Pancake Day

So we just finished up Pancake Day. An event we never celebrated in the US, but for some reason did here. It seems a little odd to be having a beer after pancakes. Reminds me of college. So on to the review.

Next up from Durbuy is a cold glass of dissappointment. The Sainte Amour Dubbel is the house beer from the store that we purchased the rest of the beers from. This is a very dark reddish brown beer that comes in a really attractive stoneware bottle. I should have known from all of the packaging that the beer would not live up to it. It actually tastes thin, bitter and a little harsh, like Ann Coulter. Two and Half Drunk Monks!!

Rader Ambre

Next beer up from the stockpiling in Durbuy is the Rader Ambre. This is a fortified beer at 10.5% from Distillerie Radermacher in the German speaking region of Belgium. The beer is fortified with a grain alcohol aged in an oak cask with some juniper. When I first sipped the beer, I thought there was something different. It has an almost nutty finish behind the grain and fruit. It is an interesting beer and I like it. It is a flavor however that could really divide people. Definitely worth a try though if you see it. Three and a Half Drunk Monks!!

Best Frites in Brussels?

Another beaustiful day (although very chilly), so She who must be obeyed suggested that we head into Brussels to try frites at a place that was billed as the best Frites in Belgium. So we hopped on the tram and headed to the Schuman stop to go to Maison Antoine.

Maison Antoine has been serving frites for 60 years, so I would think that they have it down. I ordered the grande cornet de frites avec mayonaise and a coca cola light. As you can see from the photo, they were golden gems of carbohydrate goodness topped with what my friend Kevin refers to as white death. They were delicious, if a bit messy. Eating frites from a paper cone without wearing mayo is an art form that I have not yet mastered, but as good as these were, I am willing to put in the time to gain that skill.

In the square where Maison Antoine sits, there was a Sunday market. This was quite a nice little market with at least four vendors with cheese, a fishmonger and several butchers and italian product stalls. We picked up some beignets brocoli to go with dinner. I think we will be back, between the frites and the market, probably a great way to spend a Sunday morning.

After our excursion to the market, we hopped back on the Metro to head into Brussels to find another frites shop that She who must be obeyed heard about to do a compare and contrast. After walking for an hour fruitlessly searching for the frites shop, we stopped at Le Roi des Belges, a little Brasserie to get a quick bite for lunch having worked off our fries. We both ordered tartin (open faced sandwiches). Hers was melted goat cheese and tomato, mine smoked salmon and rocket. They had a La Trappe as the beer of the month, so I tried that. It is a blonde ale and is quite similar to a Leffe, with a little more herbal note to it. Not bad, but certainly not much to write home about either. Three Drunk Monks.

Day in Durbuy

Durbuy bills itself as the smallest city in the world, having been given the title of a city in 1331. The sense of time in Europe is something that you cant help but think about. In the US, anything predating the revolutionary period is either a recreation or an archeological site. Here, you can step into buildings that have been in continuous use for a couple of hundred years before our archeological sites. A different perspective.

Durbuy is really a pretty little village city. It is touristy, but in a very Belgian sort of way. There are lots of cute little shops that may or may not be open and often with products that you may wonder what relationship to the medieval town they have.(case in point, Adam and Eve aprons.) The sidewalks are missing cobblestones making a severe ankle injury a constant threat, except when there is a dangerous blind corner, then there is no sidewalk and you have to walk in the street. And there are a number of restaurants.

We arrived fairly late in the morning and spent some time wandering around the city. There is a topiary park across the river from the Castle of the Counts of Ursel that opened for the season today, so we strolled around that for a little while. My guess is that the person responsible for tending the topiary is a bit of a perv, because a surprising number of the topiary were quite buxom. After a couple of hours of this we stopped at La Ferme Au Chene, a little restaurant and microbrewery which produces Marckloff a blonde ale.

The Marckloff arrived in a small tulip glass. It is a deep golden color with a very persistent head. It is quite hoppy with a crisp clean taste. It went quite well with the cheese and pate plate that I had for lunch. She who must be obeyed, critiqued it as , "this is the kind of beer I like". Which is probably why I am writing the beer blog. Four Drunk Monks!!!

We spent a little more time after lunch wandering the shops in town and found a shop with an excellent selection of beers that I have not previously tried. So I am fully stocked up for new blog fodder for this week. One of which, I opened for dinner.

The Barbar is a product of Lefebvre, the same brewery that makes Moeder Overste which I have reviewed previously. Barbar is a Special Blonde Ale which is made with honey. Surprisingly, it is not as sweet as I would have thought. The honey presents itself on the finish but up front there is quite a bit of hop and fruit. I think this beer would probably play better as an aperitif, but it was not bad with my pizza. Four Drunk Monks!!!

Strike!!!

I worked from home today. The reason being that we had a National Strike today that shut my office down. Oddly enough, the strike was not becuase we have not had a government for more than 250 days. Nope, nobody cares about that. As I understand it, the strike was called because there is a movement to eliminate the mandatory cost of living adjustment to pay. Typical pay raises in Belgium are not very high each year, but when combined with the cost of living, it tends to be about the same as are typical in the US for companies with a regular review cycle. So, understandably, the unions are a bit perturbed.

The upside to this, is that Belgians tend to strike on Mondays or Fridays and seldom for more than 4 hours. Although today's was the full day. I guess they wanted to let everyone know they are really serious. I am not sure if anything was accomplished by the strike, but it was kind of nice to be able to see the sun during the day.

Time for Some Stoofvlees

On a cool evening, nothing like a little beef stew. Or as it is referred to in Flanders, Stoofvlees. She who must be obeyed had the Koninginnehapje, which I would not try to pronounce. There is a lot of saliva involved in pronouncing this correctly. I am not quite there yet.

Paired off with the stoofvlees was a Malheur 12. I had the 10 last week when I was there and I have to say I like the 12 better. At more than 11% this is a very strong beer. It is exceptionally well balanced however. There is a little bit of sweet but there is also a lot of nutty richness that backs it up. Really a flavorful and complex beer. Four Dunk Monks!!!!

Curry and Chimay Tripel

She who must be obeyed pulled together all of her culinary skills today to create a chicken tikka masala and homemade puri. This is a meal that she has made before but today was landmark. The last time, the kitchen was coated in a thin film of oil and curry that took weeks to get clean. Today, she set everything up and with the exception of sounding a little frantic when I called to let her know I was coming home from work, pulled the meal together very efficiently. I have to say, it was a very welcome thing to have dinner ready when I got home. A little Ozzie and Harriet but welcome.

To accompany the curry, I opened a Chimay Tripel. This is the Chimay that comes in the cream colored label, which is a good choice because the mouthfeel is really creamy and full. As readers of this blog know, I like tripels and this is the standard. The Chimay is an opaque deep honey color with a yeasty aroma. Hops are very forward on the palate as are some of the unique esters that give a bit of banana and fruit. This is a beer with a lot of character and flavor and it stands up well to a curry. The creaminess may make it not as ideal as an IPA with the Indian food, but it still has that hoppy zing that cuts through. I really like this tripel and the upside is that it is found pretty easily in the US, so you can try one too. Four Dunk Monks!!!

As a side note. Today is my brother's birthday. Happy Birthday SR!!!!