Pub Pride 2022 Today!

And don't forget, today is Pub Pride 2022, with many events going on all round the country, go to their website for details of events. Pub Pride, run by the charity Ask for Clive, gives everyone in the trade the opportunity to promote inclusiveness, and for pubs to welcome everyone into their establishments in safety, good stuff, cheers!

Belgian Bonus Ale!

As I suggested in my last blog there may be a bonus Belgian ale review coming, and here it is, another one from Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat (website), their 9.5% Duvel Tripel Hop Citra Belgian IPA. Since 2007, the brewers at Duvel have been creating a unique Tripel Hop each Spring, with a different third hop added to the regular Saaz-Saaz and Styrian Golding hops, this time, you'll realise, one of my favourite hops from the Wakima Valley in the USA, that is Citra. In addition, the beer is dry-hopped, and this year, of course, with those magical Citra hops!

So, is it any good? Of course it is, indeed, it is quite a refreshing golden ale and, despite the strength, quite easy to drink too. There is a fruity aroma to invite you in, and, a hint of sweetness at first taste, but with much grapefruit, citrus and tropical tastes washing round your mouth, ending with a dry slightly bitter finish. I wrote "pretty good!" in my notes and gave this version of Duvel 8.5 out of 10 in my Belgian 'Festival' system of marking, yes, it is that good, cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 2

So, Part 2 of my personal mini 'Belgian Beer Festival' and blogs (Part 1) with the 7th to 12th Belgian ales, all contained in the box in the photograph above, and reviewed here [there may just be one more 'bonus' ale to come, again, for comparative reasons]. Interestingly, I have just discovered as I research for/write this that the 3 different breweries' 2 ales each are all brewed by just the ONE brewery, that is Brouwerij Van Steenberge! I shall explain further as I go through the ales, again, all bottle-conditioned, and brewed at the over 200 years old Brouwerij Van Steenberge (website), no doubt how Lidl could offer the deal at such a reasonable price... 😉

The Bornem abbey ales (above and below) have been brewed by Van Steenberge since 1971, but remain linked to the roots of the Sint-Bernardus Abbey in Burnem, which was closed in the 18th century, but then re-established in 1844. The Dubbel (above) is the only example of a Dubbel in my dozen beers featured in these 2 blogs. Dubbels are like the strong dark milds of Belgian ales, not as strong as Tripels, but this one still weighs in at 7.2%, so, not to be sniffed at! This is a very dark brown/ruby ale, fruity, rich, smooth and sweet to taste, not bad at all, despite my preference for the more bitter and pale golden Tripel style; I gave it 6 out of 10.

The Bornem Tripel is much more to my taste, pale golden in colour, and at 9.0%, a tad more to it! The aroma gives a hint of a darker fruity ale, but the flavour is more complex, a touch of sweetness, but with a lovely dry bitter finish to each mouthful. My notes say "very good" which is reflected in my score of 8 out of 10.

And the last 4 ales are all a whopping 10.5% in strength!

The name of Gulden Draak (Golden or Gilded Dragon) comes from the legend of the Gulden Draak that originally adorned the bow of an early 12th century Viking Ship, then was atop a dome in Constantinople, from where it was brought to Flanders by Flemish Count Boudewijn in the 13th century ending up in Bruges; and from where it was finally removed as a spoil of war by the victorious Ghent forces following the Battle of Beverhoutsveld in 1382. It has since remained at the Ghent Belfry, guarding the people of Ghent and symbolising freedom and power (visitgent).

The importance to the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of the history behind the Gulden Draak beers, their Titans, has seen the brewery create their own dedicated website. The first Gulden Draak I tasted, and I admit to having drunk this in Brussels towards the end of the last millennium, when I called it a "Christmas Pudding of a Beer" - a description my brother (who lived in Belgium at the time) liked enough to use himself. So, to the Gulden Draak Classic, as I intimated above, a majestic 10.5%, and which remains a Christmas pudding of a Beer! The brewery state this is a Tripel, but not a pale golden one, but a dark ruby red in colour, rich, full bodied and full of flavour. Indeed, the brewery liken it to a barley wine, which ages and develops well with time due to the secondary fermentation in the bottle following the addition of wine yeast; they recommend keeping 75cl bottles for many years to mature! Unsurprisingly, it scored 9 out of 10.

Similar to the Gulden Draak Classic, the Gulden Draak 9000 quadruple is 10.5% in strength, and the secondary fermentation in the bottle is created by adding wine yeast. It has very complex flavours, but is dissimilar in that this is paler in colour, more of a dark amber/blonde beer with a hint of red, and having a big fruity aroma and a much fruitier flavour; so not quite the same impact, but it's very good still, and scored 8 out of 10. 

Following the success of Gulden Draak, Brouwerij Van Steenberge created Piraat in 1988, again 10.5% in strength, but a blond ale. Piraat is slightly sweet and spicy at first taste, but with a much more bitter finish. Similar to Gulden Draak they add wine yeast to create the secondary fermentation in the bottle. I certainly liked this, and gave it a score of 8.5 out of 10.

The Piraat Tripel Hop (10.5%) set me a conundrum, do I prefer this to the Westmalle Tripel reviewed in my last blog?!? 😕 Well, it's likened by the brewery to the American Pale Ales that were influenced by hoppy craft beers first created in the USA, and that have become popular in Britain and, indeed, which I do like a lot, as regular readers of this blog will realise! It's a golden ale with 4 different hops added to the original Piraat, and unsurprisingly has a big hoppy fruity aroma, a hint of citrus in the taste, and a lovely bitter finish. I rated it "very good" in my notes but couldn't give it the same score as Westmalle Tripel, so I gave it just 9.25 out of 10, but who knows, if I get to taste it again... I shall have to keep my eye out for more! 😄

I hope you have enjoyed these 2 Belgian Ale blogs, look out for a bonus 😉 Cheers!

Belgian Ales Part 1

As I recently wrote (blog) I had acquired 10 different Belgian ales (ales as they're 'top fermented' and not lagers, which are 'bottom fermented' or the fermentation of ales is at a warmer temperature than lagers with yeasts that convert sugars to alcohol at the top of the wort in the fermenter, and the yeasts used to convert sugars to alcohol for lagers work in the wort at the bottom of the fermenter at cooler temperatures, straight forward so far!). Wort is the sugar rich liquid that is derived by 'mashing' malts, hops are added at various stages, mostly in the kettle that boils the wort; if you don't already know the brewing process I can do no better than CAMRA.

Anyway, most of those 10 ales I hadn't drunk before, and I added 2 more that I do like a lot, one is to compare with an ale I hadn't drunk yet, and the other is my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog), you'll get why when I move on with this and the next blog. Another characteristic of these 12 ales is that they are all bottle conditioned, that is, have a secondary fermentation in the bottle, again see that blog for further information. Finally, before I deal with the ales individually, if you would like to read more about the types and styles of Belgian beers, I suggest either reading the Serious Eats Beginners Guide to Belgian Beer Styles (website), or read a copy of Michael Jackson's (not the singer, but the Beerhunter - see blog) The Great Beers of Belgium, or online (website).

The Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, or Duvel Moorgat Brewery, is a Flemish family brewery (website) founded in 1871 by Jan-Leonard Moortgat, and now run by the 4th generation of Moortgats. A combination of yeasts from a Scottish ale (McEwan's Scotch Ale, very popular in Belgium at the end of WW1) was extracted and used by Moortgat's sons to help create a lighter ale, which, legend has it, was called a 'real devil' or Duvel, the local dialect for Devil.

This version (above) was created to celebrate the brewery's 150th anniversary last year, using 6 different hop varieties, and catchily called Belgian Blond Duvel 6.66% at 6.66% strength, a younger brother of the next Duvel I shall describe (below). It certainly has an aroma that I recognise in many Belgian beers (including lagers like Stella!), less body than its older 'brother' and a wee bit gassy, very easy to drink for a Belgian ale, as in speed-wise, if not for the gas, to be honest, I was a bit disappointed as it's not what I really look for in a Belgian ale, that is, a big flavoured ale to sup at a leisurely pace. Anyway, very decent, but compared to stronger Belgian ales, I could only give it 5.5 out of 10, didn't have a chance really, when compared to the rest!

So, to the 'big brother' that the Duvel story above really relates to, and at 8.5% a much more vigorous ale indeed! This is a multi award winning pale golden ale (my description), or Strong Blond ale (theirs), with lots of body and flavour, and a subtle bitterness, very good... I just wish they still sold it in the buffet on Eurostar, I used to love supping a couple of bottles of Duvel to and from Brussels! OK, we're getting into very good territory now, so I rated this 8.5 out of 10.

Next came an ale I definitely cannot remember drinking before, from the Brouwerij De Klem (website), which has been brewing for just 10 years, and their 7.5% Hellegat Super Blond, brewed with 3 types of malt. I quite liked this, nice flavours with a hint of vanilla, a wee bit sweet to start with, but dries out nicely in the finish, I wrote 'decent' in my notes, and gave it 7 out of 10. 

Moving away from Flanders to the Ardennes, in the French speaking region of Wallonia, for the next ale, and to Brasserie D'Achouffe, or D'Achouffe Brewery (website), and their 8.0% La Chouffe (the Chouffe is the bearded gnome which became a symbol of the brewery from its inception 40 years ago, and is on the label). I must have tasted this in the past, surely, but I'm not sure (I lost all my notes for ales I sampled in Belgium quite a few years ago, sadly!). Called a Blonde (French, so an E at the end), although they describe it as golden, there you go, slight citrus flavour, full bodied, with a slightly dry bitter finish, I liked it! Scored 8 out of 10.

Apart from the 8.5% Duvel being fitted in early, my model was to gradually increase the strength of the ales reviewed here, so I'm back to Flemish breweries, unsurprising as 4 of the ales in this blog were supplied by my Flemish mate Frank, who brought them back following a recent trip to his home city of Antwerp, as mentioned in my earlier blog. So, this is from his local brewery, I suspect his favourite brewery from past conversations, Stadsbrouwerij De Koninck (website), named after Joseph Henricus De Koninck who bought a coaching inn in 1827 that was converted into a brewery after his death 6 years later. De Koninck actually tell us the hops used for this golden/blond ale (Saaz-Saaz), their Tripel D'Anvers (8.0%), which is full of body, a wee bit sweet at first, drying out with gentle bitter finish; I did like it, hence the 8 out of 10 scored.

The final ale I am reviewing for Part 1 is, as I said above, my favourite regularly available Belgian ale, Westmalle Tripel, which I have written about before (blog). I'll just say what I said before, the Westmalle Tripel, is a golden beer, subtly fruity, quite dry and bitter finish, quite frankly, excellent! There are a number of bars in Brussels where I would always drink this, the waiting staff in the magnificent Le Cirio in Brussels, by la Bourse, always taking care not to disturb the sediment, but leaving the bottle for people to add the sediment if they so wished. Indeed, the owner of the bar closest to where my brother used to live always called me "Monsieur Westmalle", but that bar, sadly, is no longer open, the owner having retired.

Westmalle Tripel is a 'trappist' ale, the brewery established at the trappist Westmalle Abbey since 1836 (website), and gradually updated over the years, in 1968 their own water purification plant was set up, their bottling plant was modernised in 1956 and again in 2000, and a few years ago a new brewhall was installed. Although the monks no longer brew the beers themselves, they are still in overall charge of the brewery, ensuring tradition is upkept, and pure ingredients used, their own water, 100% barley malt, hops, and yeast from their own culture.

For my latest tasting notes I wrote "so good!" I scored it 9.5 out if 10, unsurprisingly.

Belgian Ales Part 2 coming soon, cheers! 😉

Congratulations to the Brickmaker's in Bexhill on Sea!

I can't believe I haven't written about this excellent micropub for over 2 years (blog), that is the Brickmaker's Alehouse, 27 Sea Road, Bexhill, East Sussex TN40 1EE (Tel: 01424 602778 - website)! But I have been back quite a few times since the first lockdown ended, and very recently I revisited again to congratulate the owners, Martin and Robin (although Robin wasn't present on the day), as the Brickmakers Alehouse has been chosen by the CAMRA South East Sussex branch as their Pub of the Year 2022, congratulations!

I include the Cider Board (image below), although, in this instance I didn't drink a cider, but I did drink a few of the ales (above), including one that I'm amazed I haven't had before, which is the one I started off with. That is, the Kent Brewery (website) Kent Golding Bitter (4.1%), a traditional style best bitter brewed with Golding (unsurprisingly) and Fuggles hops. It did what it said on the label, was an amber/copper colour, and smelt and tasted like a best bitter, my notes say "very good" but now I was not 'amazed' as Kent Brewery is one of my favourite brewers!

The second pint was of Sussex brewery Burning Sky (website) Plateau, always full of flavour and at just 3.5%! Of course, this is the brainchild of Mark Tranter, legendary fine tuner of Dark Star Hophead when he worked there, so is like a Hophead, a little weaker in alcohol, but with more flavour with thanks to hops, Mark suggests "hopped at different stages of the brew with a mix bag of US and NZ hops..." and his finesse. A very pale golden bitter, very easy to drink, with grapefruit noticeable in the aroma and taste, a wee bit hazy, and I'm not sure if Mark is brewing it that way on purpose now (as vegan friendly), but still very decent indeed.

The final ale I devoured was one of my favourite ales from another favourite brewery, Oakham Ales of Peterborough (website), who I have written quite a bit about recently, notably following the sad news of the death of their head brewer, Alex Kean, just before Christmas (blog), and after my most recent visit to Peterborough in February (blog). Anyway, I couldn't miss knocking back a pint of their Citra (4.2%), an ale brewed with the excellent Citra hop, pale golden with grapefruit in the taste and a very dry bitter finish, thankfully I see this in my local quite often, 'tis excellent!

So, to summarise, I drank ales from my 2 favourite breweries, Kent and Oakham, and another from another excellent brewer at Burning Sky, to celebrate the Brickmaker's success, cheers!

Sad News that Kelham Island Brewery is Closing

It is very sad news that the Kelham Island Brewery in Sheffield is closing after 32 years of trading, I tried visiting their website, but it appears that excessive demand makes the website unobtainable for now. Anyway, it is reported in the Yorkshire Post, and there are statements on Kelham Island Brewery's twitter and facebook pages. 

Those who know me will be aware that I used to live in Sheffield for 16 years, arriving as a postgrad student in 1995, during which time I worked at the Brewery part-time (up to 30 hours a week). It is a wonderful city for microbreweries and good pubs and ale, and is on the edge of the Peak District, so excellent for walking too, a very hard place to leave. Indeed, I visit reasonably regularly, usually coinciding with a football match, and was here just a few weeks ago, when I spoke to the Head Brewer, but he gave no indication that the Brewery was soon to close (blog).

Sad news indeed, and they have just brewed their last Pale Rider gyle... 😢

Many thanks for the memories, but I shall continue to visit the Fat Cat (website), cheers!