Beer Report
Below
are the notes I took while drinking some wonderful beers across western
Europe. My beer palette and vocabulary are not without limit, but I hope
you enjoy reading through my observations.
Gollem Café
-Amsterdam, Netherlands
Small brown café with a few street-side seats, seats at the bar,
and a few tables on an upper level. I
could call this place my second home if it existed in St. Paul.
The beer selection is staggering. They
have around 150 choices by my estimate, which are written on chalkboards hanging
around the perimeter of the bar. The
bartender said the place is only 28 years old but it feels older.
Hundreds of bottles were placed on a ledge that ran all around.
I even spotted some US ones: Rogue
Special Bitter, Sierra Nevada Barleywine, and
Sam Adams Boston Lager were all pretty close to me.
The music of the day was funk, mostly older.
La Rochefortoise Blond 6.2%
tap
from Belgium. Yeasty, wheat(?) aroma. Warming mouthfeel. Malty. Strong alcohol. Leaning towards sweet side. Great beer.
Mother Superior Tripel “a good metal band name” -Jamie
on tap
Creamy head. Rich gold, copper color. “Belgian” aroma. Taste is pure tripel, sweet malty and strong. These Belgians go straight to your skull but dang are the good.
Westmalle Dubbel
bottle. 7%
I think I can get this is US but have never tried it, and it might taste different here.
On first taste it might be my least favorite so far. Had layer of yeast sediment on bottom (ah, just like homebrew). Taste is good, almost too spicy or husky like it might be past its prime(?)
In De Wildeman -Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Accidentally found this place when
heading
to
dinner
and because I had read about it, we stopped in for a quick glass.
It was not as charming or warm as Gollem but the beer selection is about as large.
Witkap Tripel
bottle.
Not as good as Mother Superior Tripel. Little more sourness, maybe bitter too, but not hoppy. Flavor of yeast? Alcohol is noticeable. Still a unique Belgian flavor.
‘t Brugs Beertje -Brugge,
Belgium
Reported to have 300 choices.
Above where I sat, the ceiling was covered with dried hop vines and flowers.
It was in here I remember seeing an older lady having a glass of a fine
Belgian ale. In all of the bars in
Amsterdam
and
Brugge people drank good beer.
Budmillercoors
was
most
often
not
even
available.
De Gouden Boom -Brugs Blond 2.00
tap
Fairly light, slightly sweet, some tart or bitterness due to yeast, maybe some hop bitterness. Sort of refreshing. Might be better on a hot day but it’s about 60 and fairly overcast.
Jacobins Kriek 2.00
tap
Very nice. Cherry, sweet sour aroma. Pink frothy head. It was knifed off at the top by the bartender, like many poured beers here. Fruity cherry taste with sour finish.
Celtica -Brugge,
Belgium
An Irish pub in Belgium. We went there because they advertised live music. The food was good (we had some chunky fries with Irish cheddar and bacon) and the music was pleasant (the singer with an acoustic guitar and drum machine played “All Along the Watchtower,” “Help!,” “Joker,” “My Girl,” “Dock of the Bay,” “Stand By Me,” and others.) This place is more charming than expected. Our table was a large wooden barrel. Wooden casks were suspended from the ceiling. The light was low with candles lit around the place.
Hoegaarden Wit 1.50 half glass
tap
Tastes better than when I’ve had it in US. Crisp, cloudy, yeasty, fruity little citrous hint. Nice beer.
[A bottle of Bud at this place is 3.00; a bottle of Chimay Blue 3.00; Duvel 3.00, Mort Subite Framboise 2.25; Liefmans Kriek 2.25, Orval 3.00; Westmalle Trippel 3.00. Let's see, Bud or Chimay for the same price...]
Jupiler 1.50 half glass
tap
No aroma. Slightly skunked(?) Not far from basic pilsner. I think this is kind of like their easy drinking, common beer.
Chimay Blue 3.00 33 cl bottle
9% Peres Trappistes
#$*&! This is a complex beer. You can taste little else like this unless you are drinking abbey/trappist beers from Belgium. It’s hard to describe the taste. Matly, strong, alcohol, hop presence, but what else can I say? Slightly tangy, subtle fruit tone, rich body, ass-kickin’ goodness!
Mort Subite Framboise 2.25 bottle
Raspberry aroma. Taste is sweet raspberry with only a little sour. Wow. Really drinkable, fruity, refreshing. This would be great on a hot day. A wonderful drink that I wonder if I can get in the US. Haven’t heard of Mort Subite before. A sweet lambic. Jamie calls it “drinkable.”
Duvel 3.00
tap
Lighter in color than I thought. Tastes familiar. Smokiness? Something slightly unusual. Tastes more like a tripel or something sweet/malty. Doesn’t taste like an abbey beer too much (is it?) It’s very good and strong, whatever it is.
Kind of a blurry shot, but you can get an idea as to the modest (ha) selection of beer available at a Belgian beer store.
Café on the 7th Floor of some building
-Brugge, Belgium
Belle-vue Kriek 2.00
A little more sour than some of the other lambics I’ve had. Great bright ruby red color. Yes, more sour. More bacteria used? Less fruit? Still is a complex, interesting drink.
Above you can see the very narrow
alley in which Staminee de Garre hides.
Staminee de Garre -Brugge,
Belgium
This place takes a close eye to find. As you can see the alley is very narrow, and the bar is back in the alley a little ways. The beer menu was hand-written and over 8 pages long. I’m sure this is a local favorite. A small bowl of cheese was served with my beer.
Jacobins Gueze 1.60
bottle
The least offensive gueze I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. Not too vinegary. Almost a malty aroma, but a sour mash taste when drinking, not altogether unpleasant. I like it more than any gueze I sampled at the BJCP class.
Trippel Van DeGarre 2.75
tap -I believe it is made by or for the bar.
Poured with a 3” head. What a great beer. At first it’s very sweet, malty, then in the middle it gets warmer, and it finishes with an alcoholic heat. Very full and complex and terrific. Where does this stuff come from and can I live there?
Bar/Internet Café -Blois,
France
Wieckse Wit 2.30
Sour. Could be
a little skunked. I wouldn’t be
surprised if this thing didn’t have the cleanest lines.
Not the greatest wit I have had but it’s something to sip while Jamie
takes her turn on the computer.
unrecorded pub -Brugge,
Belgium
Affligem 2.80 25 cl glass (about 8 oz)
Very good. Fairly
light color, straw gold. Belgian
aroma and nice sweet malty taste with bitter balance. Very enjoyable.
Purchased from a market -Antibes,
France
Ch’ti Blonde 75 cl bottle for 2.63
Clear gold color. Not much aroma. Clean, malty taste. Crisp. More sweet than bitter. Clean finish. Not completely unlike my memory of the other French beer I have had, Fischer. But this is better (and rather cheap). I’ve been drinking mostly wine in all of France but I’m glad I tried this.
Purchased from a market
-Interlaken, Switzerland
Rugenbrau 1.30 SF (about $.80 US) 33 cl
bottle 4.8%
Very clear. Light yellow color. Drinking it warm because I have no fridge. Head kind of frothy, lasts a while. Little aroma, or maybe a slight whiff of malt. Taste is crisp. Would be better a little cooler. Not unlike Grain Belt Premium. A drinkable lawnmower beer.
Feldschlosschen (pictured above) 1.30 SF (about $.80 US) 33 cl
bottle 4.8%
Says it’s a lager. I bet the first one was too. They taste similar. Only difference is with this one I’m getting a weird spicy almost flora finish. Could be the bittering hop. This one is fine too but would be better a little cooler.
Alex Gastro -Mainz,
Germany
This place was the closest thing
to a trendy sports bar-like place we entered.
Yet it was still cute with cool lamps
and a well decorated room. We sat
half indoors and half outdoors as the openable store-front wall was open.
Franziskaner -Hefe Weizenbier 3.50 .5 L
tap
Nice, tall wheat beer glass. Cloudy copper straw yellow color. Wheat beer/yeasty aroma. Taste actually not exceptional, but good. Not vastly better than American hefe. Maybe we make them well or this isn’t top of crop. Definitely drinkable.
Duckstein 2.30 33 cl
tap
Slightly darker than normal blond lager. Not sure what kind it is. Tastes like those other beers I had, blond lagers, but might have slightly more malt(?) Not the greatest but OK. Actually, after another taste it’s not that great. I wouldn’t order it again.
Diebels Altbier 2.30 33 cl
bottle
Reddish brown color. Not much aroma, slightly malty. Tate definitely contains a burnt nutty flavor, like a coffee toffee blackness or something. It’s a little different but not great.
So far out of my first 3 beers in Germany, only one has been good. Hope for better tomorrow.
Unrecorded restaurant
-Bigen, Germany
Kirner Pils 2.30 (?) .4 L
tap
Not much aroma, but wonderful taste. Smooth, more sweet than our pils. Little darker than light straw color. Fairly clear. “No bad kick at the end” and “I could drink that” -Jamie. By the way, Jamie hates beer.
No bitter finish. Some hop bitterness in taste. Recognize the hop but don’t know it by name. Quite good. This might be approximating the great Pils I have heard about.
Unrecorded bar -Mainz,
Germany
Paulaner Dunkel Weizen 3.00 (?) .5 L
Head retaining itself (it did through the whole glass). Can’t get much aroma aside from typical wheat beer. Taste is grand. Sweet, yeasty, really smooth and delicious. Cloudy, murky brown color. About the color Jamie says “like when you poop and pee and let it sit and mingle.” Real appetizing. Damn fine beer. Think it is from Munich. This bar seems to carry mostly Paulaner. I know I can get this is US, but on tap, served by a German barkeep, in a German bar while eating schnitzel? I requested a very good local specialty and this was one of the suggested choices.
Paulaner Pils 2.00 (?) 33 cl (?)
Not too nuts about it. Not as good as Kirner. Kind of bitter finish. Not extremely balanced(?) or just not quite sweet or smooth enough for my taste. Color is light yellow, and clear. Not my favorite.
Café Belgique -Amsterdam,
Netherlands
This café has a beer menu with
20+ pages dedicated to describing the beers they carry as well as a short
history of Belgian beer, and finally more description of general styles.
They are obviously interested in educating people about the beer they
serve and want them to better appreciate beer in general.
When is the last time you saw such a menu in US?
It is “one of the smallest pubs in Amsterdam” and by my count could
only hold about 20 people. It keeps
8 beers on tap with some rotating, and about 30 bottle choices or so.
It
was
rather
dim
even
in
the
daytime,
and
I
had
a
great
time
sampling
a
few
beers
and
taking
notes
while
Jamie
visited
the Anne Frank House.
Mort Subite -Peche Lambic 3.20 25 cl
4.5%
Sweet, fruity strong peach aroma. First taste is sweet. Then a little sourness comes in the middle, and there is a bitter-sweet (no pun intended) finish. Very good. I like these Mort Subite lambics. Color is hard to see because it is rather dim in this brown café.
V.L.O. 2.80 33 cl (?)
tap 7%
Creamy head. Blonde amber in color. Amsterdam beer. Glad I tried it. It’s great. Pretty sweet, malty, not too strong tasting so the alcohol is hidden. Bitterness is well balanced, noticeable and present in finish. But beer is not too strong or too bitter. Reminds me of something but can’t think of it. Some good beer I’ve had. It’s kind of spicy. Hop aroma. Maybe it tastes a little like an IPA. I think that is it. Very nice beer.
La Chouffe -Blonde Speciale 3.20 25 cl
tap 8%
Foamy head with some creaminess. It’s pretty blond in color but cloudy. Could be because it’s my 3rd Belgian in just over an hour, but the first impression is, yes, wonderful taste, but the alcohol hit me as well. It is not meant to be disparaging to say this beer tastes like a fairly “normal” Belgian blonde. No unpleasant bitter sharpness or excessive carbonation. Just a wonderful strong sweet semi-clean tasting ale.
Not sure where the cloudiness comes from. Don’t detect much yeast. Maybe some bottle conditioning or maybe not filtered.
The book (menu) says it resembles a white beer. Not sure about that. Little strong and no detectable citrous. It is said to be “unpasturerized and unfiltered” with no additives, and made only from local spring water.
Purchased in
Amsterdam and brought back to US:
1 -75 cl bottle Urthel Quentem tripel. 9% 4.19
1 -75 cl bottle Hertog Jan dubbel 7% 3.49
1 -75 cl bottle Chimay Grand Reserve 1999(!) 9% 4.59
The other two bottles (on the
ends) are wine bottles which were gifts of Ale, our Rome host.