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BEERS #2 - Beyond the Pale

Started by Shoulders?-Stomach!, March 30, 2020, 03:56:03 PM

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king_tubby


Pingers

Does anyone know a reliable UK source of Danish beer? It's coming round to that time of year for Jylebryg, and I would also dearly love to get my filthy mitts on some Tuborg Classic (a dark lager).

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Aside of craft beer, I'm afraid not. Have you tried

https://bottleshops.online/

This place is a directory of online bottle shops where you can get a crate of beers in. There may be Danish stuff lurking about.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

It's obvious Lockdown #2 is on the way, so as a pre-emptive strike I have gone back on Speciaalbierpakket.nl to order a shipment of Belgian beer.

Even if the UK government keeps pubs open when mass graves are being dug into school playing fields, it will still be a nice Reminiscipackage to relieve the good times:

QuoteSt. Bernardus Tripel 33cl   1       € 1,80   
St. Bernardus Pater 6 33cl   1       € 1,80   
Rochefort 6   1       € 1,80   
La Trappe Tripel   1       € 1,80   
St. Bernardus Prior 8 33cl   1       € 1,80   
Duchesse de Bourgogne   1       € 1,80   
Corsendonk Agnus   1       € 1,80   
Augustijn Blond   1       € 1,80   
Leffe Tripel   1       € 1,80   
Brugse Zot Blond   1       € 1,85   
Karmeliet Tripel   1       € 1,85   
La Trappe Quadrupel   1       € 1,95   
Gouden Carolus Classic   1       € 1,95   
Val-Dieu Brune 33cl   1       € 1,95   
Gulden Draak 9000 Quadrupel   1       € 1,95   
Keizer Karel Goud Blond   1       € 1,95   
Rochefort 8   1       € 2,00   
Val-Dieu Tripel 33cl   1       € 2,00   
Ter Dolen Tripel   1       € 2,00   
Wilderen Tripel Kanunnik   1       € 2,00   
St. Bernardus Abt 12 33cl   1       € 2,05   
Gruut Blond   1       € 2,15   
Rodenbach Grand Cru   1       € 2,20   
Weihenstephaner Vitus   1       € 2,25   
Deugniet   1       € 2,25   
Urthel Samaranth   1       € 2,25   
Scheldebrouwerij Zeezuiper   1       € 2,15   
Fort Lapin Tripel 8 1          € 2,15   

Mainly ones I'm familiar with, a few new ones thrown in to try. With a shipment to the UK being €19,95 this averaged out at £2.50 a bottle, which is much cheaper than the likes of BeerWulf, BeerHawk, Beers of Europe (I suppose because their business adds another step in the process). Westmalle Tripel is £2.50 in Morrisons and they're kind of a big deal, so fuck it, why not just get a Bernardo box in + cut out the middle men?

For those tempted to visit the vaunted Belgium in a Box, which is still subject to long delays apparently, I ordered this lot yesterday and at the time of writing it has already been packaged,  sent to the sorting office for shipping and been sorted. The pandemic shipment arrived in something like 4 days, which takes some good luck with shipment timings but beats waiting 2 months or something like the unlucky Blodders suffered.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Apparently it's getting delivered today. Lightning service from the Dutch lads.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on October 09, 2020, 08:56:06 AM
Apparently it's getting delivered today. Lightning service from the Dutch lads.

Arrived this morning. So somewhere between Wednesday evening (what I would assume was after close of business) and 11.30 this morning they managed to assemble and box the order, have it posted, collected and sorted for shipment, shipped from Netherlands to the UK, checked and passed over to Hermes who then logged it, shipped it and delivered it.

Fuck me.

Meanwhile Parcel Force managed to deliver the present to my sister for her civil partnership (not beer) to the wrong address, where some cunt has signed for it.

DocDaneeka

Not got the new Rochefort Triple extra Blond? Come on sort it out Shoulders!

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: DocDaneeka on October 09, 2020, 02:38:25 PM
Not got the new Rochefort Triple extra Blond? Come on sort it out Shoulders!

Wasnae there to buy. Would have got some if it was at a reasonable price. I'll do my usual and wait for the rush to die down.

Pale Rochefort though, something not right about that. Something was nice about a brewery doing dark ales only. Even U Fleku in Prague is now brewing a Svetly Lezak after decades of having only one wonderful dark lager. Dny jsou pryč.

Shoulders?-Stomach!



Weihenstephaner Vitus (7.7% Weizenbock) **** and a half
Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Freising

I know this beer is one several here will have tried but we are staring into the Covid abyss again, and so I may as well fill the void with beer reviews.

Weizenbock is one of my favourite styles of beer. There are light weizenbocks like this one and Ayinger, as well as darker ones (eg. Schneider Weiss Aventinus, Erdinger Pikantus). They're usually indulgent, often incredible.

This is a fair bit stronger than the 5.4% hefeweissbier, which is an already pretty full flavoured banana/clove classic, rendered super drinkable by the thick, yet light wheat. Is there a liquid equivalent of fluffy? Sorry for falling an adjective short. Liquid fluffy is the placemarker until we find the right term.

While the standard wheatbeer has a slight orange/amber tinge, the colour of Vitus is slightly yellow/straw like, and of course unfiltered. With Vitus all the flavour elements are more pronounced. Immediately a whole lot more spice is noticeable up front and after swallowing, which results in a distinctive finish, not unlike Gruit, which was a common feature of Northern European beer before the art of hopping was understood and properly utilised. The head on it remains in place the whole way through, always a good sign (clean your glass first too).

As with a lot of traditional brewers no Weihenstephan beer, including their doppelbock Korbinian, is as in-your-face as craft varieties. They are all pitched to balance flavour and drinkability, and this shows with the Vitus. It wouldn't stand out from a third of it, but you'd definitely take a pint of it over some craft beers. There is a skill to brewing strong beer that doesn't taste boozy and if anyone was really interested they could take a course at the campus based around Weihenstephan's brewery which is part of the local college, another one of the marvellous things about this brewery. Having visited the site there is an almost monastic diligence to everything. A bit like Weltenberger and Kloster Andechs, they brew high volumes but the standard - for now - stays very high.

Ayinger weizenbock is a banana bomb sold in a smaller bottle, but this one is unashamedly sold by the half litre, because that makes sense based on how it is to drink. You can let a mouthful linger, or let it do the work in the background as you focus on something else - both are rewarding. You'd feel short changed by 0.33l of this.

phes

I've been using my local on the way home from work for a pint as I can go straight to the garden and it's empty, and I just order via table service. I say enjoy, but half the cask beers are off within a day of them going on and even the keg beers are on their last legs. I can't work out whether the problem is at pub or brewery end. Don't expect either as they're a decent pub that prides itself on decent, well kept beer, and the beers are from breweries I trust. Covid I guess. Sad state of affairs for a place that charges higher end prices for a well kept, quality product

Shoulders?-Stomach!



Rodenbach Grand Cru - 6% Flanders Red *****
Brasserie Rodenbach (Palm owned)

Flanders Red, ah, a truly love it or hate it style. Just as some cannot fathom sour beer, a bigger proportion of beer lovers presumably cannot imagine what a slightly tannic vinegary sour reddish brown ale could add to their lives. To older beer fans and to people who simply hate sour/vinegar the thought alone is repulsive. I can already picture BlodwynPig's face curling up, and I squirm in delight as he does so.

They have rebadged the beer for the 3rd time since I first came across it. The latest rather plain grey effort seems to be an attempt to woo the craft crowd if you ask me.  But no matter....

Sour beer was not an acquired taste for me, as I have always loved sweet/sour mixtures of food and drink. Some krieks (Belgian beer with sour cherry) lean towards this - especially Liefmans, and that's how I got into Oud bruin/Flanders Red. Careful oak aging is how this beer develops its complexity, far more than the pretty tame Rodenbach, which is nice enough (and among the cheaper beer options out in Belgium).

The colour is deep brown, with an aroma of damp cellars and faint vinegar that unlike normal beers really expresses its origins. It really has been steeping away somewhere cold and damp. The first taste is immediately of medium sourness, the flavours blended somewhere between juicy cherries, brown ale and drying woodiness. All are elements which dance in and out, depending which angle you focus on.

At 6% this isn't intended to be some extreme experiment but a realistically robust beer that stands up to the distinctive sour flavour. It's also a great value beer, because you don't need a lot of in your mouth to quench your thirst or to expose it. A trickle more than a sip of whisky will do it. And so you can make this beer last for an hour if you really want to. At the core of this beer - lingering, indulgent, deep flavour, and yet so effervescently tart is such an exquisite balance. Some beers are straight up made for people and this one was made for me.

Given the volume they produce of it, you can find Rodenbach Grand Cru in pretty much any European city somewhere. It has a reasonable claim to being, if not a mainstream beer, then the step below that. A commonly available beer in beery circles. It is probably my favourite beer on that step.

Also try: Vichtenaar, Vanderghinste, Bacchus Oud Bruin, Duchess de Bourgogne, Ichtegems, De Struise Ypres, Cuvee de Jacobins, Cuvee Freddy, t'Verzet, Liefmans Goudenband (slightly different but not miles away)

Ferris

Grand Cru is fucking mega. Terrific beer, a real eye-opener on how good a style you aren't familiar with (Flemish red for me) can be.

Can't get it here though can I? Have to import the cunt. Ridiculous.

Blue Jam

#882
Just took delivery of some Rodenbach Classic (and some Palm!) as it happens:

https://www.beerhawk.co.uk/belgian-mixed-case



The Wipers Times 14 by Kazematter sounds a bit mindbending, anyone familiar with that one? Going to sample these over the weekend, got some posh cheese and posh crackers in for the occasion.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

If you ever get any more Belgian stuff in I recommend bookmarking Speciaalbierpakket.nl. A much more interesting range and cheaper than Beer Hawk even with shipping. 8 of those bottles are generally available in the big supermarkets these days too. I noticed their pre-selected packs tend to throw in a few bottles that come way, way under the overall price per bottle cost in order to cleave a nice profit.

Didn't Heineken or some similar operation take over Beer Hawk not long back? Certainly explains the selection there. Nearly all those are macro-produced now. Hopefully some of those (looking at St Feuillien, Tripel Karmeliet, Pater 6 in particular) will go down well.

Shoulders?-Stomach!



Zeezuiper (8% Belgian Tripel) ****
Scheldebrouwerij, Meer, Belgium

The bottle doesn't advertise it's a Tripel in the enormous way most brands do, in fact that element seems low key. A lot of the branding talks about it being a golden blonde, which of course it is. The label is definitely tilting towards the craft market, perhaps trying to face both ways. There's a 25th anniversary badge on it as well.

The first thing to note on pouring is that the beer is unfiltered and natural sediment is floating everywhere in the glass.

At first, in the mouth there is a rush of bitter yet dramatic effervescence reacting on your tongue and filling the mouth. This is rounded off with yeastiness and spice which come to the fore more after the first mouthful. On swallowing the initial chemistry-lab-in-your-gob sensation morphs to smooth and creamier. The tiny fine bubbles in this beer make a lovely head and it affects the texture pleasantly. The foam lacings swirling the glass are a good tell of a quality beer, or at least a beer in the condition it was intended to be in.

The flavour overall is well balanced. Citrus fruit, spice and that typical unfiltered tang marry together really well to produce a lingering, pretty satisfying aftertaste. Although I love the texture as it slips down, perhaps the interaction on the back of the tongue could be better, it may be slightly meek considering its an 8% beer. Nonetheless, very impressive to produce a strong ale that is so drinkable.

One really noticeable difference between this one and normal Tripels is the bitterness. It really is distinctly more bitter than some of the candy-cane sweetness in other Belgian beer, while still staying true to the style.

A distinctive effort, and largely successful. Enjoyed it and I'd have it again.

Blue Jam

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on October 15, 2020, 06:32:10 PM
If you ever get any more Belgian stuff in I recommend bookmarking Speciaalbierpakket.nl. A much more interesting range and cheaper than Beer Hawk even with shipping. 8 of those bottles are generally available in the big supermarkets these days too. I noticed their pre-selected packs tend to throw in a few bottles that come way, way under the overall price per bottle cost in order to cleave a nice profit.

£30 for 15 beers seemed alright, plus I had some loyalty points to spend, but yes, chucking two bottles of Leffe in there is a bit cheeky. There are plenty I haven't tried but next time I'll be out for some more obscure beers, so thanks for the link.

So far:

PALM- nice enough but a bit meh really.

Grisette Blanche Witbier- very subtle orange and coriander flavours, as they should be, mostly on the nose more than the palate. Very refreshing and very pleasant indeed.

Ferris

Palm always makes me incredibly ill for some reason. Only had it twice, both times I was laid up for two days. Watch that.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: FerriswheelBueller on October 16, 2020, 07:28:36 PM
Palm always makes me incredibly ill for some reason. Only had it twice, both times I was laid up for two days. Watch that.

Yeah...should be a safe one. I guess it's real dogshite, which won't help.

Blue Jam

Finished the bottle. Will report back. Think it'll be fine, it was inoffensive enough.

Shoulders, where could I get some more Fort Lapin please?

Shoulders?-Stomach!


Blue Jam

Excellent, cheers. This week I just wanted to get some beers with next day delivery but I shall plan ahead next time.

On The Wipers Times now. Not mind-bending, not your typical sour beer (in that it's not very sour at all), just very richly-flavoured and very nice indeed.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Which Wipers is that one?

I thought they only did a blonde, tripel and fruit?

Blue Jam


Shoulders?-Stomach!

You say that tasted sour? It's a multigrain belgian blonde so may have tasted weirdly herbaly/floral but sour would be a duff note.

Ferris

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on October 16, 2020, 11:46:31 PM
You say that tasted sour? It's a multigrain belgian blonde so may have tasted weirdly herbaly/floral but sour would be a duff note.

Perhaps our old friend brett(anomyces) has struck again!

Blue Jam

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on October 16, 2020, 11:46:31 PM
You say that tasted sour? It's a multigrain belgian blonde so may have tasted weirdly herbaly/floral but sour would be a duff note.

Nah, I made a mistake there, think I saw it described as a sour beer but it's not. Was very nice though!

Just had the Rodenbach Classic. Was like drinking red wine vinegar. Not for me, sorry.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Probably best you steer clear of Rodenbach Grand Cru & Duchess de Bourgogne then! Both are oaky vinegary majesty.

Anyway, returning to the point of my post, another paroxysm of praise for Pilsner Urquell.

It's kind of an odd beer, particularly for lager, in that consecutive mouthfuls can feel so different, the flavour and texture are so much bolder. It throws itself at you, yet in its haste and comparative punchyness lies a realm of delight. It can feel gassy, that is a key weakness, but perhaps that is part of why. From one gulp to the next the sensation changes. As soon as you reach a stage where you're thinking 'might start getting bored of this', another sip will remind you all over again why it's so great. Yep, just there again (I am drinking this during posting). High bitterness combined with pleasant malt and almost buttery roundedness, but none of these elements strike you the same way in the same mouthful.

How can someone really rate this beer without having a full pint of it? In fact, how can someone accurately rate the beer without having drunk it for years? It's one of those break the mould creations.

If you don't believe me it's being sold at major supermarkets. Grab a bottle and compare to some other lagers, Budvar, Krombacher etc. We're still drinking what is basically a freakish Victorian creation, one that was so distinctly different with so few things to compare it to. It exploded in popularity and over the years the refinement of "pilsner" to mean something else (usually lighter and lighter and lighter beer, crisp, sharper immediately with nothing much backing it up) has gradually taken over this concept.

Pilsner Urqell isn't the only good Pilsner left of course, there are a shit tonne in Czechia of course, and some fine ones in Germany. Craft breweries have done one or two but there's the nagging sense (eg. Lost and Grounded Keller Pils) that they are only part way there to really understanding.

Jerzy Bondov

Knocked a load of those back at the weekend and then my friend got a bottle of absinthe out and we had some of that. Woke up with NO HANGOVER so I hereby declare Pilsner Urquell the world's best beer.

Stoneage Dinosaurs

Seconding all Pilsner Urquell praise. Went to Prague in January last year where they served it basically everywhere and since then it's been my go to always got some In the cupboard beer. Especially since Tesco are now doing it 12 for a tenner.

Ferris

Fair play 12 cans for a tenner is amazing.