To the alternates - I need volunteers to help set up. Your payment will be a bottle of one of the beers from the tasting and GUARANTEED SEATING at the next tasting that you are interested in and can attend.
I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did and found yourself trying beers with flavors you may not normally have thought to. If you've got a new favorite beer or two (or ones you really hated!) I'd love to know.
Interesting article about sour beers. I wanted to integrate some of this info into the tasting, but ran out of time.
You may find the chart of what bacteria provide what flavors interesting, as some of you noted "nail polish" notes in some of the beers. That wasn't your brain deceiving you, that's an actual intentional smell in those beers!
Definitely not my type of beer! Found two that I did like though, and I thought it was funny that those two were the ones everyone else seemed to hate!
Thanks as always for setting this up, I love these so much.
Lots about this weekend is a blur, and I forgot to save my notes, so I'm struggling to remember.
Definitely light blue. I also remember Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour being a favorite, but I don't remember what color (hopefully not light blue, because I may not be able to remember the second.) As a third, I liked red when most everyone else hated it (that was the one that someone suggested smelled like Home Depot, yes?)
Interestingly enough, I remember early on in my beer drinking experience - and we're talking my fourth or fifth time trying beer - Brian, Lincoln and I went to a booze shop and Brian got a bottle of that Monk's Cafe. I remember trying it and absolutely despising everything about it. And now I like it quite a bit. Funny how tastes change like that.
No doubt about it. My tastes have changed as well, I hated IPAs for a long time before I had that door blown open and now I love them, with some caveats.
I saved everyone's notes; if you can remember anything you wrote on there, I can figure out which are yours.
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JBoogalooThis too shall pass...Alexandria, VAIcrontian
@UPSLynx light blue was the Monk's Cafe. I think you and I had similar tastes and I ended up with four that were to my liking, maybe one will ring a bell? The Monk's Cafe (light blue) was the apple cider tasting one Duchess Bourgeron (black) (sp?) all I wrote was "like this one" Young Rodenbach classic (orange) Mild taste, not tart at all 2010 Rodenbach (yellow) wrote "puckery"
No doubt about it. My tastes have changed as well, I hated IPAs for a long time before I had that door blown open and now I love them, with some caveats.
I saved everyone's notes; if you can remember anything you wrote on there, I can figure out which are yours.
For @UPSLynx, look for a drawing of a B-42 dropping "NOPE"s
Yeah, Duchesse is one of the best known Flanders Reds, and might be one of the two most readily available. It's a remarkable beer. I don't like overly sour beers, but the acidic bite and fruitiness of that one just go so good with food.
I had Duchesse with my Thanksgiving dinner this year and I highly recommend it. Cranberry sauce + stuffing with raisins + mashed potatoes all washed down by that beer....oh man.
Comments
To the alternates - I need volunteers to help set up. Your payment will be a bottle of one of the beers from the tasting and GUARANTEED SEATING at the next tasting that you are interested in and can attend.
I need 3 volunteers. Who's in?
Here are the beers we tasted:
From left to right:
Petrus Aged Pale
Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne
Rodenbach Classic (75% young, 25% 2 year old)
Rodenbach Grand Cru (33% young, 66% 2 year old)
Rodenbach Vintage 2010 (unblended, single vintage)
Arbor Brewing Flamboyant Wild Red Ale
Jolly Pumpkin La Roja
Bockor Cuvee des Jacobins Rouge
Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale (Aka Brouwerij Van Steenberge Bios Vlaamse Bourgogne)
Some pics from the event:
I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did and found yourself trying beers with flavors you may not normally have thought to. If you've got a new favorite beer or two (or ones you really hated!) I'd love to know.
Special thanks to @susurro, @thrax, and @HumerusMeg for helping @Leahvoice set the tasting up.
Cheers!
You may find the chart of what bacteria provide what flavors interesting, as some of you noted "nail polish" notes in some of the beers. That wasn't your brain deceiving you, that's an actual intentional smell in those beers!
http://palatepress.com/2012/10/wine/embracing-the-chaos-sour-beers-bridge-the-gap-between-beer-and-wine
Thanks as always for setting this up, I love these so much.
Definitely light blue. I also remember Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour being a favorite, but I don't remember what color (hopefully not light blue, because I may not be able to remember the second.) As a third, I liked red when most everyone else hated it (that was the one that someone suggested smelled like Home Depot, yes?)
I saved everyone's notes; if you can remember anything you wrote on there, I can figure out which are yours.
The Monk's Cafe (light blue) was the apple cider tasting one
Duchess Bourgeron (black) (sp?) all I wrote was "like this one"
Young Rodenbach classic (orange) Mild taste, not tart at all
2010 Rodenbach (yellow) wrote "puckery"
Hope that helps
Based on @Jboogaloo's description, I'm thinking the yellow might have been the second. It was either that or black.
I had Duchesse with my Thanksgiving dinner this year and I highly recommend it. Cranberry sauce + stuffing with raisins + mashed potatoes all washed down by that beer....oh man.