duvel

New Beer Blog MacTarnahan’s Brewing Spine Tingler

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When in Michigan for Thanksgiving, we are going to check out MacTarnahn’s Brewing and the beer is called Spine Tingler.  MacTarnahan’s Brewing was founded in 1986 by Robert Malcolm “Mac” MacTarnahan, who was one of the investors in the Brewery.  At one time, this brewery was called Portland Brewing.  Pyramid Brewery brought this brewery in 2004.  Pyramid Brewery was sold to Magic Hat Brewery in 2008 and they later sold in 2010 to North American Breweries.  Let us get into the beer.

This beer has a golden clear color with a semi head on it but there is a heavy carbonation when pouring from the bottle. It has a nice hoppy Belgian smell. The taste is a carbonation with Belgian species aftertaste. It is kind of drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website (www.macsbeer.com):

Spine Tingler

Malts: Pilsner Malt, Wheat Hops: Northern Brewer, Perle Spice: Candied Sugar Bitternes: 23 IBU Alcohol By Volume: 8.5%

A surprisingly sublime Belgian-style triple offering an electrifying blend of spicy aromatics balanced with a lively malt palate that is so good it’s scary.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.macsbeer.com

Twitter:  @macsbeer

Closing, I was pretty stun at how close this beer is to a real Belgium Triple.  If anyone in the United States can make beer good, it is Portland.  There are very few beers I had from Portland that are just flat-out bad.  I love the aroma from the beers.  The taste of the nice hop character.  This is brewery has nailed it.  I will have this beer again when I am in Michigan because I do not believe I have seen this brewery around Chicago.  I will put this brewery on my list when I make it out to Portland again.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Short’s Brew Soft Parade

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When in Michigan for Thanksgiving, Short’s Brew Soft Parade is the brewery and beer that will be featured in this blog post.  If you read my earlier blog on their India Pale Ale, you know the short history on this young brewery.  If you have not, please read the first part of that beer post.  Let us get into the beer.

It has a light amber color that is not clear with a nice white head on the beer.  The smell is all the fruit that the brewery put in during fermenting. There is some raspberry to blackberry smell to this fruit beer. The taste is sweet carbonation fruit with a raspberry to blackberry aftertaste. The strawberry and blueberry are in the taste but in the background. This is not a drinkable beer.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

High Gravity Ale fermented with blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.

Here is a description from their website (www.shortsbrewing.com):

The Soft Parade

This gourmet specialty is engineered of toasted rye flakes and two-row malted barley. Loaded with pureed strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, we refer to this fermented potion as a fruit infused rye ale. The result is a refreshing fruit delicacy that’s easy to drink, appealing to look at, and finishes dry.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.shortsbrewing.com

Twitter:  @shortsbrewing

In the end, I am not a huge fan of fruit beers.  I am not a fan of many of the Belgian beers.  This is a pretty good beer but it is not my favorite beer I had from this brewery.  I have to say I did enjoy drinking this beer.  It reminds me of summer.  I love the name and I wonder if it was named after the classic The Doors song.  There is a question for Joe Shorts.  If you pour this beer out and did not let me see the bottle, I would have thought this came from Belgian Brewery.  For the beer style, Short’s Brew made an excite fruit beer.  If you are a fan of fruit beers, you will like this beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiseer

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Beer Blog Arbor Brewery Corner Brewery Beers

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While in Michigan, I was looking for another brewery in this area and I could not find it.  So my sister, brother-in-law and myself wanted to check out a brewpub.  I suggested Corner Brewery.  I had a few of Arbor Brewery brews in the pasted when I came back to Michigan from Chicago.  I was looking forward to try a few more of their beers.  I was not expecting all the beer on the menu but I am not going to complain.

Here is a little history of the brewery from their website (www.arborbrewing.com):

The ABC story began with a home brewing passion that grew into Ann Arbor’s first brewpub. In 1995 we purchased the building at 114 Washington, spent the spring rebuilding the space, and opened our doors in July. Over 15 years later, we now encompass three spaces: the original pub, the game room, and a tap-room available for private rental.

We believe in serving quality meals that are natural, delicious, and memorable. We strive to do this in an environmentally responsible way through sustainable, locally sourced ingredients. We provide vegetarian and vegan options—but we understand the appeal of a big meaty burger! That’s why our menu features a variety of offerings that you can feel great about feeding your family.

We subscribe to the idea that a for-profit company has obligations not only to its investors, but also to its staff and community. We give back by donating to local non-profits, shopping locally, applying sustainable business practices, and serving on local civic and non-profit boards.

Here is a little history of their other brewpub called Corner Brewery (www.arborbrewing.com):

When we opened Corner Brewery in 2006 we intended it to be the bottling and distribution hub of our operation, but our community’s appetite for a local hang out was undeniable. We expanded our kitchen to offer pub favorites like pizzas, sandwiches, soups, and salads.

Just north of historic Depot Town in Ypsilanti, Corner features a spacious lounge, outdoor beer garden, and covered patio. All this space lends itself to hosting wonderful community events like the indoor farmer’s market, The Shadow Art Fair, DiYpsi, and fundraisers for charities like Ozone House, Veterans for Peace, and Greyhound Rescue.

Looking ahead, we plan to increase our brewing capacity and quadruple bottling speed with our 2011 expansion. We’ve also partnered with students from the University of Michigan on the Green Brewery Project, which focuses on increasing our energy efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint—all while we continue to brew more great beer.

They brew several different beer styles and you will see after you read this post.  I will break it down as you will see when you read in a little while.  They also have a brewery in India that brews some of the same beers.  They are also adding new brews to fit that area of India.  I will rank their beers at the end of this blog on the way I liked them. Let us get into the beer but it was hard to see in this brewpub.  If I get the color wrong on the beer, this is why.

Brasserie Blonde

This beer is their Belgian Blonde Ale.  It has a clear yellow color without a head on it.  This Belgian Blonde Ale does not really have a smell to the beer.  The taste has a little sweet to slightly piney to the beer.  The aftertaste is dry but most Blondes do not have explainable aftertaste.  In most cases, I say they do not have an aftertaste.  This beer does have aftertaste but I had a hard time figuring it out.  It is a pretty drinkable beer.

Phat Abbot

This beer is their Belgian Abby Dubbel.  It has a clear brown color with semi on head on the beer.  The smell of this Belgian Abby has a sweet malty to it.  I like to refer it to as that Belgian Smell.  The taste of the beer is about the same as the smell.  It is sweet to malty taste with a weird sour aftertaste, which I do like it.  This beer is not really drinkable.

Tallywacker

Tallywacker is their Scottish Ale.  It has a golden color with constant bubbles to the head.  There is really no smell from this beer.  It is sweet carbonation malty taste with the same the aftertaste.  This beer is fitting in the classic Scottish Ale.  It is pretty drinkable beer.

Ypsi Gypsi Pale Ale

This beer is their Pale Ale.  This Pale Ale has a clear yellow color without a head on it.  It has a nice citrus smell to it.  The taste is bitter earthly to some citrus to it with a dry aftertaste.  It is a West Coast Pale Ale style like Sierra Nevanda Pale Ale.  It is pretty drinkable beer.

Hoptoberfest

This beer is their Oktoberfest.  It has a copper color with a constant head on the beer.  There is really no smell on the beer.  It has a sweet malty hoppy taste with a malty aftertaste.  This is a pretty drinkable beer for the type of beer style.

Red Snapper

Red Snapper is named after the fish that travels through Michigan to reproduced and it is their roasted red ale.  The beer has a amber to red in color without a head on it.  There is a sweet to malty smell to the beer.  The taste is just like the traditional red ale with the sweet malty dry taste to the beer.  It has a bad dry aftertaste to the beer, which most people love this aftertaste. There is nothing wrong with it.

Green Giant

Green Giant is their Organic Imperial Pilsner.  It has a clear yellow color with a semi head on the beer.  Most pilsners do not have a smell to it and this Imperial Pilsner is no different.  It has a sweet, which comes from the pilsner malts that use in this beer, to hoppy with a dry crisp finish.  This is a extremely drinkable beer.

Hop Town

Hop Town is their American Brown Ale.  This beer has a dark brown color without a head.  It has a sweet malty roasted smell to the beer.  This Brown Ale has sweet malty to slightly citrus taste with a dry sweet aftertaste to it.  This American Brown Ale is kind of a drinkable.

Sacred Cow IPA

This Sacred Cow IPA is their flagship beer.  It has a clear copper color without a head on the beer.  This India Pale Ale has a slight piney smell to the beer.  The beer has a piney and pineapple taste with a bitter aftertaste but it is very nice.  This beer does not disappoint and I have had this beer in the pasted.  It is extremely drinkable.

Buzzsaw American IPA

Buzzsaw is their American India Pale Ale.  It has a clear yellow color without a head on the beer.  The beer has a earthly to piney smell to it.  The taste is earthy taste with a dry aftertaste to it.  It is very drinkable beer for the beer style.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.arborbrewing.com

Twitter:  @arborbrew and @cornerbrew

In closing, all of these beers are pretty good.  Some of these beers are not my type of beer and that does not take anything away from the brews.  They brew several different beers which you can see from above.  The list order of the beers is the way they gave it to me and how I sampled it.

Here is in this order the beers I loved to I did not like:

1.  Sacred Cow IPA

2.  Buzzsaw American IPA

3.  Green Giant

4.  Hoptoberfest

5.  Phat Abbot

6.  Ypsi Gypsi Pale Ale

7.  Tallywacker

8.  Red Snapper

9.  Hop Town

10. Brasserie Blonde

I do not think you are surprise to see their India Pale Ales at the top of the list.  I really enjoyed them.  One was more of a English style, which was Sacred Cow,  and the other was American style, which is the Buzzsaw.  They both have a really nice malty backbone to the beers.    Since I am having a huge love for pilsners of late, Green Giant is their Imperial Pilsner.  It is very drinkable and full of flavor.  I will be bring beer back from Michigan when I am in town again.  This is a great brewery and I wished they were in Chicago.  I recommend you to go and hunt their beers down.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Ommegang Brewery Scythe & Sickle Harvest Ale

In this Fall Beer blog, we are going to get into Ommegang Brewery from Coopertown, NY.  This is their first seasonal beer and it is called Scythe and Sickle Harvest Ale.  Ommegang Brewery is under the Duvel Moortgat Brewery that brews beer in an old farmhouse and hop field in upstate New York.  It was founded in 1997 and they brew several different Belgian style beer with an American twist.  Let us get into this great beer.

Ommegang finally came out with a seasonal and they did a pretty good job with it. Scythe & Suckle is a nice dark golden color with a constant white head.  There is a ton of carbonation and there is yeast in this bottle so be careful pouring it out in the glass. This beer has the malty smell but the Ommegang smell from their yeast. The taste of the beer is sweet, malty, and unique. There is a nice spicy malty aftertaste. This beer is pretty drinkable.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Scythe and Sickle is a seasonal brew that celebrates the richness of the grain harvest.  Brewed with Barley, Wheat, Oats and – in a nod to traditional upstate New York Grains – Rye, this fine ale is malty, lightly hopped, and creamy n the palate.  The flavors of the grains and the earth shine through so you can enjoy the refreshment of the season and joy of fine brewing.

Here is a descriation from their website (www.ommegang.com):

Scythe and Sickle is Ommegang’s foray into honoring the harvest season. Using barley, oats, wheat, and rye, we’ve brought the mood of fall to life with vibrant and flavorful passion.

Farming is about precision, timing and care. At Ommegang we place the same emphasis a farmer has for his crops into the creation of our beers. Scythe and Sickle is a testament to the craft and care of farming, from which our farmstead-brewed beers benefit greatly.

Brewed with balance in mind, Scythe & Sickle reveals a smooth and creamy mouthfeel with light toastiness and gentle sweetness. Bright amber in color from the mixed malts, the beer is balanced with delicate hopping to counter rather than overpower the malt profile.

5.8% ABV

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.ommegang.com

Twitter:  @breweryommegang

Closing out the beer tab, I am a huge fan of this brewery.  I knew they were looking to do a seasonal and I was pretty nervous to try it.  Most American craft breweries feel they have to make a seaonal beers.  I did not know how all the grains being used in this beer would go over with my drinking experience.  I will be really honest.  I did not like this beer at first, however, I have grown to love this beer.  It has a ton of flavor, balance, and pretty drinkable.  I highly recommend this beer and the rest of their beers.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Brooklyn Brewery Lager

The feature beer in this lastest edition is Brooklyn Lager.  If you read my earlier blogs on this brewery, you are pretty much up to date on Brooklyn Brewery.  If you have not, please, go back and read the first part of the Brooklyn Brown post to get to know this great New York City brewery.  Let us get into beer.

Brooklyn Lager is part of their everyday lineup of beers and is their flagship beer. It has copper to almost amber color with a constant white head on the beer.  It has a heavy malty smell to the beer.  This lager has a taste of a sweet malty and crisp malty finish to it. It is extremely drinkable.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Amber gold, with a malty body and a floral hop character, Brooklyn Lager is a revival of Brooklyn’s pre-Prohibition all malt lagers.  This is the brewery’s first and best-selling brand.  Brooklyn Lager is brewed only with malted barley, hops, water, and yeast, and will taste best before the freshness date indicated.  Please write us or visit the brewery Saturdays noon to 5pm, at #1 Brewers Row.  79th North 11th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211, or our website at www.brooklynbrewery.com.

Here is a description from their website (www.brooklynbrewery.com):

In the late 1800’s Brooklyn was one of the largest brewing  centers in the country, home to more than 45 breweries.  Lager beer in the “Vienna” style was one of the local favorites. It is amber-gold in color and displays a firm malt  center supported by a refreshing bitterness and floral hop  aroma. Caramel malts show in the finish. The aromatic qualities of the beer are enhanced by “dry-hopping”, the centuries-old practice of steeping the beer with fresh hops as it undergoes a long, cold maturation. The result is a wonderfully flavorful beer, smooth, refreshing and very versatile with food. Dry-hopping is largely a British technique, which we’ve used in a Viennese-style beer to create an American original.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.brooklynbrewery.com

Twitter:  @brooklynbrewery

Ending the beer tab, I will be honest about this beer.  I was not a fan of this beer at first but over the years it has grown on me.  I believe my taste buds are changing again.  This lager is what an American Lager should be not what the mass produced beer companies are putting out there.  I am not saying they are bad lagers and beers.  For me personally, I enjoy more of a malty taste.  This is a great beer with a ton of flavor and a nice hop touch to it.  If you enjoy lagers, I would give this beer a shoot and let me know what you think about this Brooklyn Lager.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Founders Cerise Cherry Fermented Ale

In this blog, we are going to check out another brewery from Michigan called Founders Brewing.  The beer we are going to talk about is their Cerise Cherry Fermented Ale.  This is one of their four pack seasonal beers.  Here is a little history on this brewery.  The brewery was founded in 1997.

Here is a little history straight from their website (www.foundersbrewing.com):

Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers both had steady jobs when they decided to chase their dreams and open a brewery–which meant writing a business plan, quitting their jobs, and taking out giant loans. They figured if you’re going to live life, you ought to live it hard, without regrets.

After some initial challenges, due to making well-balanced but unremarkable beers, we were on the verge of bankruptcy. It was at this point that the original Founders team decided to brew the kind of beer that got them excited about brewing in the first place: complex, in-your-face ales, with huge aromatics, bigger body, and tons of flavor.

The Founders Family, a group of passionate beer enthusiasts, has grown around this simple philosophy: “We don’t brew beer for the masses. Instead, our beers are crafted for a chosen few, a small cadre of renegades and rebels who enjoy a beer that pushes the limits of what is commonly accepted as taste. In short, we make beer for people like us.”

We at Founders Brewing Company have been lucky to evolve into one of the highest recognized breweries in the United States. Since 2011, Ratebeer.com has ranked us as the 2nd best brewery in the world (we were 4th best in 2010), and we have several beers listed in the top one hundred beers of the world on Beeradvocate.com. We were the winner of four medals at the 2010 World Beer Cup, two medals at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival, and one medal at the 2012 World Beer Cup.

We are proud to be doing what we are doing, and we give great thanks to our many customers and credit to our staff for whom we continually work to reinvent and provide world-class beers.

The website had a better explanation than what I could have ever wrote on this brewery.  I found that straight from their website.  Let us get into the brew that I checked out from this brewery.

Founders Cerise has a nice red cherry color without a head on it.  It has a nice fresh pick cherry smell to it.  This fruit beer has a sweet heavy cherry taste with a little carbonation to it. The aftertaste is a heavy cherry to it. It is drinkable beer.

Here is a description from their website about the beer (www.foundersbrewing.com):

You’ll have a soft spot for this one. Using only fresh Michigan tart cherries, this beauty tantalizes with intense flavors combined with a no-hesitation malt bill. Adding fresh cherries at five separate stages of fermentation achieves the ultimate balance between tartness and sweetness.

  • ABV: 6.5%
  • IBUs: 15
  • Availability: Jun – Aug

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.foundersbrewing.com

Twitter:  @foundersbrewing

In closing, I did not know how I would react to this beer.  I am not a huge fan of this beer style of fruit in beer.  I have tried several Belgian and Belgian Fruit Beer Style and they all pretty much came off the wrong to me.  Some were too sweet or not any fruit taste in them.  With all that said, I really like this beer.  It kind of remind me of Liefman’s Fruitesse but with just Cherry in it.  Liefmans has every berries you can think of in the world in it.  It is extremely drinkable and dangerous for an ABV 6.5%.  Go find this beer before the season is over.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Birra Del Borgo Extra Re Ale

In this blog, we are going to get into a beer from Italy.  It is an American India Pale Ale from Birra Del Borgo Extra Re Ale.  There is no information on this brewery just ratings from Ratebeer and Beeradvocate.  Then I finally realize to look at the bottle and I found a website of the brewery.  The brewery was founded in 2005 so it is a young brewery.  They brew several different beer styles.  It is a wide range of beer styles.  Let us get into their India Pale Ale.

Re Ale has a ton of carbonation so please pour it slowly in the glass.  It has a deep amber color with a nice white head. The smell is of orange and some citrus in the beer. The taste is very unique for being import beer plus an India Pale Ale.  It has a nice sweet carbonation circus with a nice dry hop finish. This is a very drinkable India Pale Ale from Italy.  Yes it is from Italy.

Here is a description from the beer bottle:

Ingredients: water, barley, malt, EXTRA hop, yeast.  Unpasteurized, unfiltered, bottled-conditioned.  Serve at 53 to 57 F.  Natural yeast sediments on the bottom.

Here is a description from their website (www.birradelborgo.it):

Extra-hopped version of Reale

A derivative of our regular ReAle, the hops are varied especially in quantity: a huge amount is added in a different technique. All the hops are added during the last 10 minutes of the boil, using 3 times more than regular ReAle. The result is an explosion of perfumes, in a range from citrusy to resiny (pine resin and incense). The mouth feel is dry, with immediate bitterness, then it finishes with a beautiful, persistent tangerine note.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.birradelborgo.it

Twitter:  @BirraDelBorgo

In closing, just want to thank my friend that share this bottle with me, I am really stun this came from Italy and it being good.  I do not think I have to say what you think when you think of Italy? It is wine, wine and more wine.  I love the complex taste that I get from this India Pale Ale.  I love the funky to spicy taste and then the run on the hop taste.  This is not a cheap beer.  I believe my friend pay $80.00 for a case of 12  11.2oz bottles.  I would go and hunt this beer down.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Innis & Gunn Original Oak Aged Beer

Starting a new tap, we are going to sample out another barrel age beer.  This time around it is Innis & Gunn Original Oak Aged Beer.  This brewery was started in 2003.  There is really nothing more on this brewery.  This beer is aged in a barrel for thirty days.  Let us get int othe beers.

When pour in the glass, the beer is a nice copper color with a kind of head.  It has that import smell. It has a malty earthy taste to it. It is very smooth for being a full body beer. It is very drinkable.  The more the beer drinker is drinking this beer. He or she will start to experience a little vanilla and oak taste from the beer.

Here is a descriation from their website (www.innisandgunn.com):

This is our flagship beer, the one whose discovery led to the formation of the company back in 2003. Since then we’ve won a string of awards for Original, most recently a third consecutive Modern Monde Selection gold award.
Like the world’s great wine and whisky makers we strive for depth of flavour, complexity and mellowness in every beer we produce. Innis & Gunn Original typifies this approach.
Its lengthy 77-day maturation imparts flavours of toffee, vanilla and oak that perfectly complement the beer’s backbone of luscious malt and fruity hop notes.
The oak helps to give Innis & Gunn Original its appealing colour and also mellow the alcohol character, so although the beer is 6.6%, it’s very smooth and easy to drink.

Here is a descriation from the beer bottle:

To make Innis & Gunn we hand-select barrels which are packed with the most delicious oak flavors.  Over many weeks our unique maturation slowly unlocks these flavors from deep inside the oake grain, the beer growing in character with every hour that passes.  Only when it has matured to perfection do we bottle and release it.  The result is a refreshing honey-hued beer with aromas of vanilla and toffee, and a malty, lightly oaked finish.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.innisandgunn.com

Twitter:  @innisandgunnuk

Closing out the tab, just like the Kentucky Barrel Aged Ale, this beer is not a stout but an ale.  I really love this beer but the price turns me off a little bit.  I understand the price point because it is an import beer and the process it goes through.  There is a ton of flavor going on in this beer.  To me, what makes this beer so special, it is the complex tasting that is being experience.  Your mind is telling you that you are tasting this but then your taste tells you something in the beer.  It is drinkable and exetremely fun to drink.  Thanks to my friend for sharing this beer with me!  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Chouffe Houblon Chouffe Tripel IPA

In this blog, we are going to take a look at another brew from the Chouffe Brewery.  The beer is called Houblon Chouffe Tripel India Pale Ale.  If you read my earlier blog on their La Chouffe then you know a little bit about this brewery from Belgium, let us get into the beer.

This beer is a bright golden with a slight cloudly along with a nice constant white head to it.  A heavy citrus smell is kicking along with some species too. As far as the taste of this awesome Belgium, the beer drinker will taste a very sweet carbonation citrus upper cut in your face along with a nice hop finish that lingers afterwards for a bit after the beer drinking experience.  It is very drinkable for being a highend Tripel IPA.

Here is a descripation from the bottle:

On its journey across the globe the little Chouffe wander through beautiful hopfields.  The overwhelming aroma of these little hop flowers such as Tomahawk, Amarillo and Saaz mesmerized him.

Back at home in the Ardennes, he crafted a new recipe combining this heady array of hops with the depth and body of his favorite style “Tripel”.  Thus, our little Chouffe’s new inspiration Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel was born.

Here is a descripation from their website (www.achouffe.be):

Description :

The HOUBLON CHOUFFE was brewed for the first time in 2006.  It is an ‘Indian Pale ale’ type of beer, with a harmonious balance between a marked bitterness (three types of hops are used to make it) and a pleasant fruitiness.  The HOUBLON CHOUFFE is unfiltered, and re-fermented in the bottle as well as in the keg.

Packaging :

330 ml bottle

750ml bottle

20 litre keg

Alcohol  :

9% alc./vol.

Original extract :

18 °Plato

Serving temperature :

4 to 10°C (bottle)

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.achouffe.be

Twitter:  @chouffeusa

In closing,  this is my favorite beer from this brewery.  I love how you get the nice hoppy taste but still get the funky Belgian taste.  I know I have yelled at craft breweries for saying their beers are Belgian Style IPAs.  I do feel the same way towards this brewery, however, they put the word “Tripel” and they put more depth on the hops to make it a little different then the old classic beer style.  The craft beers that said Belgian India Pale Ale are really Tripels that I have had in the market.  Please chellenge me on this beer style, I really want to back off this issue.  Asides that, I really love this beer for many reasons.  It is well balance, drinkable, and a nice spicy kick to the beer.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it! \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter: @djweiser

New Blog Liefmans Cuvee – Brut

In this blog, we are going back over to Belgium to sample out Liefmans Cuvee-Brut.  Here is a little history of this brewery.  There is not too much on this brewery but they were founded in 1679.   Duvel Moortgat Brewery brought them in June 2008 after they went into Chapter 11.  They want to be known as a Benders.  I found this video on their website and Youtube.

Here is the video from Youtube (www.youtube.com) and their website (www.liefmans.be):

Liefmans Brewery

This video tells you the rich history of this brewery in moving pictures then in words.  It will also show their other beers along with description. Let us get into the beer.

It has a dark cherry color with no head.  This sour ale has a nice cherry smell. There is a touch of old attic smell in it. The taste is a sweet cherry with a sour kick to it. Shocking this beer is very drinkable for the type of beer style.

Here is a descripation from the bottle:

Aged with cherries, flavored with cherries and cherry juice.  Contains sugar and barley malt.  6% ABV

Here is a descripation form their website (www.liefmans.be):

This Kreik is made with a completely different method from Kreik Lambic.  It starts with old brown beer which is macerated with fresh whole cherries in shallow, horizontal tanks [every 100 liter brown beer holds 13kg cherries].  Then it matures for about 1 year, afterwards it is blended with old Oud Bruin and Goudenband of different ages.  The result is a well  balanced sour and sweet Kreik of great complexity.

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website: www.liefmans.be

Twitter:  @liefmansusa

In closing, it took me forever to starting loving this beer style, which is sours.  However, I pick this beer up for a special event, I thought I would give my thoughts on this beer. This is a very well made beer and they did an awesome job.  I am loving the fact they stayed true to what they were and what they are right now.  I love the drinkablity and the complexs nature of this beer.  Beer drinkers can drink this beer any time of the season.  This beer would be perfect for any special event for being a highend beer.  I highly recommend you trying this beer.  If you like fruit beers, Cuvee- Brut is right up your alley.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it! Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser Lipka

Email: djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser