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!!
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