100 Belgian Beers: The Last Of 2009
Hm, it's June and I've still not written up all of the Belgian beers I drank in 2009 in my , supposed, two year project to drink my way through 100 Belgian Beers To Try Before You Die!
So, being so behind in writing them up I've hardly drunk any this year which means I'm going to have to do some heroic drinking to get a respectable total by the end of this year. I knew there was a good reason I didn't become a "proper" beer blogger.
Anyway, this is the last couple from last year, which put me exactly half way through the list. I also drank just over 50 other Belgian beers in 2009, so I managed over a hundred all told. So a pretty good round up of what's happening in Belgium really.
49 - Sint-Bernadus Tripel
The fourth of four beers from this brewery on the list. A light golden, very drinkable beer with a bit less of an alcohol kick than some of the style. Then again, at "only" 8% this is towards the lower end of a typical Tripel. There's a distinct coriander taste in there and it manages to be both bitter and sweet at different times. (If you're thinking coriander in beer sounds strange then a) it's quite traditional, probably pre-dating the use of hops, and b) drink some Nethergate Umbel Magna.)
Pretty good actually, though for some reason, with the possible exception of the Abt 12, I tend to forget how good Sint Bernadus beer. I'm not quite sure why this is, I suppose I just consider it workaday good stuff rather than shout from the rooftops beer. The fact that I keep confusing it with Van Eecke's Kappitel beers doesn't help. Which is all a bit damning with faint praise, but it's really worth drinking. As I tend to remember when I do.
Oh, and I'll be staying at the B&B next to the brewery in just over a week. So I think I might remember them better in the future.
50 - Van Den Bossche Buffalo
This is a Belgian stout called Buffalo, but isn't to be mistaken for another beer from the same brewery called Buffalo Belgian Stout. Except I did, and drank that one earlier last year. That was 8% and apparently brewed mainly for export to the US, whereas this is a weaker version at either 5.5% or 5.7%, depending on wether you believe the label on the front or the back of the bottle. So a pretty confusing beer all round.
I'm also rarely impressed by a Belgian stout. I can think of about three which are decent but it does seem to be a style that they don't often try, and when they do they mostly shouldn't bother. This one seems to be somewhere between a German schwarzbier and a stout. There's a bit of lactic sourness, some coffee, and a slightly sweet finish, though not as bad as some I've tried. Pleasant enough, but not Earth shattering.
Apparently it was first brewed in 1907 and named after Buffalo Bill, whose traveling circus was visiting the town it's brewed in at the time. It's just a bit of a shame that that's more interesting than the beer.
Right, that's 2009 finished. I'll see if I can get any of the 2010 ones written up before I end up in Belgium next week.
So, being so behind in writing them up I've hardly drunk any this year which means I'm going to have to do some heroic drinking to get a respectable total by the end of this year. I knew there was a good reason I didn't become a "proper" beer blogger.
Anyway, this is the last couple from last year, which put me exactly half way through the list. I also drank just over 50 other Belgian beers in 2009, so I managed over a hundred all told. So a pretty good round up of what's happening in Belgium really.
49 - Sint-Bernadus Tripel
The fourth of four beers from this brewery on the list. A light golden, very drinkable beer with a bit less of an alcohol kick than some of the style. Then again, at "only" 8% this is towards the lower end of a typical Tripel. There's a distinct coriander taste in there and it manages to be both bitter and sweet at different times. (If you're thinking coriander in beer sounds strange then a) it's quite traditional, probably pre-dating the use of hops, and b) drink some Nethergate Umbel Magna.)
Pretty good actually, though for some reason, with the possible exception of the Abt 12, I tend to forget how good Sint Bernadus beer. I'm not quite sure why this is, I suppose I just consider it workaday good stuff rather than shout from the rooftops beer. The fact that I keep confusing it with Van Eecke's Kappitel beers doesn't help. Which is all a bit damning with faint praise, but it's really worth drinking. As I tend to remember when I do.
Oh, and I'll be staying at the B&B next to the brewery in just over a week. So I think I might remember them better in the future.
50 - Van Den Bossche Buffalo
This is a Belgian stout called Buffalo, but isn't to be mistaken for another beer from the same brewery called Buffalo Belgian Stout. Except I did, and drank that one earlier last year. That was 8% and apparently brewed mainly for export to the US, whereas this is a weaker version at either 5.5% or 5.7%, depending on wether you believe the label on the front or the back of the bottle. So a pretty confusing beer all round.
I'm also rarely impressed by a Belgian stout. I can think of about three which are decent but it does seem to be a style that they don't often try, and when they do they mostly shouldn't bother. This one seems to be somewhere between a German schwarzbier and a stout. There's a bit of lactic sourness, some coffee, and a slightly sweet finish, though not as bad as some I've tried. Pleasant enough, but not Earth shattering.
Apparently it was first brewed in 1907 and named after Buffalo Bill, whose traveling circus was visiting the town it's brewed in at the time. It's just a bit of a shame that that's more interesting than the beer.
Right, that's 2009 finished. I'll see if I can get any of the 2010 ones written up before I end up in Belgium next week.