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The Beers,...

Disburden

Well-Known Member
Today I found the most delightful Trappist beer in my local grocery in Putnam County NY. It is a Quad made by Trappistes Rochefort, the number 10 edition, at 11.3ABV. This beer is incredible! I have just recently gotten into "Good" or "Real" beer starting with Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter which I now love, and then finding good Imperial Stouts, but this stuff is just fantastic.

Belgium may just be the best brewing country in the world...!!!!:love:

Has anyone else tried this beer? It's very dark, tastes of plums and raisins with dark chocolate. Although the alcohol level is in the wine category it is very smooth and the alcohol is hidden well.
 
Rochefort 10 is a top 5 Belgian beer. Some say the Westvleteren is the best Belgian beer in the world, which is totally subjective of course, but you can't argue against the Rochefort. I suggest you try Triple Karmeliet, St. Bernardus and La Fin du Monde.
 
it is indeed a very good beer
other very good ones are: orval, westvleteren, brugse zot, chimay (blue one), ...

cheers
Stijn
 
Disburden said:
Belgium may just be the best brewing country in the world...!!!!:love:
Actually, no. It probably is one of the very worst. In fact, most of the concoctions they sell as beer aren't beer at all, according to the German Reinheitsgebot. It may be a bit dated (1516), but it is still well worth a read.

And let's not forget that the infamous InBev corporation is part Belgian, too. And the only good thing I can say about this company is that it makes it much, much easier to steer clear of degenerated, industrialised, bland, boring, middle-of-the-road piss - because there is now just one list of this stuff to avoid you need to carry around when drinking abroad - and, sadly, in Germany, too, because they've managed to completely ruin a few perfectly good beers like Franziskaner. Luckily - and that is the only exception I can spot on this list of liquid abominations - they've not managed to ruin Hasseröder, although they tried. But the East Germans rebelled...

Where was I? Ah, yes, Bier. You will find the best (as in brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot by people who actually know what they're doing because their families have been doing it for 500 years) and most diverse Biere in Oberfranken (aka Upper Franconia). Book a trip, try them, and you will see what I mean. Nothing against Belgian "beers" - my family over there loves them, bloody traitors to the Fatherland - but just don't confuse them with Bier. They're what the wife calls "bieroid beverages".

Prost!

Robin (live from Munich, and let me tell you, Spaten Bräu is one of the worst beers ever made, and my head hurts a lot)
 
Robin said:
It probably is one of the very worst.
That is sooo ridiculous Robin, you must be suffering from a bad case of alcohol poisoning. One of your German brewers must have come up with methanol rather than ethanol.

Robin said:
In fact, most of the concoctions they sell as beer aren't beer at all, according to the German Reinheitsgebot.

I can accept a German definition about what a good car is, but I don't give a toss about the German definition of what's supposed to be beer. Or good food.

Robin said:
And let's not forget that the infamous InBev corporation is part Belgian, too.
I'd like to point out that Belgium has nothing to do with the management of the company anymore. It's greedy Brazilian accountants obsessed with 19th century capitalism al the way to the very top. For the record, since I've come to know the company rather well, I stopped buying their beers. Except brown Leffe, because the wife favours it. You also have a point about the quality of their beers by the way.


Robin said:

Yeah, you too Robin. But should you be combining booze with those pills you take ??

Kind regards,
Wim
 
decraew said:
Robin said:
It probably is one of the very worst.
That is sooo ridiculous Robin, you must be suffering from a bad case of alcohol poisoning. One of your German brewers must have come up with methanol rather than ethanol.
Well, no. May I gently remind you that Belgium produces stuff like Geuze (and other Champagne beers), and fruit Lambics. I mean, Kriek? Or Tafelbier? But yes, looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_Belgium, I can see how someone who doesn't like German beers (Pilsner in particular) would find the ones listed there appealing. Personally, I've tried a lot of them, but cannot remember one I would really like to try again.

decraew said:
Robin said:
In fact, most of the concoctions they sell as beer aren't beer at all, according to the German Reinheitsgebot.
I can accept a German definition about what a good car is, but I don't give a toss about the German definition of what's supposed to be beer. Or good food.
Let me put it this way. Without the Reinheitsgebot, the world today would most likely be even fuller of beers with artificial ingredients or made from rice or worse. And yes, I personally believe that beer adulterating should be punishable (it is in Bavaria as a friend of mine had to find out when ordering a Kölsch with Coke). Speaking of which, some German foods aren't that bad, really. Admittedly, some are, which probably explains the many English tourists here.

Mental note to self: Put Spaten Bräu on the list of things to avoid in the future at all cost.
 
Actually, there's nothing wrong with Geuze, although I do admit the sourness makes it an acquired taste - I don't really like it myself. It's based on a kind of beer, Lambiek, that's in existence for more than 600 years. I don't know how long Geuze's been existence, but I'm sure it's not a recent marketing ploy by yet another mega-brewer.

It is however a sad fact that the bigger brewers have started making their Geuze and Kriekenbier sweeter. On the other hand, that has enabled them to survive in the current market where consumers seem to prefer sweeter beverages.

Now, regarding the German beers, they seem to be mostly lighter, blonde beers - pardon me if this is incorrect, but that's my experience with German beers. Although "nice", for me, they completely lack the character, complexity and variety that you would find in the heavier Belgian beers.
 
Wikipedia said:
Reinheitsgebot was introduced in part to prevent price competition with bakers for wheat and rye. The restriction of grains to barley was meant to ensure the availability of sufficient amounts of affordable bread, as the more valuable wheat and rye were reserved for use by bakers. Today many Bavarian beers are again brewed using wheat and are thus no longer compliant with the Reinheitsgebot.

The Reinheitsgebot formed the basis of legislation that spread slowly throughout Bavaria and Germany. Bavaria insisted on its application throughout Germany as a precondition of German unification in 1871, to prevent competition from beers brewed elsewhere with a wider range of ingredients. The move encountered strong resistance from brewers outside Bavaria. By restricting the allowable ingredients, it led to the extinction of many brewing traditions and local beer specialties, such as North German spiced beer and cherry beer, and led to the domination of the German beer market by pilsener style beers. Only a few regional beer varieties, such as Kölner Kölsch or Düsseldorfer Altbier, survived its implementation.


That says it all, in my opinion. The underlining is mine.
The bold underlined phrase explains why Germans are nowadays so anal about their Reinheitsgebot. They can't digest that other countries didn't choose to kill the diversity of their beer culture. :D

Rochefort 8° or 10° (they're both excellent) are always residing in my cellar (at least one of both). It's my favorite dark beer. Chimay Bleu is another dark Trappist beer, and even more popular around here. If you haven't tried it already, I would recommend it. (If you can buy the large bottles that say Chimay Grand Reserve, it's the same beer).

Speaking of Traditional Geuze, it's my favorite Belgian beer style. But definitely an acquired taste, and probably one that requires a proper introduction.


Santé,
Bart.
 
I`m very fortunate to have a brother in law thats travels the entire globe.He is a beer and single malt lover so sometimes we meet a taste all hi`s goodies - usually accompanied by a major hangover the next day- but he brings home many different beers and single malts. Belgian beers are hi`s favorite,Chimay in particular.

He also brings home Belgian cheese...4-5 years old,salted and hard as a rock.


Torbs
 
I might be a bit biased as I used to be almost a local, but Hertog Jan (InBev, damnit) is IMO one of the best tasting Pilseners in The Netherlands. Sadly the bar is not set very high, I must admit, most Dutch beers taste of sewer drainage. Of them I drink Hertog Jan and Brand Bier (again the local bias), that is, when I'm visiting NL.

Here in Finland I do drink the Finnish beer, but reluctantly so since all the decent ones are at least double or triple the price. When I want a decent beer (Pils) here I usually get the Czech Urquell, Kozel or Budejovice, all of which I thoroughly enjoy. Not quite the same as locally brewed Czech, Slovenian, Slovakian and Polish beers, but I still thoroughly enjoy them.

As for Belgian beers, I at least like most of what I've tasted, and I never turn down a triple. I am by no means a connaisseur, and not extremely picky but as the saying goes 'I know what I like'. If there's only Heineken available, and it's at least kind of chilled, I'll take that too without complaining or throwing tantrums.

Damn, I'm getting thirsty here, and it's only half past one.

Prost!
 
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