in my face. My daughter is in Brussels for about 10 days visiting on break from university and I tried to get her to guest blog about her St. Louis Framboise this evening, but no dice. So you are left with what I could pull together this evening.

After a full day of showing her the sights, including the Christmas Spectacular and light show in the Grand Place, we all decided we were too tired to try to find a restaurant. We took the tram home and ordered some pizza from our awesome local pizza joint and I cracked open a Verboden Vrucht. This beer is brewed by Hoegaarden, but is closer to a Bruin than the very light pale hoegaarden standard. The beer itself is a cloudy brown color. There is a nice balance of spice and sweet with a bit of hoppy bitterness. Honestly, if it were truly Verboden, I dont think it would be a problem for me. It is fine. Not inspiring, but not bad. Very middle of the road. 3 Drunk Monks.

Cuvee des Trolls

What could be more Christmassy than Trolls?...Except maybe Elves and Mr Hankey? I have no idea.

Picked up some Cuvee des Trolls the other day. This beer is brewed by Dubuisson which brews up the Bush Beers. The website is a must see:
http://www.cuveedestrolls.com/



This is a really interesting beer. Very light golden color and quite clear, which due to bottle fermentation is a rarity in these parts. The flavor is similarly light and quite fruity. They use dried orange peels in the mix and while I dont usually approve of that sort of behavior, in this case it works. This will be a really good beer for the summer time. Crisp, light, and tiny 25cl bottles so it wont get warm. 3 and a half Drunk Monks!

Snow

We had another bit of weather here in Belgium. About 4 inches of wet snow came in over night. Of course this meant that I could not go to work. My garage box (more on that in a moment) is at the back end of a parking area with a reasonably steep incline up to the street. The real issue that this presents is that in order to get to the parking area, you have to thread your car through a small passage in the building. I literally have about 10 inches on either side of my mirrors on the BMW 520. So with the combination of the parking area being an ice skating rink from the snow and the tight opening not allowing anything larger than a car back, I was stuck. Everyone here takes this all pretty much in stride however, so we figured that this was the appropriate reaction. Do as the locals do.

The garage box is an interesting thing. First off, I have a decent walk from my house to the garage box. Not too long, but certainly worth noting when raining. And it does that often. I think garage box is a good term for what it is in that it is not really a garage and pretty close to a box. It has enough room for a small car. My Citroen C3 rental fit in it, barely. The 520 is hopeless. I have to bias to one side so that I can get out of the car and I cannot close the garage because the car is too long by about 18 inches.

By 2:00 lots of digging and copious applications of salt let us get out. We attempted to get snow tires put on the car but unfortunately, the tire place was sold out. The dealer was nice about the whole thing. His comment was, "I do not think you will see snow tires this winter. Maybe next???" Not the most poitive outcome but about what we expected. What Belgium really needs is a tire warehouse.

All was not lost however. There was a carpet place next to the tire shop that She who must be obeyed has been talking about going to. So with the afternoon not being spent on the car, we bought an area rug for our living room. The wife is happy and it covers up some of the 200 years of wear on our floors.

The beverage of the evening was a nice La Chouffe Blonde. At 8% it is a reasonably strong ale, but not out of control. Very nice cloudy amber color with a good balance of hops and yeasty goodness. Quite easy to drink and excellent with a spicy pasta with a pork and beef ragout. 4 Drunk Monks!

Vin Chaud & Hanging with the Multitudes

Christmas is obviously a big deal in Belgium. Most companies, mine included, shut down completely between Christmas and New Years and throughout December there are festivals, Christmas Markets and a variety of other things to offset the intense Seasonal Affective Disorder that you would likely incur from the generally gray and damp weather. This is not the gray and intense cold of my childhood in New Hampshire. That sort of soul crushing weather is peculiar to the Granite State. But it is still cold, gray and wet.

Last evening we went into Brussels center for a little holiday cheer. Brussels has the largest Christmas market in the area that they bill as Winter Wonderland. There is a large Christmas tree in the Grand Place and they do a light show projected onto the City Hall. Througout the evening they also have different types of performances like opera singers and other festive activities. One of the things that strikes me as an American is the lack of product placement. The whole thing is sponsored by Electrabel and yet the only sign of them was a small scroll at the end of the light show that lasted for all of 4 seconds. In the US they would have had the Electrabel singers along with every manner of promotional gimic known to man. Obviously they are missing a commercial opportunity.

The Christmas market itself was covered in an earlier post, so I don't need to cover old ground but it takes on a different sort of charachter with the wall to wall crowds that converge there on a Saturday night. Moving in and around the area was periodically challenging. I am not a big fan of close crowd situations but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and bear it. That being said, in an environment like that, I cannot understand why people with small children would try to push strollers through the masses of people. Pushing your beloved child through a sea of hostile legs seems a recipe for disaster and clearly from the looks on some of the kids faces, I am not wrong.

The plan yesterday was to arrive in the late afternoon and sample a few of the delicacies at the Christmas market, then find a warm place for happy hour and then a late leisurely dinner. After wandering for an hour or so we stopped at the Tartiflette stand (potato, ham, gooey cheese) along with deux Vin Chaud. I have to say, there is something quite festive about drinking mulled wine while knoshing on a cardiologist's nightmare using a barrel as your diner table. As the evening went on, we made the usual trek over to see if Mannekin Pis was wearing one of his outfits. Turned out to be a wasted trip because he was completely unrobed. We found a nice little Bistro to get out of the cold and enjoyed a couple of other seasonal treats. Following our appetizers we ventured back out into the snow and cold to meander some more and look for a nice place for dinner. We found it in the fish market. She who must be obeyed had probably the best steak we have seen since being in Belgium and I got the moules. Stuffed to the gills we trammed it back home feeling remarkably festive. Cant wait until our Sun Devil joins us for the holiday so we can share all of this with her.

X-mas Shopping when you are functionally illiterate

My schedule has had me hopping for the last month, so true to form, I have been neglecting my shopping duties. Fortunately, She who must be obeyed, is blissfully unemployed and has taken up much of the gift giving slack, including (and this is huge) getting all of the Christmas cards in the mail. In the past this has been a divided effort but this year, she stepped up and took care of them all earning my eternal grattitude. The one person I will not allow her to shop for however is her. (Even though she offered to). So for the last couple of days I have been trying to find suitable gifts for my bride. This would be simple if painful in the US. Go to the largest mall. Identify the must have items according to herd mentality and purchase away. Unfortunately, not so easy in Belgium. For one, the crass commercialism is at a pretty low level. Add to that all the stores are closed by 7PM, which leaves very little time after getting out of work and you begin to see the problem. Even more challenging is that all of the products are in Dutch or French which for me, while progressing, still represents an interpretive hurdle. So with that I went out this morning in search of the perfect gifts. As she reads this blog, I wont bore you with the details but I found three things that I think she will like and a couple of stocking stuffers. I probably need to keep at it but of course everything is closed tomorrow being Sunday and I work until Christmas eve. Wish me luck.

Proving that she is a better person than I, She who must be obeyed brought home a Straffe Hendrik. This is a beer from the De Halve Maan brewery in Bruges. They have a nice website, so I will let them give you the background:

Straffe Hendrik is a Bitter Tripel Ale of 9% abv. The beer was originally from Bruges and brewed in Bruges by brewery De Halve Maan.
In 1981, Henri Maes and his daughter Véronique followed the demand of the mayor and created a strong blond beer for the inaugration of the statue of Sint-Arnoldus, the saint of all beer-brewers. However, the beer became so popular, that the demand fot the beer continued. It was given the name of Straffe Hendrik (Strong Hendrick), since it was a rich and strong beer.
Today, Straffe Hendrik is the last authentic Tripel Ale of Bruges.

This is a really nice Tripel Ale. The bitterness of the hops is more pronounced than in many tripels and there are many layers of flavor here. It is both full and crisp at the same time. If it wasnt so hard to find, this could easily find a home in the regular rotation. Really an excellent bier. 4 Drunk Monks!!

'Tis the Season

"Tis the Season"...Apparently for mediocre beer. I have had the opportunity to try two Christmas Beers recently. The St. Feulien Cuvee de Noel and the Leffe Biere de Noel or Kerstbier (depending on where you live). Short story, neither is that bad but nor are they that good.

St. Feu First. It is a very pretty beer. Not much of a head on the pout but the color is gorgeous. A rich red amber. It is a little sweet on the palate and I have already discussed my feelings on that. there is a hoppy bite and it is generally pleasant but very one dimensional. I assume that they do not want to put out their best beer for the season, so Job Well Done.



The Leffe is about the same really. Not quite as pretty. Not quite as tasty. But not far off.

Both rate 2.5 Drunk Monks. If you want a good Belgian Beer for the holidays. Buy the Chimay Bleu.

Back in the US

Back in the US for business this week. Duty calls, so I am freezing in Philadelphia. Arrived late last night after the long flight. Grabbed a quick bite in the bar and ordered a Victory Hop Devil. True to its name, it was hoppy. Like drinking some astringent shrubbery. Not a big fan of super hoppy beers. I like a good IPA, particualrly when it is hot, but these hopped up beers I really dont understand. They are not balanced and not pleasant to drink. You expect to find bits of vegetation in your teeth when you are done.

Tonight I get to go out with a couple of great friends. I will not be ordering a Victory Hop Devil. Thinking I may have to go with something from Kentucky, preferably over a little ice.

Evening at Den Engel

Long week and about to get longer. She who must be obeyed and I decided that it called for an evening at our favorite local pub. It is really a great place. A very limited menu but the atmosphere is really fun. Friendly and entertaining barkeep. Old Europe style with brick floors and lots of locals bringing their dogs in for a pint and a snack. Tonight was steak frites with Bernaise and a visit from a very inquisitive Boxer looking for a free snack.

With my steak I ordered an Achel 8. The Achel is a Bruin with a substantial, lacey head but unlike a lot of Bruin's was very balanced in flavor. It was not as sweet as many of this style. The first flavor that hits you is almost a savory baked apple with a good hoppy bite. It was a really good complement to the richness of the steak with bernaise. I am guessing that it will become a fairly regular participant in the rotation when we go here. I give it 4 drunk monks!