Archive for the ‘Belgian Ale’ Category

Spotlight Week: Brasserie Dupont

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

2010-01-16-dupontThe beer style saison was originally brewed each winter in Belgian and French barns and farmhouses for the consumption the following summer by migrant farmhands. The Tourpes, Belgium farm on which Brasserie Dupont is located was one such place. They have brewed saison there continuously since 1844. In 1920 Alfred Dupont bought the farm-brewery for his son Louis. The brewery is now run by Olivier Dedeycker, great-grandnephew of Louis Dupont. They were among the first to brew organic beer, starting way back in 1990. Besides making several varieties of saison and bier de miel (beer with honey), they produce the Moinette line of Belgian ales.

Their website has some great pictures and plenty of details about their brewing procedures. If you can read French or stand bad Babelfish translations check it out. They also describe their baking and cheesemaking operations, if those tickle your fancy.

Since saison is the beer Dupont is known for, tonight I will try three varieties. I’ll kick things off with two vintages of their flagship Saison Dupont, a 2007 and a 2009. I have a bottle of their organic saison called Forêt (Moinette Biologique in Europe). I will also taste a bottle of their holiday brew, Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont (”with good wishes from the Dupont brewery”), usually shortened to just Bons Vœux.

2010-01-16-saisonsSaison Dupont pours an old gold color with a thick haze as well as a homogeneous distribution of tiny yeast particles. The off-white head is thick and moussey, and for the cellared version has a bit more stability. The change in the nose is intriguing. The fresh saison has a very light fruity nose of lemon and pear. Some malt and dry grass or hay come with it. The 2007 has a much darker fruit aroma. Raisins, cranberries, and figs stand out. There is just a bit of a malty sweetness before a funk sets in. I wouldn’t describe it as quite barnyard, but that might be only because I drink gueuze. There is just a bit of cider and some stinky cheese on the nose that remain too mild to be unpleasant.

The fresh beer has a light flavor reminiscent of champagne. Clean malt flavor is paired with some dust and an assertive bitterness. Bread and some grassiness add complexity. A bit of fruit is there as well. The taste of the 2007 follows from the nose. The dried fruit and cider are prominent. Some malty sweetness and a bit of meaty (yeast autolysis) character. The fresh version has a light, refreshing body that stays dry. The bitterness and the lively palate make this beer drinkable but keep the character. The 2007 is somehow thicker and sweeter, with a lingering palate fullness. Two years is too long for this beer; I wish I had a 2008 to try.

2010-01-16-foretI decided to blend the last few sips of each vintage. They compliment each other quite well, with the 2007 providing a robust character and the 2009 making it sprightly.

Next up, the organic saison Forêt. I looked it up: it means ‘forest’. Is it a suggestion not to miss the forest for the trees? You decide. It is important to note that when they say ‘organic’ they mean it. Exactly 100% of the ingredients in this beer are organically grown, unlike beers labeled ‘organic’ in the United States.

Forêt pours a hazy golden fulvous color (yes I looked that one up, too). The creamy white head lasts forever, and there are a few of the same yeast specks floating. The aroma is just fascinating. There are little bits of so many things. A spiciness greets you at first: coriander, black pepper, anise, and cinnamon. This is followed by an herbal hop character that borders on floral. A clean pale malt aroma rounds it out, but the spices never give way.

The taste, much like the nose, is spicy, yet so much more. An alcohol warming sets the stage. The black pepper and coriander are back, and sage and basil are quick to add an herbal contribution. A little bit of sweetness and clean malt flavor balance an earthy hop bitterness. This lasts just a moment, with the sweetness lingering a bit longer. This beer is eminently flavorful, refreshing, and quaffable. Without question Forêt deserves a place among the best saisons, be they organic or otherwise.

2010-01-16-bon-voeuxFinally, the Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont. The top of this label has the inscription “III”. Every bottle I have seen has this. I don’t know what this is or why it’s there. Please tell me if there is some story behind the three that I cannot locate.

The Bons Vœux pours a lightly hazy coppery gold. The off-white head is thick and voluminous and seriously lasts. The nose is light and dirty. The sweet malt aroma is made interesting by a bit of barnyard funk and sweatiness. Some spiciness comes out, too.

A spicy alcoholic flavor, a warming sensation, and a bit of ethanol flavor betray the nine-plus percent alcohol of this beer. It is almost hidden, however, in the spicy yeast flavors: coriander, pepper, mace, and cloves. A bit of sweet malt contributes a bready flavor. The earthy hops add a balancing bitterness that keeps the beer lively. Though thick and sweet, this beer is certainly refreshing and not at all cloying. The Bons Vœux would be essentially perfect if not for the pronounced alcohol character.

++Dupont Forêt

4.5 (4-9-9-4-19)

++Avec les bons Vœux de la brasserie Dupont

4.4 (5-9-8-4-18)

+Saison Dupont 2009

4.0 (4-7-8-5-16)

+/-Saison Dupont 2007

3.6 (4-8-7-3-14)

Spotlight Week: Goose Island Beer Company

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

2010-01-14-giIf you want an inspirational story about a brewery that pulled itself up by its bootstraps, you need look no further than Goose Island Beer Company. In 1988, John Hall opened the first Goose Island Brewpub, at Clybourn and Sheffield on the north side of Chicago. Though essentially in Lincoln Park, the brewery is not all that far from Cabrini-Green, which at the time was easily the most unsafe part of the northside. Over the years the brewpub built a community of beer fans and simultaneously played an instrumental role in revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood.

By 1995, the brewpub had grown enough that Goose Island opened the brewery on Fulton Street. This is the facility that currently produces all the company’s bottled beers. They have since expanded further, opening a second brewpub on Clark Street, half a block from Wrigley Field. Each of the two brewpubs produces their own specialties and unique creations. After a deal with Widmer (wherein Goose Island brews are sold by Anheuser-Busch distributors) the beer is now available nationwide, and also in England. It seems the plan has paid off, for in the last three years they have grown from 37th largest brewery to 22nd.

2010-01-14-matildaGoose Island produces five year-round beers: 312 Urban Wheat Ale (one wonders what exactly “urban” means here), Honker’s Ale (a regular bitter), India Pale Ale, Nut Brown Ale (formerly the more inspired Hex Nut Brown), and Oatmeal Stout. They also brew a variety of seasonals (some with more interesting names) and their acclaimed special reserves. Among the most sought-after craft beers these days is their Bourbon County Stout, a bourbon-barrel aged imperial stout that sells for upwards of $5 per 12 ounce bottle. Tonight I will try three others of the brewmaster’s specials: the Belgians Matilda, Sofie, and Juliet.

Matilda used to be brewed with Brettanomyces wild yeast. It is my understanding that they now only bottle with that infernal bug. It pours the color of a persimmon, crystal clear despite warnings of “a sediment”. The lace-inducing off-white head is not nearly voluminous enough. Matilda has a delicate fruity nose: mostly raspberries, cherries, and honeydew. There is a little spicy aroma and some clean malt as well. Perhaps some roses in the background.

2010-01-14-sofieThe taste is spicy with yeast character. A noticeable alcohol warming supports the peppery flavor. There is some strange fruit and caramel. A little dustiness and that strange fruit are all I get from the Brett. A bit of hop bitterness seems present but is quickly gone. Tastes just a little flat. Officially it is “dry and quenching”, but I don’t find it either. There is a prominent sweetness that turns cloying, leaving a coating on the tongue accompanied by a lingering astringency. Don’t drink this one now; sit on your bottles for two or three years.

Twenty percent of Sofie has been aged in wine barrels of undetermined varietal on a bed of orange peels. This has been blended back with the unadulterated version to yield a barely hazy, barely yellow brew. A decent amount of creamy bright-white head leaves a thick lacing on the glass. The nose is of orange peel, almost to the point of smelling like Gojo. Actually, it has the exact aroma of fermented Mountain Dew (not that I know that at all).

The taste continues the citric bomb with a tart lemon flavor. At first that character makes it seems like a Berliner weisse, but it is not nearly acidic enough and much too sweet. The lemon yields to pepper and a malt flavor. The sweetness lasts throughout and lingers on. This is a highly regarded beer, and frankly I don’t understand why. The flavor is flat and the sweetness cloying. As my brother (who likes it) said, people must like Mountain Dew more than I.

2010-01-14-julietFinally we get to Juliet, an aptly-named sour, aged in wine barrels of indeterminate variety on blackberries (at one point they were using gooseberries). Juliet is an opalescent burnt orange with some white head. The nose is deep. Fruit dominates the first level, mostly pie cherries, dates, blackberries, kiwi, and raisins. Then comes a dusty, barnyard sweetness. Deeper yet is a rich balsamic vinegar character. A complicated and intriguing aroma.

The flavor is likewise complicated. Seriously fruity at first, the sour character soon comes out. Berries, pomegranate, and a little more exotic fruit are present. A lemon tart and balsamic vinegar sour add a rich complexity. Some caramel flavor attempts a malty coup but the acidity fights on. The flavor continues to develop on the tongue for several minutes, eventually resting as a latent astringency. The sweetness and acidity balance each other initially but they both linger a bit long. An otherworldly berry taste is really the star of this beer.

++Goose Island Juliet

4.3 (4-9-9-3-18)

+Goose Island Matilda

3.6 (3-8-7-3-15)

+/-Goose Island Sofie

3.2 (4-6-6-3-13)

Buffalo Bitter

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

2010-01-09-buffalo-bitterPerhaps a strange designation for a Belgian golden ale, Buffalo Bitter is brewed by Br. Van den Bossche in Herzele, Belgium. I don’t have any background information or anecdotes about this beer or brewery. Before I opened the bottle I didn’t even know what style of beer it was.

The Buffalo Bitter is a very pale straw color, with just a hint of haze. The head is thick, moussey, and long-lasting, supported by the strong effervescence of this beer. The nose is remarkably clean for eight percent alcohol. I get whiffs of hops, a grassy character accented by flowers. Just a bit of pale malt is present as well.

The flavor is quite delicate. A green grassy and herbal flavor comes first. Despite the name there is not a whole lot of bitterness, but the hop flavor is clean and bright. This is accompanied by malty sweetness that may have a bit of corn as well. It is hard to say if that apparent character is actually simply from the pale malt and a decent addition of Belgian candi sugar. There is just a bit of residual sweetness that coats the mouth, but the carbonation balances it to maintain quaffability.

Overall, the Buffalo Bitter is light and refreshing. Like gossamer it seems to be in your grasp but then floats away. This beer reminds me that spring is not too far off (despite the two feet of snow outside my door).

+Buffalo Bitter

3.7 (4-7-7-4-15)

Sour Week: Grand Cru Bruocsella Cantillon

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009

The term “grand cru” refers to a brewery’s finest product, and it is no different at Cantillon. After three years of fermentation the very best casks at the brewery museum are selected for the Grand Cru Bruocsella. This organic lambic is unblended, so it is essentially without carbonation and has a rich, mature flavor profile. Cantillon says this beer is intended to be “not drunk but savoured”.

2009-08-18-bruocsellaThe Bruocsella is a lightly hazy golden poppy. Just a hint of activity puts a spindly thread of straw-colored head in a ring around the glass. The nose is quite funky and sour: horse blanket, vinegar, and sour laundry. There is a bit of peanut butter. The aroma is dry and dusty. Like many lambics it is woody, but taken to a new level: it reminds me of the smell of my recorder from elementary school. Notes of cheese and gym sock. Paired with all this pleasantness is a delicate fruit character of mango, papaya, and red delicious apple.

A noticeable acidity leads the flavor charge, turning more potent as it moves back in the mouth. A sharp lactic tart is augmented by a bit of acetic sour. A funky, sweaty barnyard character rides the top of the tongue. Grains come out on the sides with wheat, pale malt, and some huskiness. A bit of a jelly bean fruit character.

The flavor is rich, the sour pungent, and the carbonation nonexistent, but somehow this beer is still quite drinkable. Oh, I’m sorry Jean-Pierre, “savorable”.

++Grand Cru Bruocsella Cantillon

4.0 (3-9-7-4-17)

What a long, strange week it’s been.

Sour Week: Oude Geuze Boon Mariage Parfait

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

Mariage ParfaitBrouwerij Boon moved their brewing facilities in the 1980s from their original location where beer had been made since the 1680s. Frank Boon, who has been very helpful to “outsiders” wishing to learn the intricacies of lambic brewing, has owned and operated the brewery since 1978. They produce a faro, a framboise, a kriek, an oude kriek (old or aged kriek), a strong brown, and two gueuzes. Their Oude Gueze is a blend of six month and two year lambics. Their Mariage Parfait is the blend of the best individual casks and is intended as the brewery’s finest product.

As with a number of selections for Sour Week, I obtained this bottle at Lush on Halsted in Chicago. It is a vintage 2003, bottled, I believe, in 2007. In case you were curious, the best before date is 3 Feb 2027, totally beating my previous furthest-in-the-future best-before-date of sometime in 2013 (on a case of Unibroue Quelque Chose).

The Mariage Parfait pours a lightly hazy saffron. The head is a generous creamy long-lasting white.2009-08-16-date The nose is delicate, dry, and dusty, the aroma that of a farmhouse attic, with barnyard character drifting in through an open window. Grass and straw, dust and must, wood, horse, and goat. Subtle, complex, and elegant, the aroma on this beer seems light at first but will fill and tantalize your nose.

Initially fruity, the taste quickly turns strongly tart. A mostly clean lactic acidity is supplemented by shades of acetic. Tastes much like champagne on the middle of the tongue but with kiwi, pineapple, and grapefruit on the front and malt on the sides. Just a bit of horsey and sweaty funk. A hint of husky astringency and hop bitterness. The flavor is bold yet balanced and complex yet approachable. A quite active carbonation offsets the lingering acidity.

This delicate masterpiece is the beer to give to your (crazy) friend who loves wine but thinks all beer is gross.

++Oude Geuze Boon Mariage Parfait

4.5 (4-9-9-4-19)

Note: Both gueuze and geuze are acceptable spellings for the style.

Sour Week: Brouwerij Verhaeghe

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Tonight I will have three beers made by Brouwerij Verhaeghe in Vichte, Belgium. Verhaeghe is a great example of a west Flanders brewery, producing a number of what they call red-brown ales as well as a kriek, a pils, a few amber ales, and a Christmas beer. Tonight I will have the three sours they make that I can readily get a hold of: Echt Kriekenbier, Vichtenaar, and Duchesse de Bourgogne. Astute readers may remember that the Duchesse was the first sour I rated on this blog, as well as note that it is now the first beer I have tasted twice.

Brouwerij Verhaeghe

First up, the Echt Kriekenbier, which pours a ruby-tinted caramel amber with wisps of tan head. The nose has a delicate sweet and sour character. I notice cherries at first, then sweet malt and apple cider vinegar. A complex blend of wood, smoke, and blackberry jam makes this subtle aroma remarkably intriguing.

The sublime cherry flavor begins on the lips before the beer even enters the mouth. The balancing tart accentuates the fruit. Rich acidic and caramel malt body, a bit cidery. The cherry is supported and enhanced all the way back, remaining prominent even in the tart aftertaste. A serious kriek.

The Vichtenaar is an opalescent deep hazelnut brown with a thick and creamy tan head. It has a rich woody aroma with a strong vinegar character. The nose is also a little fruity (grapes or dates) and a little malty. Just a touch of bourbon.

This beer tastes like a strong brown aged in a balsamic vinegar cask. Rich malty toast and caramel is complimented by major woody and flavors and a mild acetic sour. Creamy and mouth filling but lively and with a lingering tart.

The Duchesse de Bourgogne is a lightly hazy dark ruby brown with a thin, long-lasting, layer of tan foam. A rich balsamic vinegar and acetic nose with significant fruit: raisins and dates but also kiwi and bubblegum. This beer has the thick aroma of an empty port barrel.

The Duchesse is relatively balanced but leans heavily towards sour. Some complexity comes from a rich oak character and fruit: raspberries, blackberries, and raisins. A robust cider vinegar sour and caramel malt sweet hold on for a bit before yielding to a fruity tart that lingers for quite a while.

+Echt Kriekenbier

4.0 (3-8-8-4-17)

+Vichtenaar

4.0 (5-7-7-5-16)

+Duchesse de Bourgogne

4.0 (3-8-8-4-17)

Sour Week: Hanssens Oudbeitje

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Among the most unique authentic fruit lambics is Oudbeitje. This strawberry lambic is brewed by Hanssens Artisanaal in Dworp, Belgium. Some of the oldest bottles I have tried taste wonderfully delicate and balanced with a subdued fruit flavor. This bottle (I got it at the Red Monk in Des Moines) was a bit more sharply sour.

The Oudbeitje pours a brilliant salmon. It is usually not too carbonated but this bottle is quite still (loose cork?). There is no head, just a few bubbles around the glass. A pungent barnyard aroma dominates, with a hidden strawberry character and hints of bubble gum and cattiness.

The taste is mouth-puckeringly sour. Very funky flavors come out: horse blanket and balsamic vinegar. There is also a definite strawberry taste. The sour fades into a long lingering tart.

+/-Hanssens Oudbeitje

3.2 (2-6-7-3-14)

Sour Week: Liefmans Frambozen Bier

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

From Brouwerij Liefmans in Oudenaarde, I’m having a bottle of Frambozen Bier.Liefmans Frambozen Bier The cork says this raspberry beer was bottled in 2004. Liefmans Frambozen is not a lambic. It, like other Flanders fruit beers, is made from a sour brown aged on raspberries.

The Frambozen Bier pours a hazy ruddy caramel. It has some creamy tan head but that dies relatively quickly. The nose is assertive and strong with raspberries. A bit of cherry and some cotton candy is present as well. If an odor can be syrupy then this one is. A light tart aroma and balsamic vinegar add complexity.

The taste is at first a rich tart fruitiness, much like a jam. The raspberries soon give way to a hearty balsamic sour. This fades to a slightly astringent malt character with notes of raspberry as well as kiwi and mango. There is a lingering sweet and sour character with hints of raspberry.

+Liefmans Frambozen Bier

3.8 (3-7-8-4-16)

Sour Week: Cantillon Iris

Monday, August 10th, 2009

To kick things off I’m having a bottle of Iris from the Brussels brewery-museum Cantillon. This is a spontaneously fermented beer in the style of lambic. However it is not a lambic because it uses fresh hops (lambic uses aged hops to avoid hop bitterness and aroma) and all barley malt (lambic uses a good percentage of unmalted wheat).Cantillon Iris Iris is dry hopped just before bottling as well. It is for these reasons brewer Jean-Pierre Van Roy calls it his ‘extreme’ beer. I brought this bottle (brewed 2005, bottled 22 March 2007) back from my visit to the Cantillon brewery, and it’s the last one I have from there.

As soon as I popped the cap the cork started inching its way out of the bottle. The pour formed a generous head for such a still beer, proof of the high levels of proteins and tannins present; however, without lively carbonation it was doomed to fall quickly. Iris is a wonderfully hazy goldenrod with head the color of cream. The nose is quite strong: very fruity, with a persistent earthiness and notes of barnyard. The fruit is a little citric with some apple, and the barnyard is hay and horse blanket. A clean and spicy noble hop aroma abounds (I won’t say that again for a week). This complexity makes me wonder why there aren’t more hoppy sours. As a rule I don’t give perfect scores but this nose is worth ten points.

The taste is at once tart and bitter, with hints of fruit, all in all reminding me of rhubarb. The tip of my tongue is almost knocked out, but the intensity quickly subsides. There are but moments of spicy and herbal hop flavor before the barn doors open. A collection of horse and goat finds the middle and back of my tongue. Some malt character is present. There is just a hint of sweetness, perhaps from the fruit flavor.

++Cantillon Iris

4.5 (4-10-8-4-19)

Chimay Red Label

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

The Chimay Brewery, one of the seven surviving Trappist breweries, is located within the walls of Scourmont Abbey in the village of Chimay, Belgium. Their red label is officially called Première to reflect the fact that it was the first (and, for many years, the only) beer brewed by the monks of Chimay. Chimay PremiereIn addition to their great beers these monks make a variety of tasty cheeses. The red label is usually classified as a Belgian dubbel due to its dark color and malt character.

Première pours a very hazy cidery reddish-brown. The creamy off-white head doesn’t last nearly long enough. The nose is light and dry, with just a bit of malt caramel. A hint of fermentation fruitiness comes through as apricots and pears.

The flavor is dry and lively as well. The malt and yeast flavors are tantalizingly delicate. Toasty, lightly fruity, and a bit dusty. Very active carbonation. This is a remarkably smooth and light beer at 7% alcohol: drinkable yet complex.

+Chimay Première

3.5 (3-7-7-4-14)