Belgian Beer no.163: La Cherie

Oh la la :)

Well, nothing more. 5%, cherry beer, by Val de Sambre. Very refreshing, very nice, very light for a Beer Weekend.

Belgian Beer no.161 and 162: Ada Blonde and Ada Brune

Brasserie de Val de Sambre / Brasserie de l'Abbaye d'Alune - who knows? Another new beer tried during the beer weekend. Just for info, before you start wondering: the beer glasses you see behind the beers I blog about are not actual beers drank by us. Some yes but most of them just empty glasses left by the many (many!) visitors.

Back to the Ada beers. The blond and the brune one. The blond one, a strong 7% beer. Quite hoppy. The brune one, again a 7% beer, a little on the burnt toast/ caramel side.

Belgian Beer no.160: Arend

Lots of things make a lot more sense after the Beer Weekend. Arend was a totally new beer for most of us. Arend = Eagle (which explains the logo!). Brewed by De Ryck Brewery, I tried the very amber beer (5.5 % - notice the low alcohol trend? No worries, that will change).

De Ryck seems to be a very small, family owned brewery. Besides the amber, they also brew a dark brown beer, a cherry beer and a Christmas beer. Yey, more beers for me!

Belgian Beer no.159: Newton

First one in the Beer Weekend batch: Newton. Experience taught me that it is always better to start with the light beers at a festival - this way both liver and blog will benefit.

So I started with a Newton: part blanche, part apple juice. (Get it. Newton - Apple?) Sort of a cider. Very refreshing and pleasant if you are into ciders (I am!). At 3/5% also a breeze. From Brasserie Lefebvre.

Beer Weekend ...

... one down, one to go. Bruxellensis starts today.

Beer Weekend

Ooohhh! Rough!

Belgian Beer no.26 - Brugge Tripel revisited

Micheal does it a lot more justice than I did way back when.

Text and photo: Michael

Website/ blog:

Seeing Andreea’s write up on Brugs Tarwebier reminded me that I had a Brugge Tripel on my ever decreasing shelf of beers from my last trip to Belgium.

I’m still a little confused if there is a difference between “Brugs” and “Brugge”, ( anyone ?) so for clarity, the bottle suggests the brewery is De Gouden Boom / N.V Palm.

This is one of my favourites. At 8.7%, and being a tripel, it is certainly a beer that you have to take your time over. It’s very malty and fruity, and from the first sip, you just know that it’s going to blow your head off if drunk hastily.

It’s difficult to identify the constituents of the “fruitiness”, but that’s what I really like about it – it’s very complex on the palette, and warm with it.

Belgian Beer no.158: Brugs Tarwebier

There is no mystery to this: we've been to Bruges. Which means that we had to try the local beers (of course!). Problem is some have already made it on to Belgian Beers. Not the Brugs Tarwebier.

We tried the Tarwebier. At 5% an ideal summer white beer. Although it wasn't too hot outside. But a nice beer. Maybe a little uneventful?

Editing after Boak's comment: problem is the photo shows the Brugs Tarwebier (a white beer) bottle with the Brugs Blond (a blonde beer) glass. A little confusing, I know. But two different beers. One is a blanche (a white), the other a blond, and a little stronger at 6.5 % . In conclusion we had the white beer.

Belgian Beer no.157: Moeder Overste

It was high time for some new beers. Strangely enough there was very little beer tasting lately. Then again there are not one, but two beer festivals coming up where we'll get more than our fair share of tastings.

Moeder Overste. The beer was on offer as the beer de jour. Tried it. A little too strong for my taste (8%) but a very nice beer. A triple style, which apparently needs to be served with a head. Same brewery as for Belgian Beer no.114, Saison 1900.

Session 6 and Belgian Beer no.156: Hoegaarden Rosée

'When God created man, it was just for laughs!' or maybe 'The difference between a man and E.T.? E.T. calls home.'

This and many other 'female' jokes accompany the newly launched publicity campaign for Hoegaarden Rosée, a newby on the market. Clearly, the beer was 1 - designed for the summer and 2 - aimed at women. So I went and got myself a six-pack (how girly does this sound, eh?)

A fruit beer (raspberry) combining the flavors of the traditional Hoegaarden White now with hints of fruit and summer. And my entry for Session 6 hosted by Beer, Beats & Bites: The Session!

Taste? Well it's a fruit beer. I had a very long love affairs with cherry beers and still like an occasional Kriek. But I kind of prefer the Blanche avec Citron (a Hoegaarden White with a slice of lemon) over their rosier version. Plus the Hoegaarden Rosee almost doesn't taste like beer (it's a 4.5%). It does look very pretty though. Very pink.