The Beer Tourist

Virgin Beer Festival

2009-06-18T01:30:00.000+02:00

Øl og Mat. Or Beer & Food. Light years away from Rome's Bir & Fud, mind you. In more ways than one, it was not only the cool Oslo summer night that marked a stark contrast to its hotter namesake in Rome. While the latter is maybe my absolute favourite beer bar in the world, with a passion for craft beer that you are unlikely to find (expressed) anywhere else, the former is a new entrant on the Norwegian beer scene, still struggling to find its feet.

Øl og Mat is a virgin beer festival hosted in the biggest park in central Oslo, the Sofienbergsparken, located in the trendy neighbourhood of Grünerløkka- far from as cool as Friedrichshain, but less gentrified than Islington.

No jokes about their ambitions, though- the festival fills up a big chunk of the park (much to the annoyance of local Christian People's Party representatives who do not believe much in joy this side of death). I have to admit that my initial enthusiasm was soon replaced by skepticism when I saw the beer list- how can you promote craft beers in Norway when our two most excellent craft breweries, Nøgne Ø and Haandbryggeriet, are not even there with a small tasting?

Craft or not, the scale was impressive for Oslo, even though there were many empty seats on this windy Wednesday evening (plus there was a big Metallica concert 1 kilometre away competing for attention). Though the volume of the rock band playing inside the biggest tent indicated that they were up to the challenge.

Each country likes to do things their own way when it comes to beer festivals, it seems. In Belgium and the Netherlands tokens ("bonnen") rule; in the UK, cash is king. In connected Norway you refill your festival card yourself at the terminals near the gate. Practical as this may be, there is no hiding the fact that the price level is quite steep for a beer festival- 2,50 euros for the card, 3 euros for the tasting glass and 5 euros each for 20 cl tastings.

Cold numbers aside, warm thanks go to the Danish craft brewer Svaneke which provided an extensive range of beers to the festival, many of which I have not tasted before. Personally I do not think that all their beers rock the world, but showing up in force at this festival proves their commitment to the cause (unlike their Norwegian counterparts, one may argue). Also the Scottish craft beer range was quite extensive, but these beers you can already find at premium super markets in the Norwegian capital.

The atmosphere is undeniably amicable for such a big scene with a good mix of people. Knowledgeable middle-aged craft beer lovers can be spotted, but here and there are even some young beauties brave enough to try a Skull Splitter (some of them possibly craft beer virgins).

Virgins themselves at arranging this kind of festival, I have to say that the festival is better than feared. There is no reason for seasoned Ratebeerians to make their pilgrimage to the Øl & Mat festival in Oslo, but for those of us who live here, it does add some flavour to a city that only has one (or possibly two) beer bars of real class.

It is achieved mostly with a little help from international, rather than national, friends. The bar tenders may be all Swedish (like in the rest of Oslo), but ultimately it is the Danish craft brewer Svaneke and its Anglo-Saxon equivalents that represent the craft in the beer festival. The Norwegian alibi was provided by a specially crafted festival beer from Oslo Mikrobryggery that was quite decent, too. All in all, not too bad a performance for a virgin, I guess.

Kris Not To Be Missed

2009-06-09T00:40:00.010+02:00

I have for too long. Regularly in London, yet still managed to avoid this find.

Kris Wines is the second best beer shop in London, but the number one, the Utobeer stall, is only available during the limited Borough Market hours. On contrast, Kris is available even in late, post-meeting hours.

Not all roads lead to Kris, and my route is probably not one you would try out a late evening wearing your most flashy designer gear. Having attended quite a few beer festivals, my observation is that the latter may not pose too much of a problem to many beer enthusiasts.

The route involved taking the Piccadilly line to Caledonian Road, just one (long) stop east of King's Cross St. Pancras, and making the 10 minute walk up North Road to this splendid beer and wine shop in 394 York Way. From the tube station you get a glimpse of the imposing Emirates Stadium- on Saturdays the fashion code is red and white Emirates shirts in this area. The walk continues past 19th century buildings, full of character despite having seen the ravages of time, dreadful post-war estates that have fared much worse, and then there is the odd noughties building with solid fences around.

Finally inside this unimposing off-licence an impressive arsenal of craft beers- both international and British- await you. Among the international guys, the Belgians impress the most, but the British selection is still the main draw to me.

I think I have found my new, regular hotspot in the British capital, besides The Wenlock Arms. Both offer sufficient ammunition for most beer hunters, in my opinion.

Olympen of Oslo

2008-10-23T22:30:00.000+02:00

I suppose the name must have sounded pretentious for this working-class area of Oslo at the time. Olympen Mat og Vinhus (Olympen Food and Winehouse) was soon brought down from its olympic heights and became known as Lompa (the sausage wrap) on the locals' lips.

These days the lips can get to taste more than sausages in this historic beer hall. The building was raised in 1892 by the former Schous brewery. Prior to its latest refurbishment Olympen used to be one of the brownest cafés around, a place where nicotine stains would be your stamps of approval. There are nine big paintings on the walls with motives from this poor neighbourhood a century ago, and they all had to undergo extensive cleaning as part of the refurbishment.

Luckily, the bland Ringnes beers (Ringnes took over and closed the Schous brewery) have also been shown the door in the process. The bottled beer selection now reaches 25, and seems very well picked with craft brewers representing Norway and all the major beer nations. The five tap beers at the time of my first visit were all macro beers, but that is about to change. I was told that the Nøgne Ø and Smaa Vesen microbrewers would be there to install their taps just days later, to be followed by the Haandbryggeriet. Nøgne Ø will have a seasonal tap beer, starting with their porter. Sounds promising, if you ask me.

There is more than beer to Olympen. It may be one of the grandest cafés in the whole of Oslo (yes, maybe even grander than the unbeery Grand Café located on Oslo's version of Champs Elysée, Karl Johans gate) with its huge chandeliers and high ceiling. I thought I even spotted some craft beer interest from the young bar man, but maybe I was just hallucinating. Anyway, upstairs is a rather less beery, but no less stylish and cosmopolitan night club, Pigalle.

Welcoming and open the café remains until 1 am early in the week (including Sunday), stretching it to the regulatory maximum of 3 am later in the week. If you are looking for a drink later than that in the over-regulated country of Norway, you have better find a private "nachspiel" or have a well-stocked fridge at home.

Oh, and did I mention that my home is just a stone's throw away?

Heerlijk at De Heeren

2008-08-02T21:35:00.002+02:00

De he(e)ren- the gentlemen- in question are the De Four brothers, the men behind the outstanding beer café and restaurant De Heeren van Liedekercke (DHL). If there is a café in Belgium where only superlatives apply, this must be it.

The barrels in front of the building are promising enough signs, but as usual in Belgium there is more than meets the eye. The restaurant is on the ground floor, and there is a nice garden terrasse at the back in addition to the downstairs seatings. When the café/restaurant is busy (and even when it is not), it is not a bad idea to sit close to the bar to attract the waiter's attention.

Joost De Four may be the master of the beer bar and cellar, but his brother Tom rules in the kitchen. He has received many awards over the years; best game chef in Belgium, best fish cook, and recently the best sandwiches in Vlaanderen were also said to stem from his kitchen. My beef in champignon sauce made with Pater Lieven Tripel was definitely a culinary highlight on my latest trip to Belgium. At the Zythos Bierfestival they have been known to promote bierpralines, made in cooperation with a chocolatier in Aalst. As with chocolate and beer, the brothers are an unbeatable combination.

Perfectionism also shone when the wedding between Joost and Jessica was celebrated five years ago. Two oude geuze were specially commissioned from the then (just) geuze blender Drie Fonteinen: J&J Oude Geuze Blauw (for the groom) and J&J Oude Geuze Roze (for the bride)- the former is a blend of 1 year old Lindemans lambiek and 4 year old Girardin lambiek, whereas the latter is a blend of 1 year old Boon lambiek with 3 years old Girardin lambiek. As expected when the best beer café in Belgium teams up the best geuze blender, the result is world-class beers. They are only available at the DHL, but in Belgium you can even buy beers to take away from cafés, a practice unheard of in over-regulated, stern Northern Europe.

Welcoming as the place is, you will still be faced with closed doors on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and with limited opening hours on Mondays outside the summer season. You can get there by train or by De Lijn, but the train is faster. From Brussel there are direct trains to Liedekerke. From there it is a 20 minute walk along the seemingly never-ending Stationstraat. Iddergem station (make sure not to confuse it with Idegem station on the same line; believe me, the only facility there while waiting for the train back is a frituur café) is closer, but you will have to change trains at Denderleeuw. The next big railway project may well bring it even closer. Inspired by the Parisian RER, the GEN - a regional express network around Brussels - is being built. My hope is that whilst bringing beer tourists easier to Liedekerke and around in Payottenland, the network does not challenge this unique part of Vlaanderen with its rich beer culture.

De Heeren van Liedekercke is indeed situated just a stone's throw from Payottenland- the Liedekerke municipality and the Vlaams-Brabant province are just across the nearby river Dender. No wonder then that DHL is especially strong on the lambiek and geuze family.

There is also an old beer list, but you have to ask for it. It may not be as extensive as at Kulminator, but it is very well-picked, featuring many geuze treats from breweries long gone. I had a Kriek from the now defunct brewery De Wets; De Heeren estimate that it was bottled in 1990. 18 years later the burgundy-coloured beer still produce a smallish white head. The body has probably gotten thinner with the years (though I was too young to taste it in 1990), but the port aroma is potent as can be. Good raisins aromas and flavours as well as some cellar character. You can still taste the cherries, though. Truth is that greatness ages well, and if I had been allowed to rate it on ratebeer.com, I would have given it 4.4 out of 5 (but the Belgian administrators of that site run a stricter regime of which beers can be entered than their UK and US counterparts, especially for defunct breweries where only few bottles remain commercially available).

DHL is strong on trappists as well, aged or not. Indeed, if you order an Orval, you will get a bottle that has been aged for 6 months unless you specifically ask for a fresh bottle. The Ambassadeur Orval title was granted to 340 cafés, taverns and restaurants which promote Orval with good presentation, service and originality. An obvious PR stunt from the brewery's side, but needless to say, DHL qualifies.

Another trappist, Westmalle, have coasters reading "Heerlijk duurt het langst" - the delicious lasts longest ( a pun on the proverb "Eerlijk duurt het langst" - honesty lasts longest). As any visit to De Heeren van Liedekercke is likely to be a delicious experience, it promises well for the future of Belgium's no 1 beer café.

Peaceful Pilgrimage

2008-07-18T12:55:00.001+02:00

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow".

In the western corner of Vlaanderen, De Westhoek, not only poppies, but also hops grow. The area is home to some of the best brewers in the world, notably the Sint-Sixtusabdij at Westvleteren and De Struise Brouwers, who brew at Deca brewery in nearby Woesten-Vleteren.

The former is already a beer tourist pilgrimage destination, and the ostrich farm of the latter may well gain popularity with the opening of a brewery shop there.

The abbey of Sint-Sixtus itself, including its brewhouse, is beyond reach, and the brewery outlet also has more limited availability these days. It is open only from 2-5 pm, closed on Fridays and Sundays, and beers can only be bought (in crates of 24 bottles) with a reservation. The new restrictions seem to have relieved the surrounding area of the traffic jam that arose after the great publicity around the Westvleteren beers being rated as the world's best.

The most likely source for beers to take away may well be the little shop in a corner of the café and visitors centre, In de Vrede (The Peace). It is just across the street ("in the shadow of the Sint-Sixtus abbey"), owned by the abbey and open every day except Friday, the day of the crucifiction. The beer is sold in nice-looking sixpacks.

On the day of my visit, only the Extra was available from the shop. Judging from the best-before date, which is 3 years after the bottling date for all the Westvleteren beers (a mere formality, of course, since at least the 8 and 12 will improve for years beyond that if stored correctly), the beer had just been released from the warm room. There it is conditioned at 26 degrees Celcius for 10 days, according to Chuck Cook, one of the anointed few to get granted a visit behind the abbey walls.

As can be seen from the picture, the monks recommend that their beer be served and stored somewhat cooler than that; to be kept at 12-18 degrees C and served at 12-16 degrees is their recommendation.

Served at correct temperature and in great condition are all the three beers in the café proper, where one quarter of the total production ends up. In addition to the beer, the café serves up lighter meals such as a hommelpaptaart - hop porridge tart- that actually does not feature any hops in its recipe. Indirectly it certainly does, as it is made with the hoppy Poperings Hommelbier from local brewer Van Eecke. The ice cream, however, is made with Westvleteren Extra/ Westvleteren Blauw (the blue cap)/ Westvleteren 8- a dear child is known by many names. As always, for all you want to know about Abdij Sint-Sixtus and In de Vrede few web sites are as thorough as the one of the late John White.

Though spacious, In de Vrede fills up quickly in summer; many of the tables may already have been reserved. Judging from my observations, the combination of quiet country roads and world-class beer is appearantly not a good recruiting ground for a Bob- the term for a designated driver in the Low Countries.

My Bob was the belbus, the De Lijn mini bus on call, which leaves once an hour (if needed) and must be booked two hours in advance. For out-of-towners it is worth noting that the timetable seems to correspond well with the hourly train from the terminus of Poperinge. It is not unlikely, however, that the likeable little West-Vlaanderen town of Poperinge, famous for its hops and hop festival, may lure you to stay a little longer. There is a hop museum and a couple of decent bars. Among them is another café dedicated to peace, Café de la Paix.

The café names cannot disguise the fact that De Westhoek will forever be associated with The Great War rather than peace. After Poperinge the train calls at Ieper, the end of the line for a generation of men some ninety years ago, where the evidence of WWI is everywhere, but few places as strongly as at the Menenpoort with its 54,900 names of men lost and where the Last Post is played every evening.

The Flanders Fields have some chilling reminders of the horrors mankind can create. On the other hand, their brewers also prove what greatness can be achieved.

Domestic in Diest: Ons te Huis

2008-07-06T22:34:00.001+02:00

The doors have closed for the last time for many Belgian beer cafés over the last few years, especially those off the beaten track. As the Belgians are drinking less beer, their beer cafés are becoming more dependent on beer tourists from abroad.

I was lucky enough to visit both Kaffee Barbier and Café 206, but never came around to blog about the latter, situated in the Antwerpen village of Sint-Katelijne-Waver, before it was too late. I regret not making it to Eglantier in Sint-Truiden or De Oude Speye in Damme. The best remaining beer cafés in rural Belgium are mostly weekend-only establishments, where the owners are making a living outside the less lucrative café business during the week. Examples of the latter are 't Kroegske and De Gans.

On the tourist trail the story is quite the opposite. The beer scenes in Brussels, Brugge and Gent are booming. The best beer selection these days is found at Delirium Café in Brussels and at Bierbrasserie Cambrinus in Brugge, cafés that have seen the light of day only during the last few years.

So it was with curiosity and delight that I approached a great "new" beer café in the less-visited, northeastern corner of Flemish Brabant, specifically in the little town of Diest. Ons te Huis, which translates as At our Home, has been around for some years, but this year their beer selection trebled as they started combining as a beer store. The deal is that the 170 beers in the yellow section of the menu are available cool and served in their correct glasswares. The 350 beers in the green section of the menu are from the beer store, but if you want them served in the café, just let the barman (or woman) know half an hour before, and he will have the bottle cooled for you.

The café may look quite plain, not unlike the bars found across the border in the Netherlands, but the service is unparallelled (the barman even helped me remove the beer labels for my collection). Winand and Moncy, the couple running the place, make sure that Diestenaars and others who find their way to Diest, are faced with an open door 7 days a week from early morning till late at night (the only exception being Mondays, when their home opens at 4 pm). Many of the beers are hard to hit elsewhere, and they are without exception sold at very democratic prices.

Indeed, my wish is that the locals vote with their feet and take advantage of the hospitality offered by Ons te Huis. It may not be the closest to the big sights, but in my opinion the rich beer culture of Belgium is dependent on locals like this to stay open.

Where is Welschland?

2008-03-08T05:15:00.002+01:00

Belgium is not the only country split along linguistic lines in Europe, but there is a country that tackles it much better. Whereas the best Swiss microbreweries are looking to Belgium for inspiration, the reverse should have been true for Belgian politicians. But then again, copying the Swiss model would leave many of them without a job, so I suppose it is out of question.

Switzerland has as many as four official languages with Romansh having the same marginal role as German in Belgium. Meanwhile, in Switzerland the German-speaking region, Deutschschweiz (mind the consonants if you are drinking!), is by far the biggest.

Welschland is a schwützerdütsch (the Swiss dialect that can frustrate any student of Hochdeutsch) nickname for the Swiss French-speaking region (which prefers to be called Romandie).

The is nothing derogatory about Welschland in Zürich, however. A wealth of artisanal products from the Western, French-speaking part of Switzerland is competing for your attention (and luggage space), including sausages, wine, cheese and, of course, beer. At the time of my visit they had only 10 beers, all lined up in the picture, far less than the major beer supplier in town, the centrally located Drinks of the World. Unless you have a particular liking for similar-tasting blond lagers though, you will find the beers of Welschland far more rewarding.

In fact, I encountered surprisingly few memorable beers from Deutschschweiz despite its proximity to Germany. The friendly co-owner of the Welschland delicatessen explained that the poor growing conditions for grapes, especially in the cooler Jura canton, paved the way for beer brewing there. It cannot fully explain why all the best craft beers are made in that region.

One of them, BFM- Brasserie des Franches-Montagne, occupies 10 of the top 20 twenty ratings for Swiss beers on Ratebeer, a position resembling that of Nøgne Ø in Norway. The decent beers of the Trois Dames brewery of the nearby Vaud canton do not reach that high only because they are generally rated by too few people. Both give a successful Swiss twist to beer styles originating in Belgium and beyond.

La Salamandre by BFM was among the beers in my luggage that managed to escape the destructive efforts of the SAS Ground Staff at Copenhagen Airport- for their careless and beer-hostile luggage handling I wish they be served Bud Light in all eternity. In contrast, La Salamandre is orange golden and cloudy with an admittedly minimal head. The nose is acid and complex, revealing lemons, orange zest and spices. Flirting with geuze characteristics. The sour lemony and orange zest flavours find balancing honey sweetness. An outstanding beer - a flavourful ambassador for this otherwise neutral country.

Unlike the Belgians the Swiss always preferred to perfect their own little world rather than conquering the rest of it. Unfortunately, perfectionist Switzerland seldom turns out beers that deviate from the main. But when they actually do, their craft beers should feature high among enthusiasts worldwide. Finding the good stuff remains a challenge, though.

Mobile Home Brew

2008-02-10T04:00:00.000+01:00

You certainly have to leave home (or your hotel room) to get to the best beer shops in Belgium. One of the best is undoubtedly Bierhandel Willems in Grobbendonk, a village in the Antwerpen province and a 40-minute bus ride from the Sinjorenstad itself. Willems en zoon stocks 300 different beers, and among them are quite a few rarities, including the three on the picture.

The bottle on the left is, I think, as close as you can get to a commercially available home brew, Bière Brassèe à la Maison. The female brewer has supposedly turned her bathroom into a brewery, called Brasserie La 42ème. Except for the location in a village near the Wallonian capital of Namur, little is known about this microbrewery. The beer turned out a bit too spiced, but by all means drinkable ( and far from being a candidate for my bathroom zink!)

There are women behind the beer bottle in the middle, too. It has become an annual event for the female (lead) members of OPA- Aalst Objectieve ProefAjuinen, one of the 24 local associations making up the Belgian beer consumer organization Zythos, to brew a beer. (In Vlaanderen, the inhabitants of Aalst are known as ajuinen-literally onions/buds- and objective taste buds were always the ideal of Zythos' predecessor, De Objectieve Bierproevers.) Supervised by chief brewer and leading beer authority, Jef van den Steen, at Kleinbrouwerij De Glazen Toren, this year's beer turned out a decent honey beer named Nette.

A little help from a bigger brewer was also necessary to bring the bottle on the right to the market. De Verhuisbrouwerij - the portable brewery - is a "hobby brewery" run by five enthusiasts in Antwerpen since 1998. They bring their 30 liter brewing facility with them in their caravan to your party/event, where you can witness a typical 9am to 5 pm brewing session. The beer that is brewed in the session, is only for the brewers' own consumption, though (following the legal definition of homebrewing, I suppose), let alone available after a 3-month process of fermenting and maturing. Knowing Belgium, it would surprise me if informal arrangements cannot be made to overcome the legal bits.

The "proef" is in the tasting (literally in Dutch), so together with the brewing equipment they bring their "big brews" for tasting sessions. These beers are the result of successful recipes that they let commercial brewers produce under licence. These give a small contribution towards some of the costs involved in this hobby. Or, as the hobby brewers say, you can support an association by buying a membership card or in this case by drinking a beer. An easy choice in my (and their) opinion.

So it was with good conscience that I opened my Trisser VI, a blond tripel brewed for De Verhuisbrouwerij at De Proefbrouwerij in a quantity of 1100 litres. My 75 cl bottle had been filled on 27 March 2007, and inside 7.6% ABV was kicking. It poured hazy golden with some orange below a rich, lacing head and released some herbal and piney hop aroma. The initial taste is sweet, but with good offsetting bitterness as well as some yeasty bread flavours. Spicy notes completed the picture of a more than decent beer.

Trisser is actually the nick name given to a student retaking the same exam for the third time, and this tripel is no doubt a comforting beer for such a fate. Maybe an appropriate beer for De Verhuisbrouwerij to bring to the excellent Vilvordia student beer festival on May 18, where they are scheduled to have one of their brew days.

Rolling home brew out to the beer lover community sounds like quite a good idea, if you ask me. Not because the monetary contribution is likely to make any difference nor does the brewing session necessarily open a new world to seasoned craft beer enthusiasts. However, the best beer bottles are tales of a great brewing talent, and sharing a talent tends to improve it. It is time for the best to leave home.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T15:01:00.000+01:00

Gold, incense and myrrh were the gifts of choice some two thousand years ago. Whilst gold may still be a great gift, the La Binchoise brewery claims it has brewed a superior replacement for both incense and myrrh.

Their Christmas beer, La Binchoise Speciale Noël, pours cloudy and copper with a big, beige head. For the nose there are liquorice, caramel, spicy yeast aromas with a hint of pear. In the mouth fruity and caramel flavours mix with coriander and some other dry spices. The finish is dry and yeasty, and the beer provides warming alcohol appropriate for this cold, festive season.

When it comes to festivities, the brewery should know what it is talking about. It is situated in the small Hainaut town of Binche, which comes to life once a year with some wild celebrations, that have given rise to the English word "binge". Not well-known outside Belgium their Mardi Gras carnival is a must-see. During the procession, the Gille Character wears his impressive hat covered with ostrich feather and throws hundreds of oranges to (or more often, at) the public.

The Christmas celebration may be rather more subdued and peaceful, but the golden fruit remains one of its countless treats. Another and one highly recommended, is La Binchoise Speciale Noël. Indeed, I see the whole range of Chrsistmas beers as the brewers' annual gifts to the craft beer enthusiasts, as a thank-you for another year of drinking their beer. I, for one, do not miss the incense and myrrh. A merry, beery Christmas to all!

Essen on Track

2007-12-20T11:52:00.000+01:00

The glasses proudly pronounce "Essen 150 jaar spoorgemeente"- 150 years of train connection from Roosendaal in the Netherlands to Antwerpen via Essen.

The slogan is dated for several reasons. Not only did the celebration actually take place three years ago - glasses are reused so you get your 3 euro deposit back if you hand in a clean glass upon leaving the festival. You may also opt to keep it as an inexpensive souvenir, but appearantly few do so.

Second, it is my prediction that this particular railway line (line no 12) is likely to be less important in the near future. A new high-speed line has been built east of the line 12 connecting Antwerpen and Brussels with Amsterdam via the barony city of Breda. (In an endless series of delays, it now seems scheduled to open in October 2008). It will reduce travel time from Amsterdam to Antwerpen to just one hour!

Unfortunately, the first day of this year's festival was struck by one of several one-day strikes by the Belgian train personnel. Some trains were still running since not all trade unions participated in the strike, but the train company seemed unable to predict which would still leave (even if with a delay). There is an air of helplessness descending upon many Belgian companies and employees when the unexpected strikes, which is so contrary to the originality and creativity shown in Belgian beer brewing. As a result, getting to the festival from inside Belgium was very difficult that day (but manageable from Roosendaal due to some good piece of advice on the festival web site).

The festival itself was on track as always with 126 different beers on offer. As such, it has rightly become one of the biggest annual beer events in Belgium, attracting craft beer enthusiasts from all over the world. In fact, international visitors may well outnumber the Belgians, and the Nordic countries are well represented, especially Denmark.

It was organised for the 13th time, and was subject to some unlucky circumstances this year. However, with the skills and dedication of the organisers, Objectieve Bierproevers Essense Regio, the local branch of Zythos, there was no way the festival could possibly derail. Trains may come and go (or rather not, as the case was), but I am pretty sure that beer tourists will continue to make their annual call at Essen for years to come.

B(l)ack to Beer

2007-12-08T22:25:00.000+01:00

It has been a busy autumn and as a result a dark period for my beer blogging. I found myself back in London a couple of times during this period, mainly for business. Though a great variety of beers are available in the city, it still requires more time and effort than in the beery paradises of Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. The Cobra cities have bars ensuring that a selection of hundreds, if not thousands of beers are within walking distance of each other.

In the British capital, due to the tradition of cask beers, the selection is often limited to less than ten craft beers even in the most dedicated beer bars. The Tube comes in handy, and a great number of beer bars, luckily away from the bustling tourist centre, can be found along one tube line, namely the Northern Line (Bank branch). It may be black on the map, but is the vehicle to bright drinking moments.

A top-down approach, mapwise and on the social ladder, involves snaking down the Northern Line from the north, starting at the posh Hampstead Heath and finishing near the plainer Clapham Commons. Hampstead is home to one of the very few brewpubs in the city, and The McLaughlins Horseshoe is an easy walk from the Hampstead tube station. There may only be one or two brews available from the brewpub, but there is a decent bottle selection as well. Emphasis seems to be more on food, though, especially in the evening.

The are Belgo treats to be had at the Chalk Farm tube, but quirkier bar experiences await at Camden. Quinn's is almost an institution around here, run by the Quinn family for a generation. The rule of thumb here is that you may get what you see. Never mind the bar list, it is not likely to be updated. Checking that old Mr Quinn picks up and opens the right bottle is suggested. The good thing is that the beer fridge, on display at the one end of the bar, is most likely to include some rare, imported bottles that you have never tried before.

There is nothing beery about the brand new St Pancras International station, where the Eurostars trains now bring you to Paris and Brussels in around 2 hours. There is a long champagne bar and a crêperie- it feels more like a gateway to Europe (read: France) than a welcome to old England. So next stop on the Northern Line for a beer tourist on a mission should be Old Street for a good old cockney pub experience. The Wenlock Arms more than defends the half a kilometer walk from the station- recently polled the favourite London pub by beer blogger Stonch. No further comments needed!

I still have not made it to The Crosse Keys, a Wetherspoons pub with a good cask ale selection not far from the Bank station. I guess it is good to leave some treats for later. However, a must-see is always London Bridge, especially on market days, Thursdays through Saturdays. Picking up some bottles at the Utobeer stall is inevitable. With great pubs like The Rake, The Market Porter and Brew Wharf all close by, it is easy to spend all day here.

Moving south Borough station is only one stop away and the place to go for Harveys ale in London. The Royal Oak is a pleasant neighbourhood pub that serves up the best from the Sussex brewer. According to an ad in the London Drinker magazine they are now also open in the weekends.

All good things have to come to an end. You could continue further down to Clapham North for one Bierodrome experience or make a good 15 minutes walk from Clapham Common to the Microbar with its splendid bottled beer selection. Stopping short of Clapham, in Stockwell, is also warmly recommended. Seemingly forgotten by Ratebeerians The Priory Arms could offer 5 cask ales and some quite rare German bottles on my latest visit. Indeed, I would rank this as one of the top pubs in the capital and definitely one of the most undersung.

In my opinion, for a pub walk to really take off in London you have head underground. There, the deepest and blackest of all lines will bring you to the heights of beery London.

Flirting with Commitment

2007-09-04T00:49:00.000+02:00

When old attraction pales, new approaches are needed. Some Belgian pale ales have seen their volumes dropping as post-industrial Belgium is consuming less beer and more wine. The thirst for Belgian craft beer from the rest of the world has been more important to the smaller breweries, often with more assertive beers.

Assertive the pale ales may not be- their beauty lies in their drinkability and balance. Not least so for De Koninck, which is still the reigning beer in its home city, Antwerpen. As indicated by the beer coaster, all you have to say is bolleke- literally a small ball- to get served their refreshing amber ale in its famous bowl-shaped glass.

It comes copper-coloured, usually with a decent head. Yeasty aroma combines with hay hoppiness. Good toffee caramel are married with spicy fruit flavours. With a clean dry finish it is a characterful thirst-quencher.

Thirst-quenching has always been possible around the brewery, located along the old (stone) road to Mechelen, the Mechelsesteenweg. The most famous café was probably Café Pelgrim, where the surplus yeast from the brewery across the road was served in shot-glasses as a tonic. For years it functioned as the unofficial brewery tap, but appearantly that did not pull enough pilgrims, so since March the doors have been closed for good.

The doors will open again next year. Café Pelgrim and its neighbouring café, also bankrupt, will be converted into one big beer café, and there will be a new brewery museum in the adjoining building, marking the 175th anniversary of Brouwerij De Koninck. When Joseph De Koninck started up his brewery in 1833, it was originally called Brouwerij De Hand, from the signpost marking the city limits of Antwerpen. The symbol of Antwerpen and De Koninck has always been the cut-off hand . In what is essentially a rebranding of the old port city on the Schelde, the hand is increasingly rarely seen, replaced by a cool, capital A.

The hand lives on, however, in the name of what is essentially the new, unofficial brewery tap, Afspanning De Hand. Afspanning is another Flemish word for café, literally meaning relaxation (where you can get restored as in a restaurant). The focus is indeed on food. All the De Koninck brews and no others are available- which makes a selection of five beers, including the seasonal Winterkoninck.

To compensate the beers are available in as many as six different glasses: in addition to Bolleke, there is a choice of a Bol, a Prinske, a Prinses, a Fluit and a Handje. Given a choice, I would rather see more brews and fewer glasses.

I shall not complain, however, if the flirt with a new generation of beer drinkers is necessary to keep up the commitment to quality brews. Commitment usually begins with a flirt

The Beer Hunter is Gone

2007-08-30T23:59:00.000+02:00

The world has lost its greatest beer writer. Michael Jackson passed away this morning, aged 65. Michael became world-famous in the late 80s with his television series "The Beer Hunter" on Discovery Channel.

He discovered beers and beer styles that few people had heard of, and his well-written books on beer are all seen as the authoritative guides on the topic. His books - starting out with the "World Guide to Beer" as early as 1977 - provided the ultimate inspiration for the craft beer movement.

The picture is taken at the Dolle Brouwers - the crazy brewers-stand at the Zythos beer festival 18 months ago. Michael Jackson was a regular at Zythos as well as at the smaller Bier Passion festival in Antwerpen.

Passionate about beer he certainly was, at the time probably seen as "doll", (but never dull). In the end his beer knowledge was unrivaled.

Calling Twice at St Peter's

2007-08-05T03:01:00.000+02:00

The waterways of London have kept their rough charm, serving as a reminder of Britain's great industrial heritage. Charming are also some of the waterholes found nearby. Not far from The Regents Canal is the Pearly Queen of them all, The Wenlock Arms, a true cultural institution. With a good and ever-changing range of interesting real ales on cask, this free house is also very much a meeting point for the locals.

Übercool Hoxton, that was not too supportive of the Pitfield Brewery and Beer Shop, more or less forcing it to relocate to Essex, is just half a mile away, yet it remains a world apart. The Wenlock Arms is down-to-earth, seemingly untouched by Caffe Latte and the rule of Millenium Minimalism, it is Cockney London at its best, with the lads dropping by after a friendly Sunday football match on the common across the street. And when jazzy tunes are sounding from the piano next to the door, you know you will not be leaving anytime soon.

Not far from The Wenlock Arms, on the other side of the canal, is The Duke of Cambridge, or at least the pub named after him. It is a varied neighbourhood with a mix of refurbished Georgian houses in between more dreary block of flats. The Duke goes for an altogether more contemporary craze suitable for the politically correct Islingtonians- organic food and drinks. The emphasis is on food, but at least that means plenty of seating. And there is nothing wrong with being trendy if it implies a genuine commitment to quality. I did not try their food (which I regret), but the carefully selected beer list was a reliable enough witness: a solid range of ales from the Pitfield Brewery, including the first London organic draft bitter – ‘SB'’, brewed exclusively for the pub.

The street sign reads St Peter's Street, and the pub is one of few places where you can find the Organic Best Bitter from the St Peter's Brewery on draft. You would suspect it after noticing that the olive oil dispensers on the tables are old St Peter's bottles.

The true mecca for St Peter's beers is, however, the brewery's own pub, The Jerusalem Tavern. Inside, oil lamps made from the beer bottles have been prepared for the anointed. But while the bottle may be a copy of a Philadelphia flask dating from around 1770, the building itself has been around since 1720. Old and well-used she may be, the pub still attracts a crowd of office workers every weekday. The building is almost a century and a half older than the nearby meat halls of Smithfield, on which site livestock has been traded for more than 800 years. Outside the market hours (4 am- 12 noon) there is precious little evidence of this activity except for the huge halls-the Farringdon area is these days the home of trendy cafés and night clubs.

Steeped in history, the area may well have given name to one of the world's beer styles. Porter used to be the favourite thirst-quencher for the market workers- the porters- in the 18th century- long before the arrival of pale Burton ales and continental lagers.

The Jerusalem Tavern therefore feels like the perfect setting for tasting St Peter's Old Style Porter. It pours dark brown with a red glare, crowned by a beige creamy foam. Releasing a lot of chocolate aroma with hints of vanilla, the beer can boast of good roasted flavours, bitter chocolate and a dry, bitter finish.

It is a beer to be welcomed not only by craft beer tourists and market porters, but probably also by the Pearly Gate guardian. It has certainly not been watered down by trendy blandness, but kept a steady course on the narrow canal of traditional craftmanship.

Treat at De Torre

2007-07-21T00:23:00.000+02:00

Torre may conjure up images of some semi-tacky resort on the Costa del Sol, but there is a Torre of the highest class on another coastline further north on the continent. It can hardly be called the sunshine coast, susceptible to some harsh North Sea weather, but whether the sun is shining or not, I know which coastline I would rather be on.

Café De Torre is only one of many attractions on the tiny stretch of Belgian coastline, and it is definitely one of the beeriest- only Café Botteltje in Oostende may have a bigger selection. Situated in the picturesque village of De Haan -The Cock- it is only a 20 minute tram ride away from either Oostende and Blankenberge, both with excellent train connections to the rest of the country.

The tram service, called De Kusttram, covers almost the entire 65 kilometers of Belgium's coastline, with frequent departures and passing by many delightful sights on the way. One of them is the Art Nouveau tram station De Haan aan Zee, celebrated by the Strubbe brew Trammelantje Den Haene. That beer and its sister, Haanse Witte Den Haene, are brewed for the local butcher/bottle shop, but unfortunately the reviews indicate that the beers may be less than artfully crafted.

Craft brews they still made at Belle-Vue until 1999. That is the last vintage seen of their splendid Sélection Lambic, a few bottles of which have still survived until today at De Torre, literally towering behind the Art Nouveau tram station. A masterpiece of a beer it is, appropriately only available from a big bottle. With a clear, deep orange-golden colour it can still master a small, but stable head. The sour fruit aroma hints of yoghurt, and promises a complex taste sensation of sour, fruity yoghurt developing towards a dry, almondy finish that lingers.

The villa housing De Torre is a fine example of Belle Époque, and the café owners are keen to make sure that beer tourists as well as other guests have a good time. With more than 250 different beers on offer the former are bound to be happy, and it did not exactly ruin my day to be offered a taste of Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze Vintage. It reassured me that even though Belle Époque and Belle-Vue craft beer may be a thing of the past, Belgium still does not only possess the skills and dedicaton to make unique beers, it also has some truly outstanding places to enjoy them.

Pomp at De Prael: Meibockfestival

2007-06-08T22:00:00.000+02:00

It is not exactly pomp and circumstance- in Dutch: pracht en praal- you would associate with this part of Amsterdam. No, I am not referring to the Red Light District, but rather to Helicopterstraat, which is a street in an industrial area towards the airport and, more importantly, the present address of De Prael brewery.

The brewery- one of three microbreweries/brewpubs in Amsterdam- was recently the host of the 10th Meibockfestival, which is organised by the Noord-Holland arm of PINT. The festival is dedicated to the Meibo(c)k, traditionally the last strong beer brewed before the summer season (when it was impossible to brew). De Prael has, according to the definite guide on Dutch breweries, always struggled with the same issue- the brewery simply becomes too hot in summer. A hot issue was also the name originally chosen- De Parel (the pearl)- as the Budels brewery already made a beer with the same name. A new identity soon had to be found, and reshuffling some letters still made it sound a bit pompous, so to speak.

The organisers originally had some doubts about the location- it is somewhat off the beaten track. Not to be deterred, the organisers did an admirable job promoting the festival- every hundred meter or so from the Henk Sneevlietweg metro station there was another sign pointing the way. A good effort that many a Belgian beer festival could learn from- but then the Dutch were always better at marketing, anyway. Seating is generally more sparse at Dutch beer festivals, though, and the Meibockfestival was no exception in that respect. The whole brewery and living room-like bar is concentrated on the first floor of the building, from which a dangerously steep, provisional staircase led down to the outdoor benches supplied for the occasion. A concentrated effort was needed to hold on to the tasting notes (and glass for that sake) in the windy weather.

Back to the Meibock, often written Meibok in Dutch, or Lentebok (spring bock, thus allowing it to be released earlier) or even Paasbier (Easter beer). It is a paler and often more bitter version of the bock beer, and goes under the term Heller Bock on Ratebeer. Naturally, De Prael had their own lentebock at the festival (in addition to a special jubilee beer): André is named after levenslied singer André Hazes - all De Prael beers carry the first name of Dutch folk music singers. The aroma is spicy and fruity with definite notes of orange, and the flavours add to that good bitterness and some yeastiness. André is a full-bodied, hazy orangey amber beer, that I found very nice. I am tempted to quote an André Hazes hit: "Wij Houden Van Oranje"- we love Orange.

Hopefully, De Prael will be able to brew beyond May when they move to new premises in the old auction house, the Veilinghuisje, in the middle of the Red Light District. Eventually, there will also be a shop and a proeflokaal there. Promoted by the local authorities as one of several projects to save the problem-ridden area in the northern end of Oudezijds Voorburgwal , it is located just across the Salvation Army and close by Our Lord in the Attic, originally a place of worship for oppressed souls. Saving souls may be stretching the philosophy behind De Prael a bit far, but the brewery was originally set up to help people with some distance to the job market back to work.

The Meibockfestival started out in the premises of the old Maximiliaan brewery, that closed down in 2001. The brewing facilities are back in use, now as the brewpub De Bekeerde Suster of De Beiaard group, located just a stone's throw from the Veilinghuisje. Maybe the Meibockfestival now comes back to the Red Light District and perhaps even converting some souls from red decay to amber glory.

Beery Beersel

2007-05-28T01:00:00.000+02:00

The clouds over Beersel in Pajottenland are luckily of political nature rather than beer-related these days, though the discussion over the Brussel- Halle-Vilvoorde constituency has enough dynamite in it to threaten the stability of the entire kingdom. In the 90s the two geuze makers of Beersel were struggling, but these days things have brightened up: Drie Fonteinen ventured into lambik brewing in addition to the geuze blending in the beginning of this century, and there seems to be new life at the Oud Beersel brewery.

Beersel makes for a nice excursion from Brussel. The whole trip takes only about half an hour. The best day to go is probably Friday when most cafés as well as the Drie Fonteinen brewery outlet are open, and there is a train service. I went there on a Sunday, taking the local train to the station of Ukkel-Kalevoet, where there is a connection to De Lijn bus no 154.

The obvious starting point in Beersel is the Drie Fonteinen restaurant, just across the church. Run by the brewer's brother it offers lambik, faro and kriekenlambik in addition to some bottled beers as well as hearty meals. Admittedly, the only relatively young feature at the restaurant is the jong lambik (jong here meaning about 1 year in barrels)- otherwise it is the reign of grey hair. The middle-aged waitresses are quick and friendly with orders in Dutch answered back in English- they are used to foreign beer tourists here! I took a special liking to the kriekenlambik, a perfect blend of lemony lambik with mellow cherry and almonds flavours, ending dry as wood. Can a kriekenlambik get any better than this? The only thing I missed at this splendid restaurant was an oude lambik- they should have some by now.

My next stop was the hotel, restaurant and café Centrum. I opted for the cosy café, which seemed to be the very best in the village with a decent beer list, including Girardin oude lambik and kriekenlambik, and well worthy of a full entry in Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide. I had previously tasted jonge lambik from Girardin at the excellent restaurant De Rare Vos in Schepdaal. It had an interesting leather-like aroma with a touch of toffee. The flavours were surprisingly harmonious with sweet toffee flavours, hints of dry wood and refreshing citrus. The oude lambik, having spent up to three years in the barrel, was very different. Still slightly unattractive in appearance with just a few bubbles gracing the surface. Now raisins and vanilla reached for the nose, and in the mouth the winous liquid revealed lemons, wood and not least vanilla. Two highly different, but wonderful beers in themselves; blending them makes the world's best geuze in my opinion.

The road goes slightly downhill to In de Oude Pruim (the old prune), and appropriately the most exciting beer the deserted café could offer was the most inferior of the Girardin range, the Ulricher Lager Extra. Better luck then at the Café Camping- if only for its atmosphere as a café for the local football team and the adjoining camping ground. Where else is a camping ground served by a café offering the champagne among beers, oude geuze?

The politicians should know that when the storms rage over Pajottenland, there is refuge in some of the most tranquil and traditional cafés around. The heritage they represent is bigger than the question of constituency borders, and it has survived the biggest enemy of all: indifference.

High Season in Low Countries

2007-05-05T23:59:00.000+02:00

May is beer fest month in Europe. On May 11-13 it is time again for the annual festival called the Copenhagen beer days, a festival that could well have been branded “probably the best”. Well-organized (though its success means it is growing out of its venue of Valbyhallen) and with a great choice of both Danish and imported beers as befits the merchant nation of Denmark. Ideas of a truly European craft beer festival have been aired, and I can think of few better organisers of such an event than Danske Ølentusiaster, the Danish beer consumer organisation, the host of the Copenhagen beer days.

During the festival the Scandinavian Home Brewing Championship will take place. Here enthusiasts who enjoy not only drinking good beer, but also making it, have a chance to meet.

I have had the pleasure of running into two of those enthusiasts this Easter and last. The venue was, appropriately enough, the Kulminator in Antwerpen, which gets filled up with Danish beer pilgrimes every Easter. Eastcoast home brewers Michael and Tom kindly donated a bottle of their Brewer's Ale (on the picture) last Good Friday, and it is definitely not a beer for crucifixion. It has nice orangey amber colour with a thick off-white head, yielding a grassy and sweet aroma, and flavours that balance well, though a bit on the sweet side.

Copenhagen is truly wonderful, but at the time this year I will be touring some other low countries. Beer festivals will not be missed, however. A well-reputed student festival in Vilvoorde, a new beer fest in St Olen in Belgian Limburg (that I may have to forego, though), and a Meibockfestival in Amsterdam's Helicopterstraat (at De Prael brewery) makes sure that the Low Countries remain a highlight even in the high season of European beer festivals.

Wild Wonders in Waregem

2007-04-16T23:55:00.000+02:00

The villagers of Waregem may have been praying for a wonder. Though centrally located on the Gent-Kortrijk railway line and not too far from quite a few interesting brewers, this village of West-Vlaanderen is not exactly full of attractions. This Easter offered some hope that the prayers may have been heard. A new beer festival was born, appropriately named 1ste Waregemse Bierhappening, arranged by an almost equally new-born local association of Zythos, De Waregemse Bierfanaten.

Fanatic or not, they may have thought that the day would live up to its name; the festival took place on Stille Zaterdag- the quiet Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. 17 very small brewers offering tastings of some 70 beers, were lined up in the lobby of Waregem Expo. Arriving in the early evening I soon found out that the fanatics did not really need to do much lobbying- the place was packed with followers of good beer.

The beer makers were small indeed; the majority of them not even having their own breweries, and many a beer had seen the light of day (or hopefully not) inside the cellars of Alvinne, De Graal or De Proefbrewery. Among these were the festival beer, “ne Gèslotie”, brewed at De Graal and named after a bird as well as a person talking incoherently or maybe even wildly.

In fact, it was the wild young cuckoos of the beer world (or beers brought up by a commissioned brewer) that impressed me the most. The Buitenlust brewers had with the help of De Proefbrouwerij come up with an interesting new Flemish sour ale, combining top- fermenting yeasts with wild yeasts and sour cherry juice. The resulting Totentrekker has some really appetizing sour yoghurt flavours as well as good fruitiness.

Also De Struise Brouwers, these days brewing at Deca, showed their wild side at the beer festival with a new beer called Struiselensis, combining the wild-like Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and ale yeast, both supplied by Wyeast. Meant as a tribute to the Lembeek brewers it does indeed come close to a geuze.

So thanks to the friendly fanatics and some wild brewers we had a wonderful evening in Waregem.

In Oslo's Top Heat

2007-03-11T20:05:00.000+01:00

Located in (or rather near, some would say) the working-class suburb of Kampen and a mere stone's throw from the Munch museum there is new, warming place for beer drinkers in the Norwegian capital.

A restaurant and a bar, the name, Kampens Hete, translates into the Heat of the Battle or just the Heat of (the suburb of) Kampen.

The cuisine is continental, but more importantly, the beer list resembles the likes we have seen on better part of the continent, too. Food may be king here, but it is seldom to see such a well-chosen list of 32 beers in this country, including 4 Nøgne Ø's, 2 Atna beers and 9 suberb Belgians. The Norwegian macro beer establishment is represented by Aass, another good choice in my opinion. In terms of selection this place ranks third in the beer desert of Oslo, but when you add beer knowledge and service it may well be a contender for the gold medal.

As you enter, you can either go right to the bohemia-meets-fifties' diner- style restaurant or turn left to the bar area, which includes wireless access for those who need to connect to the real world. The basement is only open for special arrangements, among others a recent beer tasting evening. With all these things going, the establishment takes a deserved rest on Sundays and Mondays.

Kampens Hete is a welcome ally in the battle for good beer in Oslo.

A Recipe for Delirium

2007-03-06T23:52:00.000+01:00

Some like it straight. Enthusiasts of malt-derived drinks are perhaps among the more serious purists, whether belonging to the craft beer camp or being malt whisky drinkers.

Incidentally, the two groups seem to go hand in hand, particularly in Sweden. Most of the great beer bars in our neighbour country, the Delirium Café in Göteborg being no exception, offer a wide variety for connoisseurs of the golden "water of life". Indeed, the annual festival hosted by EBCU member Svenska Ölfrämjandet in Stockholm is a whisky festival, too, and the world's premier beer expert has proven that his nose is not limited to beer, if anyone ever thought so.

Also the Delirium Café in Brussels, a place that mysteriously manages to appeal to both lager/fruit beer drinking students and serious, note-taking Ratebeerians, offer something for those with a taste for stronger stuff. Purists beware, though, this includes beer cocktails, which you will find described on their web site.

Personally, I quite liked their "La Merveilleuse De Rochefort"- a healthy portion of white port topped by a bottle of Rochefort 10, all served in a traditional Rochefort glass. The chocolate and pear sirup character of the trappist heavy-weight married perfectly with the sweet port, proving that deviating from the straightforward can bring some wonderful experiences. It may be a recipe for delirium, but it remains one of the secrets behind the great Belgian beer culture.

The Cardinal of Norway

2007-02-02T23:45:00.000+01:00

Trondheim may protest, but the cardinal seat of Norway would have to be Stavanger. Beside the fact that religion stands stronger in the Stavanger region than elsewhere in this secular country, it may easily be argued that the city already has the grandest temple in the country, at least for those of us who believe in redemption by craft beer.

It is not a place for monotheism, though- as many as 250 different craft beers can be worshipped at the Cardinal Pub & Bar, a shining light in the middle of Stavanger's "lysløype"-literally the lighted trail- as the nightlife strip of the city is called.

His Excellency, the Cardinal, is strong not only in numbers, but also in the Spirit. For instance, January saw a number of great new British craft beers, imported by the bar itself. So when the state liquor store fails to widen their beer selection, there is still a place called Hope for the citizens of Stavanger. Few other beer bars in this country venture outside the safe(and easily available) lists of the state liquor store- there stops the dedication to the cause...

Cask ale is another rarity I have yet to enjoy at a bar in the nation's capital. In fact, I have a strong suspicion that many bar owners do not even know the concept- they are used to getting some carbonated golden liquid pumped from a tank truck into their cellar tanks on Monday mornings- it seems easier that way, does it not?

And then there is the Book- the menu with detailed descriptions of each beer on offer, well written and organised, on par with the best in Europe, as far as I can tell. For groups of believers (Doubting Thomases are probably welcome, too) the Cardinal also offers "pilgrimages" to the Holy Beer Lands, represented by among others a Rch Ale Mary, a St Georgen Kellerbier or the dark secrets of a heavyweight trappist, the Rochefort 10.

So how come Stavanger is the location of the best beer bar in Norway, being only the fourth biggest city and a fifth of the size of Oslo? Is it the influence of the big expat Anglo-Saxon population in Norway's oil capital? The ferry connections and traditional ties with Denmark and England? The general interest in gastronomy as cultivated by The Culinary Institute at the University of Stavanger and manifested by being the host city for the first Bocuse d'Or Europe, taking place next year? The general drive of its people (at this stage readers be warned that this beer tourist may be somewhat partial!) ?

Whatever the reason, the European City of Culture 2008 can, thanks to the Cardinal, also offer some beer culture.

A Taste of the Midnight Sun

2007-01-20T21:45:00.000+01:00

A taste of the Midnight Sun on a winter's night in Stockholm? Well, normally you would think that requires stronger substances than just a beer. Not so if you find your way to the Akkurat Belgo Bar in trendy Södermalm, a stone's throw from Slussen.

It might very well be the best beer café in the world, at the very least the best Belgian beer café. I know it is quite a claim, but have I have yet to see such a well-chosen mix of current and vintage beers, even in Belgium itself. Among the goodies I spotted a geuze from the Eylenbosch brewery, which closed down in 2001. At Kulminator, though still on the menu, its stock has been depleted by American beer tourists years ago. They do not do 2000+ beers at Akkurat, but what they have is great. Of course, this being Scandinavia, you will have to fork out for greatness.

They seem to be especially fond of the lambik family at Akkurat. So it may not come as a surprise that one their specialities, not available anywhere else, is made in cooperation with the Cantillon brewery in Brussels. Freshly picked cloudberries from Norrland, the northern region of Sweden, are shipped to Brussels, steeped in two year old lambik before stored in oak barrels for four months. The end result is bottled as "Soleil de Minuit" - the Midnight Sun- before being shipped back to Akkurat.

The pinkish orange colour and that fine, lingering head makes it look very appetizing, though you would not believe it from my picture. Cheese and farmyard aromas dominate, putting the sharp acidity somewhat in the background. Flavours are more fruity with the lemony lambik character in the lead, though cheese is always there. The mellow character of the cloudberries are only very faint, but what can you expect from an aged bottle of fruit lambik?

As it happened they did not have any cold bottles available in the bar itself at the time of my visit, but the friendly and knowledgable bartender offered to get a bottle from their cellar. Enjoying a 1999 bottle of "Soleil de Minuit", that Monday night in wintery Stockholm seemed quite bright indeed.

Alternative Antwerpen

2007-01-05T23:55:00.000+01:00

For some of us December is quite a busy month with lots of tasks to be completed, at work and privately, before Christmas sets in. The days from Christmas and up to New Year provide a welcome anti-climax in that respect. This year I spent my quiet vacation days in Belgium, with Antwerpen as base.

Travelling in Belgium during the holiday season can be a mixed pleasure for a dedicated beer tourist. Many of the best beer bars are family-run, and these families, too, want to relax between Christmas and New Year, can you believe?

That Kulminator is closed during those days comes as no surprise- I think they have done so since they started up their beer cafe in Vleminckveld in 1979. Also, a bus trip to Statiestraat 34 in Berchem, 600 metres from the Antwerpen Berchem railway station, only found the windows of the Camargue beer bar shuttered for the season. I will happily return also to the latter with its relaxed atmosphere, and unlike Kulminator, not dominated by foreigner visitors like myself.

A revisit to the jovial Berenbak was somewhat depressing, as it was my last ever. After 27 years they closed their doors for good on December 30. The reason? 60-70 hours work every week leaves time to little less, the rather nice building will now be converted into (more) profitable apartments. (Adding to the row of arguments were increasing beer prices from InBev and the new smoking law for Belgian cafés and restaurants coming into effect on January 1.) Berenbak adds to the list of beery establishments closing recently in Belgium.

So what are the alternatives in Antwerpen? Well, as a small country with a great and mostly reliable railway network there is no need to stay put in Antwerpen if you do not want to- Brussels' Delirium Cafe is only 45 minutes away, open 365 days a year until very late. But there are still plenty of decent beery places to visit in Antwerpen city itself. 't Waagstuk, Oud Arsenaal and the brewpub 't Pakhuis should all give some good drinking moments.

But the most central option with the best opening hours is undoubtable the Pater's Vaetje, the Father's Little Barrel. Small it is, indeed, one small room with an even smaller loft opening onto the main room. Securing a seat can be a challenge, though the situation improves somewhat when the windy and rainy Antwerpen weather allows you to employ the outside seating. But the Father never had to walk far for his barrel - the café is right at the foot of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Kathedraal, the cathedral of Our Dear Lady, whose impressive 123 metre tower dwarfs all the other buildings in the old city.

The dear ladies running the Pater's Vaetje do their bit to ensure that Antwerpen stays a beer tourism hot spot even during cold periods.

The Slow Road to Italian Beer

2006-12-09T23:34:00.000+01:00

That you will find the headquarters of a gastronomic organisation in Italy is hardly surprising. That the same organisation is also a vehicle for promoting craft beer is welcome news.

Slow Food, a worldwide organization set up to counteract fast food and the disappearance of local food traditions, is based in the Piemonte region of Italy. Some of the excellent, yet threatened, gastronomical products are granted Presidia status, and among these you will find Norwegian Sognefjord goat's cheese, Polish mead and the chinotto citrus fruit from Savona.

Every two years the organisation hosts a gigantic exhibition in Torino. The 6th Salone del Gusto took place in October in several huge exhibition halls (called pavillions) in the Lingotto Fiere area. The international pavillion featured many English and German brewers in between the cheese and ham producers, chocolate and biscuit makers, to name only a few of the categories.

For a beer tourist with only one day available - experienced Slow Food followers would probably stay all the five days the exhibition lasted- the big Italian pavillion, featuring also a Beer Lane had to be given more of the time. In addition, I wanted to cover a taste session with brewer Teo Musso of Baladin, held in a dedicated conference room for "Meeting the maker sessions".

Luckily, it was possible to buy beers to go. One of the beers that ended up in my rucksack was a Seson from the appropriately named Piccolo Birrificio. As seems typical for many of the small Italian brewers, it is Belgian beers that are the major source of inspiration. Quite a few of had made their pilgrimages to Payottenland, no doubt led there by Italian no 1 beer expert, lambik enthusiast and teacher for Slow Food's "Master of Food" classes, Lorenzo Dabove.

Back to the Seson, a saison with an Italian, or more specifically Slow Food, twist. A decent saison
with quite a bit of life in it and definitely saison-appropriate thirst-quenching qualities. The wheaty fruitiness is well-balanced by spices and good bitterness, the latter also derived from the peel of chinotto di Savona. The small Ligurian brewer has gone local to give one of the world's greatest beer styles an interesting interpretation.

It seems to have been a slow road to Italian craft beer, but then Rome was not built in one day either.

Real Ale Delivered

2006-12-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

"CAMRA says this is REAL ALE", according to the label on this lucky bottle from The Oakleaf Brewing Co. CAMRA's definition of a real ale is a "beer brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide."

Needless to say, few Norwegian breweries seem to bother- the nationwide Ringnes brand is pumped dead and directly into the basements of country's bars and restaurants. Unfortunately, these establishments seem hooked on this simple golden fluid, as it is the oil in their financial machinery.

In contrast, Hole Hearted from The Oakleaf Brewing delivers. This hazy amber real ale pours with a medium-sized foam and smells of citrus and caramel with a hint of dough. Good bitterness and citrus flavours, but also some balancing earthiness. Body is light without feeling watery. Made from 100% Cascade hops (and thus(?) termed an American Pale Ale on Ratebeer.com) it deviates from the strict Goldings and Fuggles hops regime that seems to rule the English craft brewing scene. Refreshing that is, in my opinion- keeping traditions alive is important, but they should not become straight-jackets.

The bottle was delivered from the Real Ale beer shop in Twickenham, which is whole-heartedly dedicated to English real ale, though with a natural emphasis on ales from Southern England. Nice as the place is, especially if you do the walk from nearby Richmond train and underground station, it is still quite far from the city centre of London. For those of us who sometimes have to combine beer tourism and business travel, it can be difficult to make Twickenham part of the program. Luckily, therefore, Real Ale, operates a good online shop with updated inventories and can deliver (in multiples of 12 bottles) to your hotel. Not only is it convenient, the delivery price hardly scares a national of Ringnes country thirsting for real ale.

The Real Ale beer shop combines a good head for new business with a whole heart for traditions.

A Prima Primitive

2006-10-14T23:15:00.000+02:00

The works of the Flemish primitives are respected worldwide, much like the current status of Belgian beer among connoisseurs.

The wildest (or weirdest) of the painters was probably Hieronymus Bosch from 's-Hertogenbosch in present-day Netherlands, with his gruesome and surreal depictions of hell.

Motifs from his paintings can now be found on the Vlaamse Primitief series of wild ales from De Proefbrouwerij in Lochristi, Oost-Vlaanderen. On their web site the US crafts beer importer, The Shelton Brothers, great ambassadors (and, indirectly, I would believe, sometimes even lifesavers) of Belgian breweries, have a description of six variants available.

On a recent trip to the vicinity of the brewery this beer tourist discovered yet another version, as can be seen in the picture. From the 75 cl bottle poured a quite clear, pale golden-coloured beer with a fluffy, white head. Sour fruit aroma, brettanomyces, very leathery Orval-like, but more fruity. Flavours are very bitter, yet some sweet fruitiness remains. Creamy texture, long dry finish, good carbonation. The label may depicts Hell (something for the Norwegian teetotaler movement?), but inside the bottle hides a heavenly brew.

The bottle was bought in one of those off-the-beaten track Belgian beer cafes that make you feel you have deserved every drop of beer you end up tasting. De Bierkamer is a countryside café in Kluizen, about half an hours bus ride north of Gent. After you get off the bus from Gent, you still have a 600 meter walk alongside the highway to reach this beer haven. With corn fields on each side and not too much traffic it is a pleasant enough walk passing by the odd sight of a garden with deer. In the distance the refineries of the busy port of Gent are visible - you are in the wild of densely populated Vlaanderen.

The next village after Kluizen is Ertvelde, home of the industrious Brouwerij Van Steenberge. The best of this brewery dominates the 100 plus beer menu of De Bierkamer, but treasures from smaller breweries from all over Belgium are also to be found. Do not expect any primitive lagers, though- only quality is allowed into the highly presentable beer list.

It is indeed a highly civilized place to enjoy a wild ale...

On the Narrow Path

2006-10-06T20:25:00.000+02:00

The Rake is one of the latest beer bars of interest in London. The address is Winchester Walk, a lane connecting the spirit with spirits- the Southwark Cathedral with the Vinopolis.

It is just behind the Borough Market, even sharing some of its facilities. Yet it is surprisingly quiet compared to other pubs in the vicinity. Appearantly, few seems to have found the narrow path to Beerdom.

Maybe just as well, as the place is one of the tiniest around- only helped by a beer garden that is almost double the size of the interior.

You are probably not there for the interior and its design, anyway. Brass enthusiasts should definitely stay away- the furniture is IKEA-style wood and, appropriately, space economical. What is more important are the treasures behind the bar- several taps (including two handpumps reserved for changing ales- Dark Star Hophead and Over the Moon during my visit) and not least a fridge tempting you with a view of more than 100 different bottles. These represent some of the finest beers around, many imported, as you would expect from a pub owned by the people behind the Utobeer market stall.

For now The Rake is closed on Mondays, but this is said to change. Rumours also say that there may be new Rake's opening around town in the near future, specifically near The Tower of London and later on near Covent Garden. With The Rake Londoners have got a highway, not only to Helles, but to most of the world's major beer styles.

Winds of Change

2006-10-02T23:30:00.000+02:00

London's craft brew scene has seen quite a few changes over the last year or so. Most attention has been given to the departures, notably the closure of Young's Ram brewery in Wandsworth, paradoxically at the same time celebrating 175 years of business with a decent Anniversary Ale.

This beer tourist mourned in particular the move of Onlyfinebeer and The Pitfield Beer Shop from East London to Essex. They were two reliable sources for craft beers to bring back home. (You can still have bottles ordered online and delivered to your hotel, but I find it more pleasant to browse the shop shelves).

Not all is bad news, though. The Pitfield Beer Shop moved together with its Brewery to a village north of Colchester. In the process they have expanded into cider and perry brewing. Their brews can still be purchased from a bottle shop in Old Street, not far from their old Pitfield premises. The Real Ale shop in Twickenham, which opened in early 2005, is run by very competent staff and dedicated to great British ales.

Also, I have previously described the promise of the Southwark area, and will follow up with a more detailed review of one newcomer beer bar, The Rake, shortly.

Hampstead may seem like a world apart with its guarded homes and Mercedeses. A posh wine-drinking neighbourhood, maybe, but craft beer has found a lucky home there in The Horseshoe brewpub. Opened a few months ago by Australian brewer McLaughlin, it offers its two alternating brews on draught. For a young brew their Best definitely showed some promise. Add to it casks of Admans, decent bottled beers and very good food and you should be well saddled for the evening so to speak.

And if the thirst persists there is always the Young's house The Flask just a block away, where the bell is still rung for the last orders. Something never changes in this great capital city.

The Excellent Bruxellensis

2006-09-15T22:00:00.000+02:00

September starts the season of many great beer festivals, also in Belgium. In fact, the capital of Europe offers two festivals this month. The first weekend of September sees the crowd packing in Grand' Place for the 8th Beer Weekend. For the true beer enthusiast a more memorable event is likely to be the Bruxellensis Karakterbierfestival the following weekend. Both festivals are worth a visit, but they could not be more different.

Few locations can match the gothic splendour of Brussels' Grand' Place. Its central location, the presence of 48 mostly well-known Belgian brewers as well as the added pageantry almost guarantees a huge crowd- getting a taste of the good stuff may be a challenge, though.

In contrast, the Bruxellensis is almost hidden away in an ijskelder (ice cellar) in the Brussels municipality of Sint-Gillis. The garage-like venue is actually quite big with an open yard in the back. Inside 14 artisanal brewers have their stands-appropriately this year the ijskelder also had a stand featuring some of Franconia's best kellerbiers.

Indeed, the great non-Belgian beers on offer this time was one of the most pleasant surprises. The Stadin Panimo (Downtown Brewery) of Finland served up a hard-punching Amarillo India Pale Ale, whereas the Masilla els Agullons brewery proved that there is an oasis even in the craft beer desert of Iberia. The small Belgian brewers were not to be outdone, presenting some amazing rarities. For me the super-dry 1996 Cantillon Oude Gueuze was a perfect aperitif for the beer tastings to follow.

The Karakterbierfestival Bruxellensis is a small beer festival of small brewers, but it has more character than most.

Going For Gothenburg

2006-08-28T01:06:00.000+02:00

When the more serious trips are still weeks away, and the beer selection at home is shrinking dangerously, there is still hope for a craft beer enthusiast in Oslo. Gothenburg, or Göteborg as the locals call it, is just a four hour bus drive away, ideal for daytrip. Same size population-wise as Oslo, but many times greater beer-wise.

After a solid lunch we recovered from the bus trip and were ready for the natural first destination for any Norwegian going to Sweden, Systembolaget. It is the Swedish state liquor store with prices about half that in Norway (and thus twice those on the continent) and with much greater selection. Inside their outlet in the busy Nordstan shopping centre you hear Norwegian spoken everywhere.

Still it is a monopoly that cares little about great Swedish microbreweries. Only the beers from the Nils Oscar and Jämtlands micros are widely available- if you want anything from, say, the excellent Nynäshamn you have to order in advance at least 20 bottles of each beer. And yet they still find room for the undrinkable Victoria Bitter from down-under.

Luckily, Göteborg has its fair share of high-quality beer bars where you will find what the state liquor store does not care to sell you plus lots of Belgian goodies.

The Bishops Arms is a stylish British pub chain with two outlets in Sweden's second city. Upon entering I noticed a fridge packed with great Belgians. Furthermore, I find it a civilised tradition to offer small samples before making the customer commit to a pint. That said, it still annoys me that they don't bother to present a proper beer list- their whisky list promised much more commitment. The Västra Hamngatan outlet, housed in the basement of the Elite Park Avenue Hotel, only had two Swedish micros on tap. With Sir Winston Churchill staring down from the wall I felt I had no choice but going for Britannia, an English Strong Ale from the local Dugges microbrewery.

Better luck at The Delirium Cafe then, which I have compared it to its sister (or mother) in Brussels before. On draught was among others the Indianviken Pale Ale from Nynäshamn. Peachy golden with a very big creamy, offwhite head that left nice lacing, as you can see from the picture. What you cannot see is the complex apples and peary nose pairing with pine hoppiness. Good sweetness was matched by decent bitterness, the flavours coming out quite fruity with some tartness as well. Landing somewhere between a Belgian strong ale and an IPA, the beer showed off quite a bit of personality. Dugges Wallonia was another treat that was hard to resist at this Belgian beer café.

Refreshed after the Delirium experience, the highlight was still to be the "Haket Bar å Sånt", Bar and Stuff. Located in a working class area alongside the quays in the street of 1. Långgatan it offers a good view to the boats departing for the Scandinavian beer paradise, Denmark. This friendly establishment combines a beer specialist bar with a gay nightclub and a Japanese restaurant, living up to the "and Stuff" bit. Truth is that I may have tasted better sushi, but given the enthusiasm of the female owner and the fact that the bar stocked a good many top-range Swedish micros, including the splendid Nynäshamn Smörpundet Porter, stored one year in oak casks before bottling, this seemed like a minor hitch.

The bar is really close to another legendary Göteborg beer bar, the Rover. Unfortunately, neither opens until 5 pm on Saturdays and thus competing for the last hurrah for a Norwegian daytripper who has to return to the beer desert (and the customs officers guarding it- good thing you do not have to declare what is already inside your body!)

The Goths used to conquer the world, but these days it seems that the world has conquered the Goths. That is a good deal for the world!

Brew Wharf And The Dwarf

2006-08-20T22:25:00.000+02:00

The Borough district of London sees a lot brewing these days. I have on several occasions praised the Utobeer market stall at the splendid Borough Market, with stuff to fill a connoisseur's wettest dreams (craft beers and good wines, I suppose), not to mention his stomach.

The nearby Brew Wharf brewpub is a recent addition to the area's attractions, and it does not disappoint unless you desire your bar brown and nicotine-stained; it is sleek and modern with three big rooms under the railway arches and a patio facing the market. I found their Best a nice surprise with its fruity and malty nose. Very bitter throughout, showing off fruity flavours as well as a very dry finish with a touch of wood. Not unusual for a (best) bitter it had a small head and was rather light-bodied.

Brew Wharf is also one of few places to find a wide range of Meantime brews, either among the 25 bottled beers or from the 7 taps of the brewpub.

That small can be beautiful should be evident for all lovers of craft beer. A couple of weeks ago the smallest bar in the British capital opened its doors, but it could well prove to be one of the best. With supplies and know-how from Utobeer and promising Thomas Hardy Ale on cask The Rake is definitely included on this beer tourist's shortlist for his next trip to London in a month's time. Situated between the Southwark Cathedral and Vinopolis/Brew Wharf in 14, Winchester Walk the bar is open every day except for Mondays and opening early on Saturdays. On Sundays it opens at noon.

With a microbar and a microbrewery Borough is certainly no dwarf in the beer world!

Water(side) Proef

2006-08-05T00:20:00.000+02:00

The address is Groentenmarkt (the vegetable market) in Gent, and the venue is Het Waterhuis Aan de Bierkant- the water house at the bier side. Though the river Leie flows closeby, you are neither there for the water nor for vegetables. The ever reassuring sign "Bierhuis" is prominently displayed, as if they had to prove something.

Proef is there, as you might expect. The presence of the Proefbrouwerij, located in nearby Lochristi, is evident at all the better beer bars in Belgium's third city- those bars have often had a huisbier made for them there (or at Van Steenberge or even Huyghe, both breweries situated just outside the city limits.)

The Proefbrouwerij housebeer made for Het Waterhuis Aan de Bierkant is called Gandavum Dry Hopping. Golden-coloured and big-headed it has a spicy aroma with hints of pine and coriander. The sweet maltiness is well-matched by good bitterness as well as spices, and the mouthfeel is dry. A great housebeer, that I rated a high 4 on the Ratebeer. Pictured is another Proef brew, the Cluysenaer, which, appearances aside, is quite similar to the Gandavum.

This similarity is one of the major criticisms of the industrious Proefbrouwerij. With hindsight I have a feeling I might have been a little over-generous with those ratings; a high rating requires a rather original beer (though dry hopping is a relatively new feature in Belgian brewing). No doubt influenced by one of the most picturesque locations for a beery watering hole anywhere plus attentive and knowledgable service on a nice summer evening, even a beer tourist is just human after all. The Proef brews are usually always well-made, though not necessarily Nobel prize candidates for originality.

Het Waterhuis is definititely a place for "bier proevers", though staying objective (the link is provided is for some added subjective nostalgia) can be a challenge.

Arrival of Authenticity

2006-07-23T16:10:00.000+02:00

Two opposite trends on the sour beer front have appeared in Belgium lately. On the one hand you have the sweetening and rebranding to appeal to the Coca-Cola generation and girls, removing the end product further away from the original beer. They typically carry fancy names like Kriek Max, Timm's, Redbach and Newton. It is a trend that holds few prospects for the quality-conscious beer drinker (except that it may be one way for sour beer brewers to stay in business and create some serious stuff as well).

Luckily, there is also a trend towards authenticity, even among the biggest brewery groups. In August the Keersmaeker brewery, part of the Alken-Maes group, will launch a "new" oude kriek that is made the authentic way with real cherries and no artificial sweetening. It is a limited batch, but if you are in Belgium you may find it at the Delhaize supermarket chain.

The beer on the picture is not your everyday Rodenbach Grand Cru that the glass may have you to believe- it is the Rodenbach Oud Belegen Foederbier. Many people mourned the discontinuating of the Alexander Rodenbach beer, shortly after the Palm group took over the Rodenbach brewery. It is also claimed by old-time beer connoisseurs that Rodenbach Grand Cru was tarter before. The Rodenbach brewery web site states that Rodenbach Grand Cru is matured in oak tuns for 2 years before bottling. Other sources say that 3 parts of this old beer is blended with 1 part new beer and lightly sweetened with caramel sugar before bottled as Rodenbach Grand Cru.

Recently, Rodenbach is seen to be slowly moving back to authenticity. Their Oud Belegen Foederbier- (almost) literally old, matured oak tun beer- is an unsweetened beer made of 100% old beer, available on draught at only two beer cafés in Belgium so far- at De Zalm in the brewery's home town Roeselare and at 't Vosken in Gent. John White has an excellent web page describing the former plus a good discussion of the Rodenbach varieties. The picture above is, however, from 't Vosken- The Little Fox- situated at the atmospheric St.-Baafsplein in Gent. Behind the colourful beer is the grand Belfort- the belfry- whose Viking association I have described previously.

The beer has a refreshing, fruity, sour yoghurt aroma. Flavours are of sour berries, almost like a kriek, but with a sharp acidic edge. The finish is woody and very dry.

Enjoying the Foederbier in a grand medieval setting like St.-Baafsplein is a reminder that trends may be short-lived, but creating greatness takes time.

Brabanconne Day

2006-07-21T23:59:00.000+02:00

It is 21 July, and the federal kingdom of Belgium celebrates that it is exactly 175 years since Leopold I could ascend to the throne to be the first king of this young country.

It is a day for La Brabanconne- the national anthem of Belgium (and also the name of a statue at Surlet de Chokierplein near the Madou metro station in Brussel and a stone's throw away from the Bier Circus, until recently the best beer bar in the Belgian capital).

La Brabanconne is also the name of a range of beers from the new Brasserie du Brabant in Brabant-Wallon, a province described by Tim Webb as "a disaster area for beer drinkers".

On the picture is La Brabanconne Ambree. From the big, 75 cl bottle pours a deep amber beer with a good off-white head and 9% ABV according to the smallish label. Nose is chocolatey and spicey, and there are chocolate flavours with good hoppy bitterness throughout, a lot of fruit and hint of spices. Warming alcohol (as if that was what was needed this hot summer night), long chocolate aftertaste that is quite dry, and full-bodied. Worthy of its pompous name.

To many Belgians 21 July may not be much to celebrate (except for a day off work) - a legendary Antwerpen beer bar decided this year to honour 11 July - the Flemish "national day" celebrating their peasants beating the French noblemen in the Battle of the Golden Spurs- but remain open for business on 21 July. It is not hard to see that the "Belgian compromise"- though watered out somewhat by federalism- is not exactly to the advantage of the hard-working Flemish people.

In the flag it is the golden colour that unites the Wallonian red rooster with the black lion of Flanders. In everyday life it is the golden liquid. The Belgians may be at odds at home, but their beers have conquered the quality-conscious beer world! La Brabanconne could be one of them.

Wheat Beer Days

2006-07-15T23:34:00.000+02:00

It is a sunny evening in the Norwegian capital, and with temperatures in the high 20s, it is time to look for some thirst-quenching beers. Honeymoon translates into Norwegian "wheat bread days", but for these worriless summer evenings (at least in our latitudes) I would rather have some wheat beers.

Days like these are not that common here up north, so it is only appropriate to celebrate with some rare wheat beers. The candidates are from left to right: Gueuze de Nivelles, Blanche des Honnelles, HaandBryggeriet Weizenbock and Atna hveteøl (Weissbier)- two representatives from Belgium and two locals- though the latter are German in style.

A real oude geuze must consist of at least 30 per cent wheat- that follows from the legal definition of a lambik. Gueuze de Nivelles is an experimental brew from the small brewery La Brasserie Du Brabant, situated in the Wallonian part of Brabant (unlike the major geuze makers, which are in the Flemish part, more specifically Pajottenland). It is a spontaneously refermented top fermented beer- cheers to Belgian originality!

The l'Abbaye des Rocs is one of my favourite Wallonian brewers, and their twist is a Dubbel Wit. Not that the 6% ABV of their Blanche des Honnelles is anything spectacular in Belgian context anyway. Ratebeerians seem to rate it among the top Belgian wits, though.

We had to wait a while before the Weizenbock from the Norwegian Haandbryggeriet (as opposed to the Danish micro with the same name) appeared in the state liquor store shelves. Traditionally an early spring beer to keep people nourished during Lent, this Weizenbock did not become widely available until very recently. In secular Scandinavia there should be no reason to wait until next Lent to enjoy it.

And finally a brew from another Norwegian microbrewery that kept us waiting, the Atna brewery. Despite Norwegian nationalist rhetoric on the label, it is the inside of the bottle that counts, and that is definitely a Bavarian Weisse with its strong banana aroma and flavour.

The wheat beer days are here to enjoy! Not to mention the exceptional wit (or weiss) nights!

Praise to the Beer Passion!

2006-06-28T21:15:00.000+02:00

Last weekend, starting Friday afternoon and lasting until Sunday evening, was the Bierpassion Weekend in Antwerpen. The event took place inside a big tent on Groenplaats, next to the cathedral and under the watchful eyes of Rubens (or at least a statue of him).

156 different beers could be tasted, (almost) all served in attractive tasting glasses. Admittedly, some were more interesting than others. My drinking tokens were spent on great new beers from Leireken, Contreras, De Halve Maan and even the American India Pale Ale-inspired Hop-It from Urthel. Somehow, another American beer promoted by Corsendonk did not really capture my interest, though I suppose you could use their Bud Light to cleanse the palate between the beers.

Furthermore, it is not every day that you get a chance to sample the great Bush Prestige or the Deus, the latter described as the most heavenly drink among the Brut beers in the latest edition of Michael Jackson's The Great Beers of Belgium.

The tent on Groenplaats last weekend truly was a cathedral for beers, proving that passion for greatness did not stop with Rubens in the Scheldestad.

Perfectionist Brewpub: Nørrebro Bryghus

2006-06-05T20:00:00.000+02:00

Some don't do compromises. Nørrebro Bryghus offers great beers and good food in a stylish setting. Located in a former metal factory in Nørrebro, conveniently close to Ølbaren and the great little beer shop Høkeren, the venue is rather big, with a beer bar in the basement and a restaurant upstairs. For the latter you can reserve a table on their web site, which is probably a good idea.

They offer the whole range from Belgian specialties to extreme beers from the US West Coast- and they do them all very well.

On the picture is the Furesø Framboise- a Belgian wit with raspberries. In my opinion, a great little beer, with harmonious raspberry flavours. Not overpowering, just subtle raspberry flavours like only Belgians do it.

Now you can even buy three of their regulars on bottle-a better souvenir from Copenhagen is hard to think of.

Recently (and quite naturally, in my opinion) the brewpub has teamed up with another uncompromising brewer, Nøgne Ø from Norway, to create the Double Knot Brown- the first Nordic guest brew. According to the importer Ale-Consult it is a cousin of the Nøgne Ø Imperial Brown Ale, tasted at the festival and truly a beer to build an empire around.

After a hard night out at nearby Ølbaren, a civilised brunch at Nørrebro Bryghus makes you believe in redemption. None of us may be perfect, but at least you can get a taste of perfectionism.

Danish Micros: Small IS Beautiful

2006-05-28T16:49:00.000+02:00

Size matters after all. The biggest beers come from the smallest breweries. That is the first article of confession for any craft beer enthusiast.

It is a message that seems to have stuck in little Denmark. The Mikkeller Brewery states on its labels that "as Denmarks smallest microbrewery" they have been a well-kept secret in the beer world. Meanwhile, also Holbæk Brewery markets itself as Denmarks smallest microbrewery. Braunstein, being slightly more modest, just promises a big beer from a small brewery. And the list goes on.

And small they are, indeed. The Bøgedal Brewery has an output of 20000 big bottles or 150 hecto litres per year. Artisanal Cantillon in Brussels makes 900 hecto litres in comparison.

With small volumes the microbreweries can pay special attention to the raw materials going into their brews. The picture is from the Raasted Brewery stand at the Københavnske Øldage 2006. The brewery is an impressive little business run by a 24 year-old law student, already with a professional web site, yet with parents giving a helping hand at the stand. I tasted their Trippel Special Edition, made with "Westmalle yeast"- a beer that would make any Belgian brewer proud.

Still, the biggest the difference between the big and the small may not so much be just the raw materials- if anything those are more the consequences. What distinguishes the small (at least outside Germany) is a willingness to experiment. Experimenting is inherently small scale and requires a lot of enthusiasm. It is just that sort of enthusiasm that easily gets drowned in a sea of bland mass-produced lager.

Denmark Twelve Points, le Danemark Douze Points!

2006-05-27T22:25:00.000+02:00

Last weekend it was time for the annual festival again, proving beyond any doubt Denmark as a winner. There are no prizes for guessing that I am not referring to the Eurovision Song Contest, where Denmark ended up disappointingly as no 18.

Danske Ølentusiaster, however, made it again, bigger than ever before. More than 11000 visitors could taste more than 1000 Danish and foreign beers during the Københavnske Øldage. Great numbers, but actually the quality of the beers on offer was even more impressive. I cannot recall tasting a single mediocre beer.

Well-organised the festival is as well. Conveniently scattered around in the Valbyhallen are containers of water, so that both the glass and the palate can be rinsed before a new 10 cl tasting. Another great invention was the glass carrier featured in the picture.

Seating may be scarce, though, unlike at many Belgian beer festivals, where seating seems to be essential. But then again, whereas the latter seems to draw mostly middle-aged men, the Danish festivals also draw a much younger and sexually mixed crowd. A reflection of the society it probably is- a modern society embracing equality, a society where even young people have the ability to spend a little extra on a craft brew rather than having to accept a cheap mass-produced lager. Add to it a population-wide enthusiasm for craft beer not found in the rest of Scandinavia and genuinely friendly people, 12 points from the Norwegian beer jury is practically guaranteed.

Denmark may be a young superpower of the beer world, but has already 8 of the 50 top Ratebeerians, some of the world's most promising breweries and not to mention world-class beer bars like Ølbaren and Plan B. The latter can be found in an excellent little (free) leaflet called the CPH Ølguiden (the CPH beer guide).

Short in distance, but yet so far is indeed the beer desert of Norway from this beer mecca.

Orange Outlets

2006-05-14T15:00:00.000+02:00

Southern California does not only boast world-class beer bars, but also some of the best beer shops around.

One place that combines as a bar, sandwich deli and beer outlet is Hollingshead Deli in Orange. Knowledgeable and friendly owners, a great range of imported (especially from Germany) as well as excellent West Coast craft beers, makes this a great excursion from Los Angeles.

The deli, part of a shopping mall with the address 368, S. Main Street, makes a 20 minutes walk from Orange Metrolink station. From there the trains take you to Los Angeles Union Station in just about 45 minutes. Make sure to get on the last train, though; it departs already at 5.30 pm. (Downtown LA may not be your favourite spot very late, anyway.)

Still in Orange County, but further south in Costa Mesa, is Hi-Time Wine Cellars. It is "only" a shop, but what a shop! It might very well be one of the best-stocked beer (and wine) outlets around- their walk-in beer fridge/cellar is just amazing. It is best reached by car, though OCTA bus no 55 runs pretty close by and takes you to the Santa Ana transportation hub.

After a good time at Hi-Time pack wisely because the 23 kg/50 pound coach class weight limit per suitcase is closely monitored at the airport. If, like me, you are served by the extremely inefficient Northwest Airlines check-in staff at LAX (serving 5 customers per hour, staring helplessly at the computer screen while people lose their flights), the least you want when it is finally your turn is yet another delay.

Unloading some rare bottles is a great time for any beer tourist- just make sure it is at the kitchen table back home and not at the check-in desk (or even at the customs counter!)

Aarschot Appreciated!

2006-05-12T12:30:00.000+02:00

Easter is a time filled with traditions. In the Philippines the dedicated whip themselves or get crucified.

A rather more pleasant tradition is the beer festival arranged by the Aarschotse Bierwegers- the beer weighers of Aarschot. It is the local branch of Zythos in this historic town in the Hageland ("Garden Land") part of Vlaams-Brabant- half an hour by train from both Antwerpen and Hasselt, 12 minutes north-east of Leuven.

This small beer festival, or Bierfestijn, was held for the 13th time this year on Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday. The venue is the rather hard-to-find Zaal Bekaf, a good 20 minutes walk from the railway station. Prepare well, because there are no signs. Finding the narrow path was never easy, but it does bring rewards.

This year the beer list boasted 69 items, all nicely presented with knowledgable comments in a nice Easter-yellow leaflet. Many are real gems, most are rare even by Belgian standards. Even in great Belgian beer cafés Girardin Lambic on draft is not everyday fare. If you are aiming at the super-gems, the Saturday session is your best bet since the venue attracts both locals and foreign beer tourists with a nose for good beer. They know what to order!

One extraordinary beer was the Bink Tripel from the Kerkom brewery. It is quite a hoppy beer, normally not seen on this continent as it is brewed for export to the US. Luckily, it was halted in Aarschot before managing to leave the country. Unfortunately, being a small festival, the beers are sold by the bottle, some like the Bink Tripel in 75 cl, and not in small size tasting glasses, which is problematic for beer tourists travelling on their own (or with a not-so-enthusiastic spouses).

Still, it continues to impress me that a town of less than 30,000 souls can come up with such a great little beer festival, where the organisers have put a lot of effort into finding the unusual. It is the perfect Easter pilgrimage for believers in craft beer. Certainly no brewer represented here deserves crucifiction (though the two biggest might need a little whipping).

Micro in Milltown

2006-05-08T23:24:00.000+02:00

Microbreweries and brewpubs in Norway are few and far between. Møllebyen Mikrobryggeri (literally Milltown Microbrewery) is situated in what is easily the most attractive spot in the most dreary small town of Moss, 40 minutes by rail south of Oslo.

The address is Fossen, meaning the waterfall, and the brewpub is part of an old industrial estate, now consisting of several nicely renovated turn-of-the-previous-century brick buildings built around the waterfall. With the outdoor seating it feels like a rather spacious affair, especially on a slow Sunday afternoon. The walk from the railway through the city centre takes 10-15 minutes.

Well inside the almost empty brewpub the cardboard informed me of the four beers available on tap: A steamer, a pilsner, a summer beer (classified as a kölsch on Ratebeer) and an IPA. They are all very dry, hoppy beers, but rather less fruity and complex than their likes at the Oslo Mikrobryggeri. The IPA is the most successful in my opinion.

Four glasses of 0.4 litres each will set you back 214 kroner (some 27 Euro), and you will have to spend the same amount for your return ticket from Oslo. Only the most dedicated beer tourist might travel the world for the Milltown microbrews, but they are definitely not your average Miller's.

Busy Office

2006-05-07T12:40:00.000+02:00

Now that the sun is finally appearing in this polar country people cannot get out of the office soon enough. Father's Office in sunny California does not seem to be suffering from the same mentality.

It is not only because Americans spend longer hours in the office than most Europeans. Father's Office happens to be one of the best beer bars in the LA area.

The crowd, though, seems to be more of prospective office-workers. Located at 1018 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica the UCLA campus is not that far away. The bar does not open until 5 pm on most weekdays, 4 pm on Fridays and 3 pm in the weekend. Arriving at 3.30 pm one Sunday afternoon (by Santa Monica's Big Blue Bus no 3) the place was already packed with young beerlovers. America's craft beer scene seems to have a bright future!

The beer menu features some 20 craft breweries, mostly from the Golden State- an appropriate name in this regard. Hennepin, a saison from the excellent Ommegang farmhouse brewery in upstate New York, was one of few brews to have crossed the continent. Still a great selection and with no boring macro brew as far as I could see.

Now this is an office I could spend time in!

Red Beer Day

2006-05-01T22:32:00.000+02:00

Red may not be my favorite colour, but I quite fancy the red colours on the Norwegian calendar for May. Today, May 1, is the reddest of them all. This beer tourist thought that was worth celebrating with one of the reddest beers around, the Schaerbeekse Kriek from 3 Fonteinen.

True, there are several high-quality oude krieks around, including another one from 3 Fonteinen. Yet, this is the only one using traditional cherries from the Brussels borough of Schaarbeek- most of the others have resorted to cherries from the province of Limburg. And few others add as much as 350 grams of whole cherry fruit to be steeped in lambiek per liter kriek.

In a previous post I have praised their Vintage Geuze (from 2002, they started brewing lambiek in 1999 after being "just" a geuze blender since 1953). This is a brewery that is as innovative as it is traditional- no wonder they ended up on the twelfth place of world's best brewers according to Ratebeer.

The 3 Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek has a deep red colour with orange tones and a fine, pink head. The aroma is full of cherries and lemon and some wood, while flavours starts with cherries as you might expect, and then develops lemony and vanilla notes before an almondy, dry finish. It is a complex, yet soft kriek that meets the world-class standard set by 3 Fonteinen.

An extraordinary beer on a day celebrating equality....

Labour or Leisure: Extra or Tripel?

2006-05-01T20:16:00.000+02:00

It is the International Labour Day. It is a day to demand more leisure time, it seems, or maybe just to enjoy the extra day off work. A celebration of work it is hardly, though it might have been appropriate, seeing the mass unemployment on the European continent.

The trappist monks at Westmalle (or more specifically, at Abdij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van het Heilig Hart at Westmalle) have made their choice clear- they have committed their lives to Ora et Labora, prayer and work.

Part of this work has been to create the mother of all Belgian trippels for the rest of us to enjoy at our leisure. Brewing is thirst-bringing work, so the monks have also made a weaker, everyday beer that is normally only enjoyed inside the abbey gates.

Finding the Westmalle Extra outside the abbey is indeed rare (but it seems to occur more often these days alongside the workday beers from Orval and Chimay). On the contrary, even the Norwegian state liquor store with its limited beer range sells Westmalle Tripel, though turnover is hardly overwhelming (the evidence is the old beer labels, and more thorough investigation indicated a bottle date some 10 months ago.)

The Extra is hazy golden, so lighter also in colour than its more cloudy, orangey big sister. The white foam is leaving nice lacing on sides of the glass. The aroma is deliciously sweet and malty with notes of candy sugar and raisins. Admittedly, it is slightly less complex than the tripel with its subdued floral and yeasty nose. The Extra begins with sweet and malty flavours, but with good offsetting bitterness it ends very dry, drier indeed than the tripel. On the other hand, the tripel is more fizzy and has a fuller body as well as warming alcohol that you won't find in the Extra. All in all, these are two surprisingly different beers- both highly drinkable and complex.

Labora seems to bring advantages both to leisurely beer drinkers and to the monks themselves.

Pizza Port Pints

2006-04-30T17:15:00.000+02:00

There are three Pizza Port brewpubs in Southern California; you will find them in San Clemente, Carlsbad and Solana Beach.

The one in Solana Beach is said to be the most interesting beerwise, and it is also easily reached by public transport, situated just next to the Solana Beach Amtrak/Metrolink Station.

Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service will take you there in 2 hours from the Union Station in Los Angeles (and with San Diego only some 45 minutes away). Starting from the rather nice San Juan Capistrano station in Orange County, near one of the first missions in California, my 45 minute train trip set me back about 11 dollars one-way, but then the Amtrak tickets are quite flexible.

At first glance the place is a bit disappointing. Solana Beach is surfer territory, and the brewpub atmosphere is definitely young, with the carefree student attitude to go with it. To me that does not mean that the wooden long tables have to be dirty and full of trash. Self-service is ok enough (as long as they care to give back the right amount of change- if not, it just adds to the sloppy impression.) With no growlers available that day buying beer to take home was also not an option.

I had my first tasting of their magnificent Cuvée de Tomme at the Nacht van de Grote Dorst in Belgium with the brewer present- tasting it in the brewpub proved more difficult. However, the beers available (as well as the pizza) are all very good, and there are even a few high-quality guest beers on tap.

I tried Hops on Rye, Shark Attack Triple and SPF 15, with the latter turning out a favourite. Its deep rubyred colour and rich, cloying off-white foam looks appetizing, and the aroma is an interesting mix of caramel, spices and yeastiness. Sweet caramel flavours combine with a spicy, yeasty dryness towards the finish, and you will taste fruity flavours as well as some sour notes on the way. All in all, a very complex Belgian-style ale, a blend of Oudenaards Bruin and a saison.

Southern California has some pretty good ports for potent pints...

On Foot for Lambic Au Fût

2006-04-28T23:11:00.000+02:00

Or lambiek van 't vat- lambik from the tap. In Brussels, more specifically in the Anderlecht municipality near the Brussel Zuid station, you can go directly to one source of it. The Cantillon brewery is open every day and is billed as Het Brussels Museum van de Geuze. You can wander around and see the brewery, have a beer at the bar and buy their excellent products at a good price.

Once in the area around the station you may want to drop by Au Laboureur at no 3, Grondwetplaats/Place de la Constitution. Like so many establishments in this part of town you will find a solid Mediterreanean influence - charming, exciting and with its large Morroccan population not without dangers at nighttime.

With your back to the Zuid station you will see the enormous Justitie Paleis on the top of the hill and below it one of the best areas for lambiek in the capital- the genuine De Marollen (Marolles) district. Ploegmans and Het Warm Water- the latter with home-made faro based on Girardin lambiek- are places to seek out.

Unfortunately, many tourists do not venture outside the compact old city centre, but there is hope even for them. Almost next to the Beurs, in Rue Tabora no 11, is the La Bécasse- a Brussels institution serving Zoete (sweet) Lambiek (as well as Witte Lambiek) from Timmermans on tap. The former is essentially a faro made especially for this café- the Witte Lambiek (a wit bier made from spontaneous fermentation) is more commercially available. The café oozes history, with lambiek served from traditional mugs. De Girardin faro served at het Warm Water may be more complex and there are few, if any, Brusselaars in the café, but it is still a highly recommended stop.

With fûts like these just feet away from the Beurs (a stone's throw from Grand' Place) you will easily find your feet in Brussels.

Naja's, Naturally!

2006-04-27T19:30:00.000+02:00

Naja's Place is a natural choice for beer tourists visiting LA. You may call it the no 2 beer bar in the LA area (after Stuffed Sandwich), and much easier to reach.
Attractively situated at 154 International Boardwalk, which can be seen as an extension of the Redondo Beach Pier complex, you are just feet away from the Pacific Ocean, represented here by the yacht harbour.

The interior is a bit rough. The music and the food, well indeed the whole atmosphere is miles apart from the family atmosphere prevailing at Stuffed Sandwich. But as at Stuffed Sandwich this is a place that takes it beers seriously. The beer list boasts several vintage beers in addition to the impressive 77 tap beers- making a great choice for samplers- I think you can get 4 for 6 dollars. Some of the vintage beers are sold only with Owner Approval, according to their bottle menu, but in practice it may take quite a bit of convincing for owner Jason to part with any of his older bottles from Alesmith or Stone's. But it is absolutely worth the effort!

The great selection of strong West Coast micros was warming on a cold March evening. Mind you, with only open doors and thin windows separating you from the forces of nature their strong spirit is just what you need.

After a nice session at Naja's Place it is nice to know that there is a good bus service back to LAX City Bus Center. Bus no 232 from Long Beach will bring you there safely from the crossroads between Torrance Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway in around 40 minutes. The bus stop itself is a sobering ten minute walk from the Redondo Beach Pier.

LA Beer Bar Base: T.H. Brewster

2006-04-22T22:30:00.000+02:00

In the vast metropolitan area of LA finding a good base is essential for exploring the beer scene. One good choice is Four Points LAX by Sheraton. It brands itself as The Beer Hotel, thus setting it apart from the dozens of other hotels lined up near Los Angeles International Airport- LAX. Its claim to fame is T.H. Brewster's, the hotel bar that serves up craft beers from America and beyond.

True, there are many better beer bars in Los Angeles. Also, passion for (and knowledge of) beer was not the most obvious feature among the bar's Hispanic staff. Inconvenient for this beer tourist was the change in dates for the monthly Beer Appreciation Night since the hotel last updated their web page.

Still, it makes for a perfect last place of call to reflect on the day’s event and enjoy a jolly good night-cap. And many of the American micros on offer at the hotel bar have enough power in them to put a jet-lagged tourist to sleep. As if the great beds and the surprisingly quiet rooms (given the pretty good view of the cockpit of incoming planes) did not already help you get your beauty sleep. (You might already have guessed that the area around the hotel does not score high on charm.)

An added bonus is the proximity to the LAX City Bus Center situated 400 metres away (as well as the Burger King just across the road for cheap fillings until midnight). And if you insist on driving, all the big car rental companies are just a few blocks away on the same road, the appropriately named Airport Boulevard.

A high four points goes to the wonderful North Coast Old Stock Ale, enjoyed at T.H. Brewster. The place deserves a similar high rating.

Stuffed Sandwich

2006-04-08T00:18:00.000+02:00

Last month this blogger got a beery business trip to South California. Los Angeles may not be on the top of anyone's list once you have covered Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the usual tourist spots. However, for anyone with the slightest interest in craft beer Los Angeles really proves to be a city of angles.

The archangel Gabriel should be proud that it is in the San Gabriel district of Los Angeles that you will find the best beer bar of them all, a deli shop with the unpretensious name Stuffed Sandwich. It has to be said, in all earnesty, that the working-class (and in Los Angeles context that easily translates into Hispanic) district of San Gabriel holds few other attractions.

Such a heavenly place comes with certain commandments:

Commandment no 1: Be hungry
This is a deli where the regulations say you have to order food in order to drink. So fix your food order first- and the sandwiches are quite good (even if it is all served on plastic and is quite greasy).

Commandment no 2: Buy a beer glass
The deli owners hate washing up so here it is all plastic (or even blue-collared paper cups). Despite being a blue-collar area of the metropolis that is not what you would like like to enjoy world-class beers from. After ordering the food look to the right where the glasses are for sale. You may have have to go to the toilets- sorry, restrooms in American English- in order to wash them, but then again you have come a long way to enjoy the beers at this place anyway.

Commandment no 3: Bring a rucksack
Stuffed Sandwich has a great selection of beer (some hidden from the menu, behind more ordinary bottles) – it may well be the best beer shop in Los Angeles County. If you're found worthy, you may be allowed to buy some real rarities.

Commandment no 4: Bring an attitude (if you have one)
The owner, Sam the Beer Nazi, may or may not bring up some goodies. It is up to him- he decides what he wants to let go of, so if you are knowledgeable of (especially) Belgian and American beer, show it with passion! (But if you’re not, do not pretend, as Sam knows his beers). At the end of the day, and very unususual for Americans, Sam does not accept tips. Do not even think that thou can pay thou way into His favour!

Commandment no 5: Go public
There is very little chance that you will stay in San Gabriel after the closing time of Stuffed Sandwich at 8 pm. And it does not help that some US West Coast craft beers may feel like giving you wings. Unless you have your own private angel, called Designated Driver in US lingo, you'd better go public. And it is easier than you think, even if it surprises the Americans you meet and drink with. (Before pouring me the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA, a hop-head's wet dream of 120 IBUs, and not to mention 21% ABV!, Marlene, Sam's wife asked me with a concerned voice: "Do you have to drive far to your hotel, sir?"

From downtown LA's magnificent Union Station, well worth a visit in itself, bus no 78 (in the weekdays also no 378) passes by no. 1145, E Las Tunas Drive every half an hour (or every hour in the evening). It may stop quite a few times underway- Americans are not too fond of walking- but in 40 minutes you should be there. Get off at the crossroads with Willard St., between San Gabriel and Rosemead.

Stuffed Sandwich may well be the Kulminator of the New World- a star of a new Promised Beer Land!

A Nest for Dutch Beer Hawks

2006-03-31T22:18:00.000+02:00

't Arendsnest- or the Eagle's Nest- is a place for craft beer hawks. Situated at no 90 of picturesque Herengracht - the Gentlemen's Canal- in Amsterdam, it tries to stock at least one beer from every Dutch brewer. Not a small task given the increase in the number of Dutch microbreweries over the last decade-at present there are more than fifty breweries in Nederland.

The owner, Peter van der Arend, has also published a book with a description and quite a few nice pictures of every brewery in Nederland. Nederlandse Bierbrouwerijen is only available in Dutch for now- it is still highly recommended- but knowing the merchant spirit of Amsterdam it would surprise me if an English version would not soon be available.

The beer café is open every day from 4 pm and is considerably less crowded than In De Wildeman, another Amsterdam must-see for the serious beer tourist. Unlike the latter 't Arendsnest stocks only Dutch beers, but the choice is no less impressive for that reason.

For 6 euro you can have a "mini proeverij" of 4 draft beers- there are 15 to choose from. Nicely served in a tasting tray with water and dry biscuit to cleanse the palate between the beers. At the Gentlemen's Canal beer tasting is indeed taken seriously! If you prefer your beer from the bottle, there are some 180 different to choose from, some of them even aged.

It is hard to leave this nest...

Big Thirst in a Small Place

2006-03-24T22:30:00.000+01:00

The first weekend of March sees not only the annual Zythos Bierfestival, the biggest of all Belgian beer festivals. Quite a contrast, but not less loved, is the big little geuzefestival called Night of Large Thirst (Nacht van Grote Dorst), held the Friday night before the big festival.

It all started with the damage from a fire that threatened to close down the geuze café called In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst (the insurance against the big thirst). In support of the restoration of this village café in Eizeringen the first little geuzefestival was organised two years ago and repeated this year. And judging from the success it would surprise me if it does repeat itself in two years time.

It is a good opportunity to visit this café and to meet beer enthusiasts from all over the world. Tents had been set up on the green spot between the café and the village church. During the rest of the year, the café is only open on Sundays and church holidays (from 10 am to 1.30 pm) and whenever there is a funeral service at the church.

Arriving there is actually a bit weird. I boarded the no 128 bus at the Brussel Noord Station (which doubles as the bus station), knowing just the name of the stop at the outskirts of Eizeringen. I did not need to worry. As soon as the bus came to the city centre it became filled up with Finns, Dutch, Americans, and probably quite a few other nationalities. 40 minutes later a group of foreigners was walking quietly on a dark village road. There was expectation in the air!

The picture shows the greatest beer on offer that evening in my opinion, the 2002 Oude Geuze from 3 Fonteinen. As can also be seen, the ground became rather muddy with geuze tasters wandering back and forth between the 9 geuze brewers and blenders that were present.

It was a sight that would make any beer lover's mouth water. Good to know that you were basically insured against leaving the village thirsty.

Seen at Zythos

2006-03-19T01:30:00.000+01:00

Two weeks have passed since the the beeriest weekend in the Belgian calendar. Friday 3 March 2006 saw the geuze festival at the Pajottenland village of Eizeringen, followed by the Open Brew Day at the Cantillon brewery on Saturday and, of course, the main event, the two-day Zythos Bierfestival.

The latter is an annual event, organised by Belgium's beer consumer organisation Zythos, and definitely not one to be missed by any craft beer lover. 62 breweries managed to present 206 beers, available for tasting in 15 cl tasting glasses for 1 euro. As at the Essen Christmas Beer Festival you may well be too late for some novelties if you go for the Sunday session only, but you will probably still have at least 180 (my own very unofficial estimate) quality beers to choose from.

It all takes place in the Stadsfeestzal of the Oostvlaanderen town of Sint-Niklaas, just across from its train station. There are good connections to all major Belgian cities- the city named after Santa Claus is situated midway between Antwerpen and Gent. It certainly feels like Christmas Eve for a beer enthusiast to be there!

Beer enthusiastiasts from all over the world now make their annual pilgrimage to Sint Niklaas. Even legendary beer writer Michael Jackson, who have been sharing his writing gifts like a Santa Claus of the Beer World before fermentation started of this beer tourist, was there. He has just released a new edition of his great Great Beers of Belgium book, which he signed at the festival (as you can see he did not mind signing the festival leaflet either- some of us had already bought the book).

This festival certainly proved that there is plenty of writing material on the Belgian beer scene- and you will find it in its best condition in Michael Jackson's books.

Belgian Binge Beer

2006-02-25T01:49:00.000+01:00

The Belgians have a more relaxed relationship to alcohol than most others. If you see drunken youths in Oostende a summer evening, they are more likely to be British than Belgians. So it is quite a paradox that it is Belgium that has given the world the term binge.

You will understand it if you are in Binche in the Wallonian province of Hainaut next Tuesday. Their Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras, if you prefer) celebration is second to none, in my opinion.

Carnival is really the time when Catholic Europe comes alive. Also, the subsequent Lent might have been one motivation for the abbey beers, providing nutrients for the fasting monks.

The Silenrieux brewery celebrates the carnival with a cloudy orange-coloured beer called L'autruche Bière des Gilles. It is a rather sweet beer with flavors and aromas of coriander and oranges with some dryish yeastiness. Oranges are very appropriate for the Gilles, the townspeople clad up in costumes throwing oranges at people in the Mardi Gras procession (to the extent that local shopowners barricade their windows).

While in Binche you may also want to try the local Binchoise beers. Their Spéciale Noël was particularly pleasant having liquorice, caramel, and spicy yeast aromas with hints of pear as well as a complex mix of fruity flavours and coriander and some other dry spices. A solid caramel background, a dry yeasty finish and warming alcohol made it one of my favourite Belgian Christmas beers in 2005.

Carnival may justify a binge, but even more so the rich Belgian beer culture. Cheers!

A Good Old Beer (or Two...)

2006-02-16T23:15:00.000+01:00

Time can do wonders with a good beer. It might well be the final judge of the quality of a beer, making it a life-time tasting event or an undrinkable affair that you would want to forget as soon as possible.

All the top five beer bars in Belgium offer cellar-conditioned beer. The grandfather of them all is Bierhuis Kulminator in Antwerpen. Run by Leen and Dirk van Dyck for 26 years at its present location, where they also have a good cellar. Recently they have trebled their cellar capacity here, allowing them to bring some goodies from an old cellar nearby their former café south of Antwerpen.

I was lucky enough to taste a thirty year old Liefmans Kriek that Dirk had fished out of his old cellar. An amazing experience - the beer was in a perfect condition, still with a lot of cherry flavour, but becoming more raisiny. It will be exciting to see what "new" old bottles will work their way from the old to the new cellar and eventually into the phonebook-sized beer menu, updated annually. That in itself may take some time.

Meanwhile, it may be worth storing some beers for yourself, preferably in a cellar that is well out of daily reach. A very good article on cellaring beer can be found here. It recommends a storing temperature of 13-15 degrees Celcius, somewhat higher than the 7-10 degrees prevailing in the Kulminator cellar. But then again you may not manage to keep your stock for thirty years.

The best beers for keeping? Time seems to have a preference for the strong and the bitter, the acidic and the sweet and sour. Lager is definitely not for lagering!

Clerks' Well of Beer

2006-02-03T21:12:00.000+01:00

At the southernmost tip of Islington, bordering the meat market in London's Square Mile to the south, is the district of Clerkenwell.

Mystery plays have been performed here by parish clerks since the Middle Ages, and the street names are testimony of the district's monastic traditions.

It is almost a small mystery in itself to find the hid-way Jerusalem Passage. But once you have found that narrow path your reward will be The Dovetail, probably central London's best Belgian beer bar.

As if the 100 or so Belgian speciality brews on the menu was not enough for a Belgophile, the walls are covered by Tin-Tin cartoons and Belgian-style beer enamel commercials. There are small wooden tables with abbey-inspired sofa backs. The atmosphere is quite relaxed, at least in the early afternoon.

From Jerusalem Passage it is not too far a walk to Jerusalem Tavern in Britton Street, vividly described here, offering the full range of St Peter's beers. Reports say that this place as well as The Dovetail may easily get packed as the nearby offices close for the day.

So beat the clerks to the promised beer wells of Clerkenwell..

Draconian Men's Beer

2006-01-27T21:30:00.000+01:00

Gulden Draak or Golden Dragon may give oriental associations, but there is a Norwegian angle as well.

It is not just the red stocking cap worn by the golden dragon. Traditionally worn by gnomes and seen as a symbol of Norwegian introvertedness and naïvety.

In fact, the golden dragon wears the red stocking cap only on the Christmas beer label. The commercially adept brewery of Van Steenberge in Ertvelde, north of Gent in Oost-Vlaanderen, readily admits that the beer, Gulden Draak Vintage, is not really a vintage beer; it is just their name for the Christmas beer version of Gulden Draak. Unusually for a Christmas beer, at “only” 7.5% ABV it is weaker than the everyday, “plain” Gulden Draak , which is a dark heavy-weight reaching 10.5% ABV.

It is still a very well-made Christmas beer. On top of the hazelnut coloured beer rests a rich and lasting, creamy tan head. Spicy yeasty aroma escapes the glass. There are fruity flavours with chocolate and raisins, some underlying sourness as well as good bitterness and dry yeastiness to keep the sweetness in balance. Alcoholic, almost port-like.Good carbonation and full body, too.

The Norwegian king, Sigurd Jorsalfar (Sigurd the Crusader) was by no means a weakling, either. In 1107 -1110 he led the Norwegian contingent in support of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, hence the nickname. According to the saga king Sigurd was well received by the emperor of Constantinople (Istanbul), and when he finally was leaving "he gave the emperor all his ships; and the valuable figureheads which were on the king's ships were set up in Peter's church, where they have since been to be seen."

The saga did not foresee that less than a century later Boudewijn IX, Count of Flanders, became the Emperor of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade, taking the Golden Dragon figurehead with him back to Flanders. Today the gilded copper dragon (or rather a replica of it) crowns the belfry of Gent, a UNESCO site.

The Gulden Draak, Vintage or not, is certainly not a beer for the red stocking cap-wearing lager drinkers. Like the dragon itself it is for the well-travelled.

The Danes Are Coming!

2006-01-22T19:49:00.000+01:00

Becoming a beer tourist is no hard choice for a craft beer enthusiast in Norway. It is a necessity. Visitors to Norway are horrified by the price level in general and on alcohol in particular. If they can afford a little more time here, they will also learn the system of state liquor stores, Vinmonopolet, which takes care of retail sales of all alcoholic beverages stronger than 4.75% ABV.

The price level is one thing - it does not seem to deter the relatively affluent Norwegians. Unlike the similar system in Sweden, the Systembolaget, the Vinmonopolet never seemed to care much about their beer side of the business, though things may gradually be changing.

One example is the craft brew revolution at our neighbours to the south, that seemed to have escaped unnoticed by the purchasing staff at the Vinmonopolet, which until recently only had 1 Danish craft brew in store, the excellent Limfjordsporter.

But in their January release two new Danish craft brews were suddenly made available, both from Husbryggeriet Jacobsen, Carlsberg's own microbrewery in Copenhagen. With Carlsberg's ties with the Norwegian mass market brewer Ringnes, it is hardly surprising that the Jacobsen brews are the first to appear.

The beers are a solid Dark Lager and a somewhat disappointing IPA. The bottles are a joy for the eye, a prime example of Danish design, inspired by the lighthouse at Valby near the brewery.

The Danes are coming, and this time they are more than welcome!

Beer at Zero Degrees

2006-01-20T22:45:00.000+01:00

The temperature was creeping towards the freezing point as I walked over the open and windswept fields of Blackheath in eastern London. It was beyond dusk on that cold winter evening, and I had just managed to step the zero degree line at the Old Royal Observatory in Greenwich before closing time at 4.30 pm.

A good 20-30 minutes walk later I stepped inside the Zerodegrees microbrewery at the warmer-sounding address of Montpellier Vale in Blackheath.

Blackheath is a nice little village, well-connected with trains to London Bridge. There are also regular bus service to Central London, so you do not have to combine it with Greenwich, though I would warmly recommend it.

Back to the microbrewery and restaurant. They seem to emphasize the latter with only a small drinking area. A bit annoying, really, as there were many available seats in the bigger restaurant section that night. The waiters politely, but clearly indicated that this was no-go area for drinkers only. Compensating for that were the helpful bartenders, offering tastings of the seasonal specials, a strawberry ale and a cinnamon ale.

The Zerodegrees is a rather slick affair with steel containers on proud display. The kitchen looks appetizing, it is a combination of Belgo-style and Italian, and features mussels and waffles as well as pasta and pizza. The beers are experimental, not award-winning, but decent. The four regular brews are a Pilsner, a Black Lager, a Wheat Ale and a Pale Ale.

Well worth a walk at zero degrees.

A Dark Duvel?

2006-01-13T21:20:00.000+01:00

It is Friday the 13th, the day of bad luck. So has even the devil of a beer - the Duvel, as praised by beer writer Michael Jackson- gone dark for the day?

In Belgium the devil - or rather the Duvel, I suspect- has inspired a range of other strong blond beers, also called hoogblond, like De Block's Satan, Liefmans' Lucifer, maybe even Lefèbvre's Barbãr and Van Steenberge's Piraat.

The idea has even hit on in traditionalist Pajottenland, the area just south-west of Brussels, famous for its lambic and gueuze. The picture above is from The Dovetai l, one of London's premier Belgian beer bars. Served in the Duvel glass above is revivalist lambic-brewer Frank Boon's dark interpretation, Donkere Duivel.

The Donkere Duivel is chestnut brown with a small head. It has a tart, fruity aroma and caramel and fruity flavours. Balancing the sweetness is good sourness. It comes from Lambicland, after all.

Quite a special and complex beer, in other words, yet almost as different from the world-famous Duvel as can be. But then again, even an old devil can surprise.

No Mean Time

2006-01-11T23:55:00.000+01:00

At the rather pompous-sounding address of Royal Hill you will find The Greenwich Union at no 56. It is one of two pubs of the Meantime microbrewery in Greenwich- the other being the recently opened Brew Wharf near the Borough Market. With around ten different Meantime brews on draught, and a similar range of imported quality beers on bottle it is surely an attraction for a beer tourist to London.

Not that Greenwich needs another attraction- it is already packed with some really magnificent architecture, including the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, and of course the "home" of the prime meridian, the Old Royal Observatory, making it a top spot on any tourist's list.

But if you get tired of all the grandeur, you can always head for a Meantime; the Greenwich Union is open from 11 am on weekdays and from 10 am on weekends. It looks rather ordinary from the outside, not much different from the Young's pub next door, but inside the bar extends into a nice, contemporary winter garden. Cool Britannia rules even on Royal Hill.

What better place to enjoy a Meantime India Pale Ale, this strong and hoppy beer designed to survive the crossing of the earth's other mid line, the equator, twice and still keep up the spirits of Her Majesty's troops a good century or two ago. With its robust 7.5% ABV, the Meantime India Pale Ale is probably more in line with the brews shipped in the heyday of the British Empire than the weak IPAs finding their way out of most English breweries these days.

The colour is hazy golden, almost peachy, under a decent white head. The aroma is pronounced citrussy. The flavour is quite bitter, though with an underlying malty sweetness. Lots of grapefruit and with a good body this IPA is refreshing and with a lot of character.

The winds may have changed, but there is still no reason for having a mean time in Greenwich.

Hot Trappist!

2006-01-08T20:30:00.000+01:00

Trappist beers are hot at the moment with long queues in front of the Westvleteren abbey gates, La Trappe beers returning to "official authenticity" and the increased volumes at Westmalle and Orval.

At the beer café De Gans in Huise, Oostvlaanderen they have their own way to make trappist beer hot: De Verbrande Trappist. A glass of Chimay Rouge gets an encounter with a red-hot poker from the open log-fire, and the trappist seems to take the treatment as a modern-day flagellant, as a hardship endured on the path to salvation.

As the poker is slowly stirred into the beer, the already decent trappist head rises dramatically, becoming even more creamy. The beer does not really get very hot, though, but it takes on some really interesting smokey flavours teaming up nicely with the caramelising sugars. The result is indeed a more interesting beer.

Asked whether Chimay Rouge is the only trappist that would benefit from this treatment, the answer was affirmative. Could it have something to do with the amount of candi sugar present?

Burning a trappist may not become your everyday activity, but should be a pleasurable enough exercise, whether you are a believer or not!

Go to De Gans

2006-01-06T23:42:00.000+01:00

The Belgian province of Oost-Vlaanderen boasts several world-class beer cafés, and together with De Heeren van Liedekercke at the very top is De Gans (pronounced by the locals more like Hans) .

The name means The Goose, something you will understand from the café decorations, including the menu, as seen on the picture. (Or rather menus, as there is also an extra, on-request speciality beer menu featuring aged beers, not an uncommon practice in many Belgian beer cafés). The address is Kloosterstraat no 40 in the village of Huise, and Gansstraat is just nearby.

The mystery of The Goose for many beer tourists seems to be how to get there without driving. Situated in the countryside in the middle of what is know rather ambitiously as the Flemish Ardennes, public transport is not immediately evident. But there is a solution, and it is a very pleasant one as well. Where the Flemish bus company De Lijn does not offer fixed bus lines, they have an excellent service called the Belbus. Bellen means to call in Dutch, and you have to call ahead at least two hours in advance, though more is recommended, to book seats between two bus stops. For Oost-Vlaanderen the phone no is (09) 210.94.94, and the belbus stop you want is De Oude Smisse in Huise (Zingem)- it is on Belbus line no 85 Zingem- Oudenaarde. It is very convenient to make Oudenaarde station your starting and ending point because the belbus is set up to correspond with the train service there. The operator, who normally speaks English well, will tell you when you have to be at the bus stops. The bus stop De Oude Smisse is less than 100 metres away from the De Gans.

The drivers of the mini buses are very chatty- making the 15-20 minute trip, the time depending on where the other passengers are going, a pure pleasure.

In other words, an appropriate introduction and ending to a visit at De Gans. The café has been run by the couple Ingrid and Hein for 24 years (almost as long as legendary Kulminator, which has been around for 26 years at their present location in Antwerpen). It is only open Fridays from 6 pm, Saturdays from 4 pm and most of Sunday. Note that they close for a fortnight in summer- call ahead, they are, of course, described in the Beer Bible. (I did not call ahead last summer and ended up with just a pleasant belbus roundtrip of the Flemish Ardennes!)

350 different beers, some of them quite rare, as well as decent snacks like pancakes are on offer. There is an open log fire inside the cosy café, and I will come back to its beery application in a later post. Ingrid and Hein are an enthusiastic and genuinely friendly couple, making it hard to leave for your belbus appointment. Yet with the belbus available, you would be a goose to ignore this great café!

The Great Microbar

2006-01-04T18:16:00.000+01:00

The British love understatement. London's Microbar must be a prime example in that regard. Not only does the name indicate a small affair, its web site hardly does much to promote this place either.

It may not be the most easily accessible bar in London, situated a good 15 minutes walk away from the nearest tube station in Clapham, at 14 Lavender Hill, and open only from 6 pm on weekdays (from 4 pm on Fridays) and from 2 pm on weekends. Clapham Common would be your tube station of choice unless you fancy a slightly longer walk from Clapham North, allowing you to pass by a Bierodrome in 44-48 Clapham High Street on the way.

For a beer tourist to London the Microbar is a must. A great selection of beers, mostly imported quality brews from the Lowlands, Germany and America, all served in a stylish yet relaxed atmosphere. The owner is not only friendly, but also very knowledgeable. The comfortable leather chairs are not the only reason why you may find it hard to leave again.

Microbar is a bar for microbrews, and that is a great concept!

No Short Cuts to Good Beer?

2006-01-02T18:36:00.000+01:00

There are probably no shortcuts to making a good beer. It can sometimes be said about getting a good beer to drink as well. The only place where you can sample the delicious brown ale from the Cnudde brewery is in the Oudenaarde suburb of Eine.

The Oostvlaanderen town Oudenaarde was famous for its tapestries in medieval times, though beer enthusiasts would first and foremost associate the place with the tradition of oak-aged, sweet-and-sour brown ales, also called Flemish Old Brown Ale (Vlaams Oud Bruin) or even Oudenaards Bruin. It is a style that was about to disappear, men things may be changing with the increased interest in Belgian craft beers.

The most famous of these breweries is Liefmans, but they no longer brew at their Oudenaarde plant (according to Tim Webb maturation may again take place there). A much smaller affair is the brewery of Cnudde, whose brown ale is found on tap only in the brewery's own Cafe Casino and the more fascinating Kaffee Barbier in nearby Nestor de Trièrestraat no 140, both in Eine. Eine is a mere 4 minute train ride away from Oudenaarde in the direction of Gent; buses will bring you there, too.

As there are no shortcuts to business profits either, this fifties-style barber shop combines as a beer café, with seating just opposite the huge barber chairs for waiting and/or drinking customers. There is a separate bar area at the back of the salon as well.

The beer itself is chestnut brown with a small, creamy off-white head. Fruity and lightly sour with some vanilla notes. Initially sweet and fruity, it develops towards a more sour finish.

Well worth going out of the way for, though in this case short cuts are possible.

Hoppy New Year!

2005-12-31T01:00:00.000+01:00

It is the big night again! It is time to celebrate the coming of a new year with the best drinks and the best guests available.

For this New Year's Eve I have teamed up with Bush Prestige. No, it is not Republicans Abroad that are my guests- 2005 may have seen much of the Prestige disappearing from the presidential team, anyway.

And the Bush part is not supposed to be associated with anything American at all. To the extent that Bush is renamed Scaldis (the name is derived from the river Schelde, which flows from Northern France into Belgium passing by the cities of Tournai (where it is called Escaut), Gent and Antwerpen on its way to the North Sea) for the American market. One giant adjunct-lager producer with a similar-sounding name seems to be afraid that people would confuse their mass-produced beer with the craft brews from the Belgian brewer Dubuisson, based in Pipaix near Tournai. Or maybe it is the comparison they fear?

Supposedly only available at the brewery's tasting café and its two brew-pubs in Mons and Louvain-la-Neuve, but in all honesty I picked up my two bottles at a well-stocked Delhaize supermarket branch in Antwerpen for the price of 14 Euro each.

The Prestige is "the ordinary" Bush Ambrée aged in oak-barrels (an old method turned the latest fad in Belgian brewing) for 5 months, and it is stronger than your ordinary New Year's Eve champagne with its 13% alcohol, warming nicely on a cold night. With its complex vanilla, nutty and port flavours and a decent hoppiness it might be rather more inspiring as well.

My wish for the coming year is also to develop complexity and depth, but without spending time inside a wooden container. Santé!

Elaborating on Essen

2005-12-30T12:09:00.000+01:00

I have already presented what is essentially just the essence of the Essen Kerstbierfestival. With so many beer enthusiasts present I thought I would share some of their links with you, just in case my report did not entice you to consider Essen for next December.

The picture on the left is not my own; it is from the appetizing picture report on the festival by Filip Geerts- Belgian beer enthusiast par excellence- published on the Zythos homepage.

For a detailed review of the festival and everything around it few can beat John White's account of the event. His homepage is a treasure house of knowledge about Belgian beer. Enjoy!

Essential Essen

2005-12-27T22:04:00.000+01:00

With an almost complete selection of current Belgian Christmas (or winter) beers, the 2-day Christmas beer festival (or Kerstbierfestival) in Essen certainly moves up as a clear no 2 beer festival in Belgium, second only to the annual 24-Hour Beer Festival, now renamed the Zythos Bier Festival.

As with all Belgian beer festivals I have been to there is a friendly reception, and the organizers seem genuinely happy to see international guests. Being virtually on the border with the Netherlands (my mobile phone even tuned into a Dutch network) there were of course many Dutch beer lovers, but American and British accents were heard as well.

For many people it might just as well be the Kerstbierfestival that puts Essen on the map. There is not much to say about the place except that that is commonly confused with the hamlet of Esen in Westvlaanderen, the home of De Dolle Brouwers.

As at all Belgian beer festivals people are encouraged to sit down and enjoy their beer in a civilised way- this is the Burgundian lifestyle that the Belgians so endorse. You may even feel that you have deserved it making the 20+ minute walk to the venue - De Heuvelhal- from the station, which is on the Antwerpen - Roosendaal line. The local train takes about double that time to bring you from Antwerpen, but then you get to see many small stations on the way.

117 different beers, some draught, but mostly from bottles, all served in the appropriate 15 cl "proefglas", with convenient glass washing facilities next to the bar. The organizers - OBER (Objectieve Bierproevers Essense Regio)- the local branch of Zythos, still keeping the name of the old Belgian beer consumer organisation- have certainly done their bit to ensure objective beer tasting.

Objectively speaking, heading for Essen in December is almost essential for beer tourists in Christmas mood.

Merry Trappistmas!

2005-12-25T23:57:00.000+01:00

It is Christmas Day and time to celebrate! What better way than with De Drie Wijzen - the Three Wise Men beer- the Christmas beer from the trappist brewers at Achelse Kluis.

As far as I know this is the one and only Christmas trappist beer available, please bring me wisdom if I am wrong. A wise decision, if you ask me, from the youngest trappist brewer, and the sort of inventiveness you might only have expected from the brothers at Koningshoeven, who introduced the first trappist witbier.

But then again celebration may be a somewhat alien concept for the trappist order, following faithfully Saint Benedict's prescription for a life filled with "Ora et Labora"- prayer and work. So alien in fact that it seemed to have escaped the attention even of the Essen Christmas Beer Festival organizers, who aim to offer all Belgian Christmas beer available.

The beer is certainly one that the wise men would have enjoyed on the cold desert nights. It is a heavily spiced version of the Bruin Extra; aroma and flavour cries out orange scent, but underneath hides a well-balanced quadruppel. It hides the 10 percent alcohol well, and the finish is also refreshingly dry.

So a merry Christmas to all of you and not least to Achel and all the craft brewers that are our leading stars!

A Bavarian Bierstube in Britain

2005-12-14T08:50:00.000+01:00

Bavarians have got a new meeting point in London. Just a few weeks ago Bavarian Beerhouse opened in 190 City Road, just a stone's throw from Old Street tube station (and en route to The Wenlock Arms). Opening hours are good, from 11 to 11 all days of the week, and they also serve Bavarian food.

Now just before Christmas you are greeted by a big plastic Santa at the entrance. Downstairs in the basement is the bierstube with appropriate long tables covered by light-blue and white plastic tablecloths; the same pattern is found again on the small skirts and blouses of the waitresses. Did I mention the oompah music in the background?

Now, this may sound like a Disneyland version of a bierstube, but the place is actually run by Germans and seemed to be visited mostly by Germans. No surprise then that thirty seconds after 2 pm the whole staff moved in to remove the brunch buffet- it is only served until 2. Ordnung muss sein.

Bavarian it may be, but the Beerhouse did not quite live up to expectations. Only seven different, rather easily available German beers, is not exactly overwhelming, if you ask me. After a hearty serving of Leberknödelsuppe- liver dumplings soup- and just one beer I therefore hit the City road again.

Base for Beer in London

2005-12-03T12:44:00.000+01:00

Old Street tube station (or rather a hotel not far from it) may not be an obvious base for your London trip. But it is very convenient for many beery excursions in the capital. Of course, there is the Pitfield Beer Shop, and not having to carry the heavy beers around town is definitely an advantage. If you, on the hand, decide to do the bulk of your beer shopping at Utobeer, you are only three tube stops away on the Northern Line.

Then there are the bars. One of the best in the entire city, The Wenlock Arms, is a mere fifteen minute walk away. Similar distance, but westwards Belgophiles can indulge at The Dovetail, which boasts the widest selection of Belgian beers in the capital. Yesterday the area got another beery draw- the opening of the Bavarian Beerhouse at 190, City Road next to the Moorfields Eye Hospital. I will visit it next weekend and let you know if it is worth seeing. If you get hungry, cool restaurants are popping up all over the area.

As mentioned, the Northern Line conveniently brings you to London Bridge (should you wish to make a trip to The Beer Circus in Croydon) and to Clapham for The Microbar and a Bierodrome.
Liverpool Street Station with connections to Stansted airport is not far away. (Flying into and out of that airport in the weekend is NOT recommended as there is no train service due to works, the queue for the replacement bus service is endless, the bus may get stuck in the traffic and you end up missing your flight!)

What you should not miss is some of these great beer oases on your next trip to London.

Borough Beer Boutique: Utobeer

2005-11-30T11:10:00.000+01:00

Little did I know about London Bridge except that it once was falling down, at least according to the children's nursery rhyme.

Truth is that there are actually some real goodies hidden in its near vicinity. Next to Southwark Cathedral there is a cathedral to high quality produce. Every Friday and Saturday the Borough Market opens its gates, conveniently located a few metres from the Southwark Street exit of the London Bridge tube station. Just make sure you hit it before closing times at 6 pm on Fridays and 4 pm on Saturdays.

Most relevant for the beer tourist is what may be the best outlet for quality beers in London, at least when it comes to selection, the Utobeer stall. I have a suspicion that the selection may vary a bit from day to day, but I spotted several interesting French, German, Belgian and American brews as well as British beers. The stall owners are enthusiastic and knowledgable, too.

After a literally heavy shopping spree at Utobeer there are good pubs nearby like the Market Porter to help you regain your strength. And you may need it-the selection at Utobeer is no child's play for a beer tourist with a limited luggage allowance and a human back.

Pit Stop in Pitfield Street

2005-11-26T14:15:00.000+01:00

For beer tourists it is one of those compulsory pit stops in London. The Pitfield Beer Shop is not only one of London's premier beer shops, it also houses a working microbrewery.

Conveniently located just a stone's throw from Old Street tube station in the up-and-coming Hoxton district, the beer shop stocks around 300 beers, mostly British, but also a sizeable Belgian selection.

The day I stopped by they were brewing the Eco Warrier. The brewing takes place in a tiny room next to the shop (behind the closed red gates). I added a bottle of Pitfield Christmas Ale- the label (which was stuck on behind the counter while I was paying) announces that "it's got cinnamon and ginger in it . It's organic and it's vegan." So you can enjoy your Christmas Ale, knowing you have been good this year, too. It certainly gives a good feeling making a pit stop in Pitfield Street.

Belgian Beer: Give unto the Emperor..

2005-11-22T23:55:00.000+01:00

Emperor Charles the 5th (Keizer Karel) is said to have demanded regular supplies of beers from his home turf. The ruler of most of Western Europe was born in Gent in 1500 and raised in Mechelen, which at the time was the capital of the Burgundian Netherlands.

Only right then that Mechelen brewery Het Anker pays its respect to the emperor. In a way, they do so every day with their high quality Gouden Carolus range, commemorating a coin with the Emperor's face on it. They are not alone in celebrating the man. The brewery Haacht brews its Keizer Karel (also called Charles Quint), served in very characteristic four-handled mugs.

However, the prime tribute is made once a year on the Emperor's birthday, 24 February. On this day Het Anker opens its doors to the public and brews the Cuvée van de Keizer, a strong version of the Gouden Carolus.

It is a beer that is likely to improve with age. In my Ratebeer review I recently wrote the following about a 2004 bottle:

"Deep ruby red with modest off-white head. Liquorice, caramel and bitter chocolate aroma.Soft and oily, full body. Initial sweetness is restrained by good bitterness. Lots of fruit and chocolate flavour. A truly great beer, I cannot wait to get my hands on an older "vintage"."

Luckily, I did come across the 2001 bottle, and writing this piece was a good enough excuse to open it. Three years down the road and still going strong. (Though it never was as strong as its 3 year younger brother; the Cuvée has gone from 8.5% in 2001 to a staggering 11% alcohol volume). Fruit (raisins) and chocolate still dominate the aroma and flavours. Still not exhibiting much of the aged beer madeira flavours except for becoming somewhat drier, the big champagne bottle seems to keep it well.

Aged or not aged, the Emperor would certainly have enjoyed this gift.

Lowlanders' London

2005-11-20T21:40:00.000+01:00

There is quite an invasion of Belgian beer on the London bar and restaurant scene. Not only are there Bierodromes in both N1, WC2 and SW4. The Beer Circus has already been mentioned, a name that would have been more appropriate for The Lowlander Grand Café, situated in the heart of London's theatre district, at 36, Drury Lane.

Lowland establishment it may be, but this is still London. My 't IJ Bockbier was served by the pint- a dangerous mix of lowland alcoholic strength and the generous British measures (though, to be honest, I could have asked for a more Continental-style half-pint).

The waiters are polite and professional. Here it is the guests that are playing primadonnas, for instance the young City professional showing off his knowledge to less informed colleagues.

Arriving in the busy hours after work, the place was packed with no seats available. The noise level was high, the Londoners are a loud-speaking lot.

After crossing the Channel this and other Lowland establishments seem to apply a bit more style than their counterparts "back home". The beer list may have few surprises, but holds a decent standard with some 60 different beers on offer.

Another reason for not feeling low in London..

British Beer Festival: Visible in Woking

2005-11-19T21:22:00.000+01:00

Woking enjoys a rather anonymous existence in the English county of Surrey, also known as the stockbroker belt. This is London's suburbia extended. Its claim to fame is being the home of novelist H.G. Wells, author of The Invisible Man (1897), for a couple of years.

This year Woking's 12th annual Beer Festival was held on November 11-12. Getting into the festival proved no easy matter. The festival was divided into three sessions with separate tickets for each. I booked a month in advance and only the Saturday lunchtime session was still available. As the ticket could not be sent out of UK, I had to rely on the safe on the premises, Woking Leisure Centre. No need to worry, though, the ticket was ready for me as I entered the reception.

Woking being a rather small town, I was surprised at the scale and professionalism of the event. Woking Leisure Centre is a rather large indoor sports hall, some 10 - 15 minutes walk from the train station. With sheets hanging from below the ceiling, some beer tent atmosphere was created. Casked ales from almost 50 breweries from all over Britain were available, as was a good range of imported bottled beers. Among the British beers there was an overweight of bitters, as you might have expected in this part of the country. Personally I was not bitter when the lunchtime session came to an end at 3.30, only glad that I took the 25 minute train ride from London in the first place.

A well-organised beer festival like this one absolutely makes Woking visible.

Beer Circus Bonanza

2005-11-17T00:22:00.000+01:00

It seems to be good times for beer circuses these days. Not only has the world's first and foremost beer circus, Le Bier Circus in Brussels, just moved into bigger and brighter premises down the road at rue de l'Enseignement no 57. Britain's equivalent seemed really packed when I arrived one wet Friday evening this November.

The address is 282, High Street in Croydon. Not really in the centre of the world, but not more than half an hour away from it either. Trains from London Bridge and Victoria stations in central London may take some 15 minutes to East Croydon station, from where it is a 15 minute walk. There is even something as continental as a tram line from the station.

I still had to add what seemed another 15 minutes before I got served in this busy bar, better stocked with Belgian beers than all other places I have seen in Britain so far. But then the fun could finally start- as there are some real gems on the menu, beers that are difficult to get across even in Belgium.

For those in know, there is not much circus about these venues, neither in Brussels nor in London. The old Bier Circus café at rue de l'Enseignement no 89 took its name from the Koninklijke Circus (the Royal Circus) next door. Don't expect royalties around these great beer bars, but they are quite entertaining anyway.

Norwegian Beer: Black Christmas

2005-11-16T23:30:00.000+01:00

It looks like it is going to be a black Christmas. I am not referring to global warming, even though that is evident too.

Most of the Norwegian micro brews seems to have gone dark this Christmas. Understandably for the Julefnugg- literally Christmas (snow) flake- brewed by the Berentsens brewhouse in Egersund, the dark mainland of Norway ( a term used to describe the Bible Belt in Norway, probably stemming from the many missionaries leaving the area, bound for Livingstone's dark continent). Long journeys were incidentally the background also for the beer styles emerging this Christmas from the Norwegian microbreweries, the Imperial Stout or the Baltic Porter.

The new Christmas beers have got a somewhat mixed review with some critics claiming that the traditional Norwegian Christmas beers, more in the bock tradition, provide a better match to traditional, fat Norwegian Christmas food dishes like pork and lamb ribs.

The critics can be attacked on two grounds. First of all, the bock beers are not the most natural matches to the fatty dinner dishes in the first place. Second, to most people Christmas represents a two week long, non-stop eating orgie of everything digestable from ribs to sausages to nuts and chocolate and seven sorts of cakes. You need a great variety of beer styles to match that bill!

So all in all, a Black Christmas may not be such a bad dream. It may in fact be much better than a Weiss or even a Wit one.

Belgian Beer: Blown Away by Blaugies

2005-11-08T23:30:00.000+01:00

You could take it literally. The big bottles from the little brewery of Blaugies, 300 metres from the French border in the Wallony province of Hainaut (even with the address of Rue de la Frontière), does represent a hazard to your health.

First of all, you have to survive the uncorking process- remove the wire and keep the bottleneck pointed away from yourself (unless you're a masochist, that is). The cork may come out rather violently. However, the danger is not over. Once you have tasted La Moneuse or its Christmas version or their Saison d'Epeautre you might become addicted. These are dangerously tasty beers.

Moreover, their availability is rather limited. Luckily, one source would be De Bier Tempel, the most professional and most easily accessible speciality beer shop in Brussels, located a stone's throw from Grand' Place at Rue Marché Aux Herbes, a must-see for any beer tourist to Belgium. They even have a shop in Brugge now (which is, in my view, better stocked and organised than the original outlet in Brussels).

The Blaugies beers are mostly original (and spiced) versions of the traditional Hainaut beer style of saison. The wheat with all its proteines is a likely contributor to the fantastic head.

It certainly made my head spin...

Red Label for Christmas

2005-11-08T22:15:00.000+01:00

The Christmas beers have just arrived in Norway. It is the one time every year when the newspapers take some interest in the beer scene, arranging blind tastings where the winner might just as well be the one nearest in taste to the everyday pilsner.

I think the award for the nicest Christmas beer label this year should go the Nissefar label from the newly started Haandbryggeriet. Red for Christmas with an innovative design and informative, too.

Though when it comes to information content few can beat the new Nøgne Ø label series. Stating not only bottling date (in addition to the largely irrelevant best before date for this bottle-conditioned type of beer) and batch no., the brewers also take pride in telling us the malt, hop and yeast varieties used, the degrees Plato and the IBUs (International Bittering Units). With even advice on how to store and serve it (no, not half-frozen as is common with bland lagers), how can you go wrong?

Back to Nissefar, the (Christmas) gnome, or specifically the beer itself, which is not at all bad. To quote from my Ratebeer review:

"Dark, almost black, with a creamy beige head. Roasted malts aroma with hints of coffee and chocolate. The flavour is sweet, but balanced, ending dry.Chocolate and roasted malts are dominating. There is even a hint of some refreshing citrus. Full body, soft."

The bland lager loving newspaper critics would hate it.....

Christmas comes twice

2005-11-05T00:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the start of the two month Christmas season in Norway. Not only were the stronger Christmas beers released by my local Vinmonopolet store (the state liquor store selling alcoholic beverages stronger than 4.75% alcohol volume), it was also the day of the Norwegian Christmas Beer Festival.

Held in the dark basement of Chateau Neuf- party venue for the Oslo students- it was already quite lively when I arrived two and a half hours after the opening.

Not too many stands could be spotted; the two big brewery groups were there, the great little Nøgne Ø brewery faithfully turned up, as did two other microbreweries. A stand with imported beer completed the list.

The guests had to drink their beers from plastic glasses- on the podium sat the wise men, four of them for the occasion, sipping beers from tiny wine glasses- without uttering a word. Slightly bizarre, if you ask me.

Altogether no more than 23 brews were on offer, 8 of which were imported and 8 representing the big brewery groups. Not an amazing choice- I was a bit disappointed that so few microbreweries found it worth the effort of participating. But then again effort seems to be a scarce resource in this country.

Not wanting to appear like a grumpy old man let me add that the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and craft brews offered by the microbreweries were excellent.

For me it was a nice warming-up session before visiting maybe Europe's best Christmas beer festival in 6 weeks time, taking place in the little Flemish border town of Essen, a short train ride north of Antwerpen. There virtually all Belgian Christmas beers can be enjoyed. Needless to say there would be more than 23 beers to choose from! It is like Christmas coming twice.

Bière de garde (or not)

2005-11-04T18:15:00.000+01:00

Bières de garde (or beers to keep) are France's unique contribution to beer culture. Labelled as such (at least according to Ratebeer) was also Hommelpap by the microbrewery Ferme Beck in Northern France.

Maybe the beer is somewhat inspired by the renowned Poperings Hommelbier from just across the border by Van Eecke. Anyway, the presentation is one of the best around with the label taking the shape of a hop cone. I had certainly enjoyed the beer at a beer festival in the small town of Temse, Oost-Vlaanderen (East Flanders) earlier this autumn.

But, as you can see from my Ratebeer review, I wasn't too pleased with what poured out the grand bottle:

"Strangely unpleasant wet dog aroma with some orange peel in the background. Sweet malty flavours balanced by harsh bitterness. Notes of orange peel. Below average carbonation, texture is rather thin."

Indeed, the whole style of bière de garde seems to be watered out, not least by the French themselves. According to one French beer merchant any beer from the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais could pass as a bière de garde. As most of them are bottle-conditioned and thus should keep well, this is plausible enough. However, I believe most beer enthusiasts expect to meet a musty, cellar-like aroma when they open a bière de garde, like for instance the magnificent Milliacus Ambrée.

Let's hope that the beer style biére de garde keeps better than this Hommelpap...

Beer Shops in Wine Land: Lille and Arras

2005-10-28T00:05:00.000+02:00

On my latest trip to Belgium I was tempted to explore Flandres. My base in Belgium was as usual Antwerpen, the biggest city in Flanders (Vlaanderen), but on this occassion my destination was the old French province with the similar name.

The old province name features also in the name of the main train station in Lille, Lille Flandres, which is connected to Antwerpen via Kortrijk and Gent by hourly trains. Or you could travel in style with the Eurostar service from Brussels, arriving at nearby Lille Europe station after only 38 minutes on the rails.

Bordering Belgium this province is probably France's beeriest, in competition with Alsace and Bretagne, and is known for its bières de garde. A good selection of these is to be found just down the road from Lille Flandres station at no. 66, Rue Faidherbe. La Vinothèque offers most things in alcohol, and luckily that includes also a good range of craft brews from the region.

Convenient as this shop is I was even more impressed by a find in the town of Arras, reachable by a 45- 80 minute train ride from Lille Flandres; the travel time depending on how many local stations you are lucky to call at along the line.

Arras has a very Flemish feel to it, with two very nice big squares, Place des Heros and Grand' Place, surrounded by beautiful brick buildings. Connecting the two squares is Rue de la Taillerie and at no. 8 bis is the excellent beer shop Le Cellier des Arcades.

The service is friendly, knowledgable and unhurried, the prices are surprisingly good and there is a great selection of French, Belgian and Belgo-French beers. The latter category pretends to be French, but a closer look at the label reveals (if you are lucky) that it started life in one of the East Flanders villages of Lochristi, Melle or Ertvelde.

Even the beers named after the town, Arrageoise, belong to the latter category. They can be found on tap at Pub l'Arrageoise, conveniently located near the railway station at no. 39 of Boulevard Carnot, providing a perfect last stop before returning to Belgium, where the beers were actually brewed.

Double Dose Delirium

2005-10-25T11:55:00.000+02:00

Last week I had a double dose Delirium.

Now, I have never been overenthusiastic about Delirium Tremens (or most of the other stuff coming out of the brewery Huyghe at Melle). The brewery has lent the name of its most famous beer (as well as financial support, I suppose) to the café with the greatest selection of beers in the world, confirmed in the book with obvious beer connections, The Guinness World of Records.

The location is in the heart of Brussels' Îlot Sacré district. To find it you first have to fight your way past the slick multi-lingual waiters in Rue des Bouchers, who offer some of the least favourable dining deals you can have in this great city. It actually takes a bit of effort to find the alley where Delirium Café and Jeanneke Pis (the "sister" of the more famous Manneken Pis) are located. The alley is called Impasse de Fidélité, and the café is located in no. 4A.

Delirium Café promises at least 2005 different beers. With its great opening hours, 10 am to 4 am every day of the year, it definitely represents a new and welcome trend on the Belgian café scene. Their web site, www.deliriumcafe.be, is also very informative.

I was very surprised to learn that a "sister" of Delirium Café just opened in Gothenburg. Of all places and just 4 hours bus ride from my home town Oslo. Their web site, www.deliriumcafe.se, does not yet give away much more than the address and opening hours. The latter are not as extensive as in Brussels; it does not open until 4 pm most days and slightly earlier on Fridays and Saturdays.

The selection is still 2005 beers with some interesting Swedish micros on tap. The café is bright and shining, a big contrast to the Brussels cellar. The beer selection from countries other than Belgium (and in this case Sweden) is still dominated by over-priced and unsexy macro beers, probably selected more for availability than quality. The Gothenburg establishment is an altogether more stylish version with friendlier service. There is food, too. As expected, the prices are sky-high above those in Brussels, but not over the top for a sin-taxed Norwegian.

Rumour says that there might soon be delirium in Stockholm also. I think we have found a cure for cold Scandinavian winters...

Belgian Beer Cafés: ´t Kroegske, Emelgem (Izegem)

2005-10-24T23:55:00.000+02:00

't Kroegske- the Little Café - is one of Belgium's top five beer cafés. Run by genuine beer lovers Danny and Nadine it offers 450 different beers according to Tim Webb's beer bible. No Stellas in sight, thank you. Perfectionism also take the form of prohibiting cigar and pmoke and allowing a maximum of 5 beers per person. This is a place where quality beers should be enjoyed without the interruption of smoke, drunken people or crying babies, for that sake. It is a genuine Craft Beer Temple, where the hymns take the form of Celtic folk music, discreetly played in the background.

The menu is beautifully decorated (though as usual in Belgium there are hidden gems- you will have to ask for their special aged beer menu). There is food on the menu as well. They even have an informative web site with all the necessary details as well as nice pictures, www.kroegske.be

So what is the catch, you may ask. Well, it can be summed up in one word: Availability.
't Kroegske is a weekend-only hobby business, open 19-01 on Fridays & Saturdays and 17-22 on Sundays.

Emelgem is not exactly the centre of the world. But neither is it completely out of reach of Belgium's excellent train service. It should take you a maximum of 15 minutes walk getting to and from the station of Izegem on the Brugge- Kortrijk line. Emelgem is just at the other side of the river from Izegem, which does not have a lot on offer except for this little café.

There are quite a few attractions nearby, though. Touring this part of West-Vlaanderen 't Kroegske is a natural last call before returning to Brugge, Brussels or Antwerpen. On Saturdays and Sundays you can start at De Dolle Brouwers in Esen, continuing on to Ingelmunster (van Honsebrouck or the Alvinne picobrewery) or Roeselare for some unfiltered tastings of Rodenbach. Westvleteren (avoid Fridays when everything is closed), Ieper, Watou and, well, Brugge, are all close by too.

There are few excuses for not making a pilgrimage to this beer temple.

Belgian Beer: Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze 1998 - The Champagne of Beers

2005-09-24T22:13:00.000+02:00

So the time had come for a celebration beer. Not that I could think of that much to celebrate, actually. Despite it being a shiny Saturday.

But this particular beer was made for celebration, marking the 50th anniversary of the Drie Fonteinen restaurant and geuze blender. Located in the the heart of Payottenland south-west of Brussels, known to quality beer lovers as Lambicland, in the village of Beersel, and on the web at www.3fonteinen.be Easy get to online as well as in the real world as Beersel is just a short train ride from the Brussels South Station.

Just called De Boeck by the friendly shop assistant of the excellent De Biertempel outlet in Brugge, which I found better organised and more spacious (and certainly less overcrowded by Japanese tourists) than their main outlet in Brussels. The nickname Boeck derived from the painting on the label ("Nightlights" by Felix de Boeck).The 75 cl champagne bottle, with the bottle date, 21 November 1998, handwritten on the back side, cost what is seen as a small fortune in the Belgian beer market, an amazing 10 Euro. What is more amazing to me is that a vintage champagne among beers cost the same (in Belgium, that is) as I had to pay at the Norwegian state liquor store today for one of their cheapest red wines. Maybe the undervaluation of world-class beers in Belgium is really what I should celebrate. And the fact that I am able to be there quite a few times every year to pick up my treats without asking for an extra credit line with my bank.

As a start, the bottle seemed to contain more than champagne-like pressure. Had I not stayed back when opening the cap, I would definitely have little to celebrate. Eventually the glass was filled with the hazy, deep golden orange-coloured beer. The head was initially huge, but quickly died down. The aroma is very acidic with notes of apples and vanilla. Initially, the flavour is sweetish, but gradually almondy bitterness takes over, ending on a rather dry note. Long aftertaste, good body and fizzy. A really special beer, proving the keeping qualities of an oude g(u)euze. If only the beer-drinker kept equally well, there would be plenty of grounds for a celebration!

Belgian Beer: Old Duvel versus Young Duvel: The Mellowing of a Devilish Beer

2005-09-17T23:45:00.000+02:00

The beer shop Dorstvlegel in Antwerpen came across a crate of old Duvels, and I managed to secure one of these bottles with best before date 08-2006, so bottled three years before in August 2003. Today I popped into the Norwegian state liquor store that also sells Duvel, with a alcohol content of 8.5% by volume it cannot be sold in ordinary shops, picking up a bottle with best before date 04-2008.

So less than 20 months distinguish the two bottles, but the difference is noticeable already in the appearance. This is definitely not going to be a blind-tasting- you will have to lose more senses than just the vision to spot the difference.

The "old" Duvel's head was significantly less than the famous head associated with a fresh Duvel. Whereas the young Duvel is hazy straw-yellow, the old Duvel clearer and somewhat darker, maybe with a slight reddish hue. The picture above may be poor quality- is it cursed by some devilish forces, I wonder- but the "old" Duvel is the one closer to to the bottle.

The Duvel aroma is a famously mixing yeastiness with the spicy Saaz aroma. Yeastiness has developed into sun-dried fruits and the hop spiciness is gone 20 months on. The old Duvel has that aged aroma that I have come to know so well from many nights at the Antwerpen beer café Kulminator, the world's most famous aged beer bar.

The young Duvel is famously spritzy, the sweet maltiness is balanced by good bitterness, and the finishing mouthfeel is dry. The old Duvel is softer and seemingly less bitter. After enjoying the nutty and raisiny flavours the finish is still dry, though.

Duvel is not an obvious choice for aging, since so much of its character derives from its spritziness and noble hop aroma, that will no longer be prominent in an aged bottle. This tasting convinced me that even what the Flemish call "hoogblonde" (high blond) beers can develop interestingly with time. So enjoy your blonds now if you like- but they don't become less complex with age.

Norwegian Beer: Nøgne Ø #100 and Berentsens Rav Amber Ale

2005-09-16T23:36:00.000+02:00

It had been a week since I returned from my ten days vacation in Beer Heaven, for others best know as the Kingdom of Belgium. As usual, I had brought back a small share of the goodies for Norwegian weekend nights ahead this autumn.

Still, maybe because I felt lucky to secure a bottle of the one-off brew #100 from Nøgne Ø, I wanted to start my first weekend back on Norwegian earth with a tasting of some of this country's new (and most welcome) quality brews.

So I went for the extremes- grandpa versus the baby. On the Norwegian quality beer scene Nøgne Ø brewery is almost a grandpa figure already, inspiring others to follow its uncompromising quest for quality.

For its 100th batch celebration they made a one-off brew, simply called #100. At 10% it cost an amazing 100 NOK (about 16 USD) at the state liquor store, most of it made up of alcohol (sin) taxes, I suspect, and maybe the reason why it was still available. It turned out that grandpa really decided to kick for his celebration, going for an Imperial IPA:

A rich, creamy tan head that leaves laces tops this dark reddish-brown beer. Powerful grapefruit hop aroma. Oily, full body. Despite the smoothing presence of caramel, the flavour emphasis is definitely on (slightly harsh) hop bitterness. Grandpa doesn´t like compromises.

The baby in this meeting was the latest attempt from the Berentsens brewery in the province of Rogaland, more specifically in the town of Egersund, a hotbed for Christian fundamentalists who see beer drinking as the first step to hell. With the bland lagers produced by Berentsen and most other Norwegian brewers maybe they have a point. Or had, rather. Deeply rooted in this province myself, I really looked forward to a quality brew from this brewer.

It came copper-coloured with a creamy head that reduces to a film. Aroma is dominated by caramel with fresh citrus in the background. From this good start the flavour was a bit disappointing. The harsh bitterness really left most of the malty caramel flavours somewhat in the background, which is not quite what you may expect from an amber ale. The body is slightly watery.

Lack of perfection as there may still be, do we finally see the greening of Europe's northern beer desert?

Norwegian Beer: Haandbryggeriet (or There IS life in the beer tundra)

2005-08-28T21:14:00.000+02:00

The permafrost may be thawing, though it certainly did not feel like that walking through Oslo's street tonight. Every morning on my way to work I pass by several tank lorries pumping Ringnes beer into the tanks at Oslo's bars and nightclubs. This is the Norwegian beer scene anno 2005- light golden alcoholic water from the almost monopolistic beer producer (calling them brewers I would not, since that is a craft profession) makes sure that people get their alcoholic dosage. Beer is what beer does.

But something strange is happening, even in the country that boasts to be different. Brewers are appearing- enthusiasts that have a desire to create craft brews, despite the hurdles imposed by a government obsessed with alcohol taxes and regulation, monopolistic industry practices and the ignorant consumer.

Already the Norwegian microbrewer Den Nøgne Ø (meaning The Naked Island) is making world-class beers, beers that are prominently displayed even in Denmark, an up-and-coming beer heaven. Now a new brewery has been set up in Drammen, a town just west of Oslo and home of the long-standing, independent Aas brewery, which in between the regular lagers also produce a couple of interesting beers.

The new brewery is called Haandbryggeriet, the old-fashioned, but English-compatible spelling of what translates as the Hand Brewery, and the brewers started brewing as a hobby (hobby brewers are also now as hand brewers in Denmark, by the way).

My friend and I had the pleasure of tasting brew nos. 1 and 4, Bavarian Weizen and India Pale Ale, respectively, at a café that looked like a likely Ringnes outlet, cheap and scruffy. The place, Newman's Pub, next to the Eldorado cinema, seemed to be an unlikely outlet for a quality brew, but the place surprised by also housing a huge billiard venue. There may be more to a place than meets the eye from the outside. In this case, the other Drammen beer on tap may easily be the connection to the craft brewers.

The beers were over-carefully poured at almost freezing temperatures, so that the Bavarian Weizen appeared almost without any head, which is rather atypical for the style, to put it mildly. Both were hazy amber, the weizen lightly so. Of the two I would say the India Pale Ale was the more successful. Only 6.5% but with a good citrus aroma from the hops, balanced by some caramel malt flavour. Not bad for the first attempt, though still a long way to go to reach the Nøgne Ø India Pale Ale (both typical US west Coast interpretations of the style). The yeast did not settle very well, though, so the last centimeters of the 77 kroner (equals almost 10 euro) half litre bottle were rather unattractively muddy. The weizen was rather more lightweight at 5.5% alcohol, but with the typical banana and bubblegum aromas. The finish was more bitter than expected.

Despite my reservations this is an exciting new entrant on the Norwegian beer scene. I look forward to serving this beer at home at a more aroma-friendly temperature, literally serving the beers more justice, hopefully before its becoming winter in this lager beer tundra.....

Belgian Beer Cafés: Kulminator

2005-08-28T02:00:00.000+02:00

Much has been written about this place. To cut it short, it is one of the world's top beer cafés and famous worldwide for its vintage beers, some of them dating as far back as to the seventies. It is probably the beer café that made the whole concept of vintage beers known to beer lovers and for many it is the primary reason for visiting Antwerpen.

Nothing wrong in that, but Antwerpen has a lot to offer besides Kulminator. In fact, it may be the most under-rated city in this under-rated country. So I would recommend that you make at least one nights stay in Antwerpen. If you insist on staying in Brussels, know that the last train back from Antwerpen Centraal on weekdays is at 23.23 with the IC I train, on Saturdays you have to get on the IC N train leaving at 23.09. On Sundays this Beer Mecca is closed. You should also allow for 20 minutes to get to the central station from Kulminator, more if you have indulged in decades old trappist beers the whole evening.

On the picture is Leen, who together with her husband Dirk van Dyck (co-founder of the Objectieve Bierproevers-OBF, the forerunner of today's beer lover organisation Zythos) has been running this establishment for more than 25 years. She is about to hand out the beer list- a monster containing some 500-600 beers to a guest. Many of the beers have not been brewed for decades, so do not worry if you do not recognize the names- Leen (who is the most likely to serve the guests) will know them all.

They open late on Mondays (at 20.15) and on Saturdays (at 17.00), other weekdays you can start enjoying their vintage beers at noon. A good tip would be to come here on an "ordinary" day, avoiding the nights of the 24-hour beer festival or the Essen Christmas beer festival, when the place can get pretty packed (and being a husband-and-wife establishment) service be on the slow side. The atmosphere is serene with classical music in the background, only interrupted by a street musician begging for money or a drink.

Kulminator is located slightly off the main tourist area, in the street of Vleminckveld, 5 minutes walk from the Meir or Groenplaats. You can read the newspaper or some magazines or study all the beer gadgets surrounding you (do they ever throw things away here?). Or just reflect on the great beers or life in general. The choice is yours- here there are few intrusions.

Belgian Beer Cafés: In den Spytighen Duvel, Turnhout

2005-08-21T23:00:00.000+02:00

One of the truly great things about travelling in Belgium is that you can get around to almost every little place by means of public transport.
Which is definitely an advantage when exploring the Belgian beer café scene. The Belgians themselves may still be slightly more relaxed about taking a beer and driving, which may be just another good reason for taking the train.

Tim Webb's splendid Good Beer Guide Belgium will probably make you visit not so obvious spots on the Belgian map. In this case, his book enticed me to go to Turnhout - the destination was In den Spytighen Duvel- the spiteful devil.

Less than 39,000 souls populate this little town on the outskirts of Antwerpen province, close to the Dutch border. Not really a tourist spot, I did the place as an afternoon trip from Antwerpen.

The IR g train- IR meaning interregio, inter-region, usually a bit slower than inter-city, IC, trains leave Brussels South station at x.14 in the weekdays, passing by Mechelen and Lier and arriving in Turnhout some 72 minutes later. In the weekend the IR g train leaves from Antwerpen Centraal instead at x.56, arriving in Turnhout after 52 minutes travel. Going there from Antwerpen on a weekday (note that the café is closed on Mondays, though) I had to connect in Lier.

It is actually a good 15 minute walk from the station, which you may keep in mind if you have to catch the last train at 22.34 on weekdays and as early as 21.12 on weekends. There are few good reasons for being stuck at this outpost overnight- as a border town it may well attract more than its fair share of dubious individuals. Attractions other than the beer café are few, despite a glorious history, having been the seat of government.

And the Spytighen Duvel itself? Not bad for such a small place with some 300 quality beers on the menu. Moreover, the atmosphere is relaxed and the owner (seemingly a one-man shop) takes his time to pour the beer in a proper fashion for you, in the correct glasses and at not-too-cold temperatures. The only thing lacking was that special beer, aged or not, that is not available elsewhere. But such a sour remark on this fine establishment makes me sound like a spiteful devil...

Belgian Beer: The Big Trappists (or the Battle of the Giants)

2005-08-19T23:35:00.000+02:00

Admittedly, it was an ambitious task for a late Friday night, after a long week at work. I think it was spurred by the recent news reports on Westvleteren's inability to meet the demand for their world class beer, rated the best in the world at ratebeer, extensively discussed on the yahoo group belgianbeer, moderately by Flemish beer enthusiast Filip Geerts.

I still felt a head-to-head tasting would be appropriate to learn more about the characteristics of these unique beers. I was tempted to add a third beer to the tasting, St Bernardus Abt, which I believe is very closely related in style to these two great trappist beers, in addition to the historical links with the Sint-Sixtus abbey of Westvleteren. However, Westvleteren 12 and Rochefort, 10.2% and 11.3% alcohol by volume, respectively, are heavy enough to handle by themselves, adding a third heavyweight to the scene could just turn ugly.

Though I have to add that these are a rather young (and in my opinion, marked by so many visits to Beer Heaven on Earth, alias beer café Kulminator in Antwerpen) premature examples of God's own beers. I suppose this is how His beers would taste on the first day of creation. My Westvleteren beer has an expiration date of 14.03.08, so it was bottled three years earlier, in March 2005. The Rochefort has 18.05.10 printed on the label; so the bottling date would be five years before, in May 2005. As you can see, the bottles did not last beyond August 2005.

Both are deep reddish-brown beers, the Rochefort being ever so slightly darker. Both pours with a nice (though restrained) heads that leaves a lot of lace on the glass. The froth of the Rochefort is rather tan, whereas its sister at Westvleteren shows off an off-white head.

Aroma (and flavour) contradicts the initial impression, though. Using terms from the wine tasting world, I am tempted to apply light-coloured fruits to describe the aroma and flavour of Rochefort and darker fruits for the Westvleteren beer. For the latter I felt the chocolate taste was more present. Light-coloured fruit includes pears and bananas , whereas for darker fruits I get associations to prunes and raisins in this case.

I have to admit that I have always had a soft spot for the Rochefort 10, feeling that it has not received the attention it deserved from beer lovers (as opposed to the mythical Westvleteren beers). Loving the bitter chocolate, toffeeish, raisiny flavours of aged beers it should not come as a big surprise that my sympathies have been changed by this tasting. Or maybe Rochefort 10 is the (not so ugly) duckling that needs a few more years before showing off its superior qualities?

Belgian Beer: Oude Gueuze

2005-08-13T21:54:00.000+02:00

Ok, normally I only drink only one beer at a time. The other night I found an excuse to open three bottles at a time. I did so knowing that I was dealing with the champagnes among beers (no, I am not referring to the new invention by the Buggenhout breweries)- I was in for an evening of Oude Gueuze. I had secured one bottle each of oude gueuzes from Hanssens, Drie Fonteinen and Oud Beersel. The latter is now out of business- all the gueuzes were bottled in 2003 or early 2004.

My suspicion was that of all beers these were the least likely to go flat after a few hours. I was not disappointed. Mostly due to what was available at the Dorstvlegel beer store in Antwerpen they were all of (almost) the same "vintage"- a fact I was quite content with as I started my tasting session, since these are prime examples of beers that develop over time.

All the three are dark golden in colour, pouring with a nice head. Of the three Hanssens had the least persistent head. Hanssens also distinguished itself as not quite as dry as the other two, maybe the colour was even a touch darker as well.

Whereas Hanssens displayed a complex fruitiness with a hint of melon, the oude gueuze from Oud Beersel had a marked green apples taste. The latter also had a very dry finish.

Dry bitterness was a defining trait in the other entry from the town of Beersel, namely the highly esteemed Drie Fonteinen oude gueuze. I would have to say that the hints of citrus, apricots and oaky vanilla (without being overpowering) made the latter slightly more complex.

For me the comparative tasting shed more light over the unique characteristics of these rare beers. Hopefully, there is still a bit left of my teeth's enamel for another gueuze tasting in the future.

Dutch Beer: Vuurvogel

2005-07-30T00:27:00.000+02:00

Harmony, harmony, harmony. The perfect balance between the caramel malt flavour and bitterness, like the gentle landscape of Holland meeting the salty North Sea. Still a wave of a surprise this one. Picked up at the splendid Bierkoning beer shop (where, unfortunately, they still, in true Dutch fashion though, charge their clients extra for using a credit card), after a good review in the 4th edition of the Bible (Tim Webb's Guide to the Benelux beer scene), where it was described as a "pale tripel that holds and develops its character", 8.5%. Anyway, it was more like a brown ale, 7.5%, that poured into my glass this Friday evening despite the name of beer, translating into The Firebird (a very appropriate name for a tripel style of beer, if you ask me!). Brewed by the Amersfoort brewery of Drie Ringen (Three Rings) which also happen to have an excellent web site, www.dedrieringen.nl.

Belgian Beer: Kloeke Blonde

2005-07-29T22:31:00.000+02:00

Of course I am biased. Wannabe-intellectual Norwegian blond man tasting a beer called The Wise Blond(e). Falling for a marketing trick, maybe, as the brewers, De Struise Brewers, seem to be exporting quite a bit to Scandinavia, Denmark to be more specific. The beer is actually brewed at Caulier, and I was half expecting a super-sweet encounter. Though I might prefer sweet blondes to bitter ones when it comes to personal relationships, my palate has come to appreciate bitterness when tasting beer.

I had already tasted the over-sweet Pannepot beer, also commissioned by De Struise Brouwers, www.noordhoek.info, located in the Noordhoek (northern corner) of West-Vlaanderen, near the sympathetic port city of Oostende, and brewed in the Hainault brewery of Caulier, but in my opinion The Wise Blond is surprisingly more complex. Appropriately for the name, I suppose, it pours with a huge white head with the substance appearing hazy golden underneath. The aroma is yeasty and noble hops are greeting the nose, followed by a good mouth-feel. The finish is pleasantly dry as well.

What can I say? Don't underestimate the Blondes from the northern corner of Belgium and Europe!

American Beer : Hercules Double IPA

2005-06-03T22:45:00.000+02:00

It is Friday night- and I am going nowhere. But I have invited an American encounter to my little apartment. His name is Hercules Double IPA, arriving in Oslo via the Copenhagen beer specialty shop Høkeren all the way from Denver, Colorado. From the Great Divide Brewing Company, to be more precise.

Vow, oh my Gawd... He may be from a micro, but we are talking about an unashamed macro beer here. Aspiring to be godly, in fact. A war god, actually, punching you in your face with his aggressive hop aroma and flavour, giving you wings with his 9.1% alcohol strength. Don't mess about with this guy- his backbone may be a toffee-like malt flavour, but he demands you to be a fundamentalist hop worshipper. No compromises made, 85 IBUs scored. (OK, some Europeans may argue that he is slightly unbalanced, even lacking finesse. But who says that raw hop muscle cannot be appetizing sometimes?)

Check him (and his smaller brothers) out at www.greatdivide.com. You may become a believer.

Copenhagen Beer Cafés: Brewpub København

2005-05-25T04:30:00.000+02:00

Brewpub København is a new brewpub centrally located in one of the streets running parallell to the main shopping streets, Strøget, not far from the city's main square, Rådhuspladsen. It has got its own restaurant featuring beer cuisine and a pleasant beer garden in the courtyard.

Brewing has just started and at the time of my visit they only offered one beer from the brewery: Vester Weisse, named after the street where it is located (Vestergade no. 29). The beer is more like a mix of a Belgian wit (spiced with coriander, I believe) and a Bavarian weisse, featuring the characteristic banana flavour associated with the weisse yeast. Food is served both in the expensive-looking restaurant and in the pub. I opted to have my Beef Pot braised in Young's Double Chocolate Stout served in the latter. I felt the chocolate stout was a bit too heavy for the beef and was happy to still have a glass of refreshing Vester Weisse nearby.

You can read more about the brewpub on www.brewpub.dk (they also have information in English). The restaurant is open from noon to 10 pm Monday to Saturday, whereas the pub is open 4 pm to midnight on Mondays, noon to midnight on Tuesdays and Wednesday and noon to 2 am on Thursdays to Saturdays.

In short, this place looks promising, and the location is right in the city centre (so why are they closed on Sundays?). A good choice of imported beer is available either on tap or in bottle (including some surprisingly good Norwegian beers from the microbrewery Den Nøgne Ø - the name is taken from an Ibsen poem and means The Naked Island). I would be happy to see even more Danish craft brews available, and the place needs a bit of warming up to reach the cosiness of Plan B.

Copenhagen Beer Cafés: Plan B

2005-05-24T07:55:00.000+02:00

The old working class area of Nørreport (translating into Northern Gate) is a good base for the beer tourist to Copenhagen. Many of the city's best beer bars are situated in this area and in the adjoining Nørrebro at the other side of Søerne (the Lakes). The connections to and from the airport are also excellent with trains leaving every 10 minutes from Nørreport station. All the local trains (S-trains) as well as the metro stop at this station making it the second hub of the Copenhagen public transport system. In addition, it is a short walk from the main pedestrian streets, called Strøget.

In Nørrebro you will find the excellent brewpub Nørrebro Bryghus, the small, but well-stocked beer café Ølbaren as well as the friendly specialist beer shop Høkeren. Nearer the Nørreport station you could have a look into the Arbejdermuséet and taste some quality beers in their Café & Øl-halle (café and beer hall).

But the true gem in this area is the café too modestly called Plan B. This should be no spare solution when the other places are closed or full (which, by the way, is often the case with Ølbaren and Nørrebro Bryghus). The cosy café consists of two departments, with living room-feel where you will be served sandwiches and other small dishes. The main draw of the place is the drinks selection. Here even choosy coffee and tea drinkers will feel at home- there is a good selection for wine-snobs and last, but not least it is one of the greatest places to drink Danish craft brews in the capital. Oh, and they also have a respectable range of imported quality beers.

On my visit I enjoyed a Wintercoat ESB, served at perfect temperature, releasing its earthy character. The beers from this newly-established, but already highly-praised Århus microbrewery are difficult to come across other places in the capital (it is, for now, only sold on tap). I also got to taste the café's "own" brew, brewed for them by another Jutland microbrewery, Grauballe. It is appropriately called Nørrebryg and is a delightful Danish version of the classic Bigfoot Ale. The recipe comes from the big man behind Plan B, Mr Niels Steenstrum Zeeberg, which really makes his jovial and knowledgable presence felt.

And now the details. Open all days from 10 am to 10 pm (the critics are praising them for closing so early as many a following workday might otherwise have been ruined!) Located on one of the main roads, at Fredriksborggade no 48. They even have their own web site, www.cafeplanb.dk. All I can say is, this is one beer bar not to miss in Copenhagen!

Copenhagen Beer Festival

2005-05-23T07:13:00.000+02:00

Just returned home from the 5th annual Copenhagen Beer Festival (Københavnske Øldage). It takes place in May every year and is one of the beer festivals in Europe (if not the one) with the most different beers available, this time some 900. This year it was held the sports hall Valby Hallen just outside the city centre. The festival with its 75 stands and almost 10,000 visitors held over three days (20- 22 May this year) is about to outgrow the venue- and the food facilities (more like sausage stalls) seem to suffer the most from that, partially located outside the building, exposed to the rainy Danish spring weather. Any lover of quality beer should not let this discourage him or her from adding this event to the calendar. With so many new high quality Danish microbrewers this festival is a perfect opportunity to sample some brews that are hard to find anywhere else, even in Denmark. Danish importers make sure that high quality beers from other countries, especially from Belgium and the UK, are available as well. You can read more about the festival on the web site for the Danish Beer Enthusiasts (Danske Ølentusiaster), member of the European Beer Consumers Union, (in Danish only) on www.ale.dk