prodigal beer...or me

Another of Labirratorium's last offerings, and another northern style.  Belgian style, in fact, or at least part of Belgium, being that Phi Rhubarb is a Flemish sour ale.  It has that cute little bottle that a lot of Belgian beers use, and a pretty modern label.  I remember being a little resigned to it, but with shelves being actively dismantled in my presence, I couldn't hem and haw too much.  My first and maybe only brush with Alvinne and their contribution to fruited sours.  (Actually I have had an Alvinne before, years ago.  But not Phi.)

Sour, Belgian-y smell, leaning towards apple cider.  Very dark gold, maybe a little bit rusty.  Not a lot of carbonation or head to be found.  It smells a little syrupy, like there's a powerful punch of alcohol lurking in it, and at 8% it is strong for a fruit sour.  It's actually a little bit sweet, like a rhubarb pie, so it has a nice blend of sweet and sour, like candy.  It's also pretty smooth drinking, which you might expect from the lack of bubbliness.  It isn't exactly syrupy, although it has some body to it.  The sourness does build up over time at the back of the tongue, but it's generally a pleasant beer, with just a little spark to brighten up the evening.

just peachy

On the last days of Labirratorium I thought I would help lighten the load of the shelves before they got sold off.  I was later than most, so it wasn't a surprise that there was already a lot of empty space.  There were still some venerable Belgian beers left, and one a peach Lambic, which I don't mind too much.  It's been quite a while since I've indulged in a traditional fruit beer, much less a Belgian.  I remember being pleased with Lindemann's, and Kasteel has received some rave reviews on certain Youtube channels.  High hopes for St. Louis Premium Peche.  This is in spite of it being in a refrigerator door for almost a year.

It's darker than I expected, but maybe that's the aging involved.  Still good head and it didn't explode with extra gases, so that's positive.  It has an almost nostalgic beery aroma, with a touch of peach in it, for some reason it brings the old Cervezorama to mind.  The flavor is very heavy on the fruit, and the beer even feels a little thick, full-bodied and not much of a summery whisper.  It isn't just sweet peach, it's almost natural with its sourness, and maybe that is a little aging going on.  It almost has a winey quality, more of a white than a red, but the foundations of the drink still let the grain shine through to remind you what you're really drinking.

Hey, it's spring, time to clean out the fridge?

not in a box

The only thing Valentine's day is good for is the discount chocolate the day after.  And actually, I have my doubts that there are going to be huge discounts, the way prices have been going.  Maybe people will have loaded up on chocolate beforehand, being the comfort food that it is.  Wary as I am of Belgian beers, when it comes to sweet ones that aren't pastry stouts, that's the first place you should look.  And Kasteel's Barista Chocolate Quad is right there to be seen.

Somewhat startlingly, the first impression is the smell of tootsie pop.  Then, the beer pouring out like tootsie pop infused water, but once in the glass it does have a comforting brown color and reasonable head.  A good close-up sniff brings out more depth of chocolate, which I hope is a good sign.  Chocolate is front and center in the flavor, better and butterier than tootsie pops thankfully, but with that little Belgian tang at the end.  It's not actually that strong and it balances the sweeter chocolate flavors well.  There's even a little puff of smoke that seems to waft up after the swallow, so it's no one dimensional beer.  At a fairly strong 11%, it's the kind of beer that makes you want to cuddle up next to somebody and fall asleep, if you don't have a whole queue of Youtube to watch for the week.

Supplier: Lambeer

Price: €3.25

T(welve)-10

On the tenth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

10 lords a-robbing?

Nine night owls hooting

Eight maids not for cleaning

Seven avian vampire teasers

Six plans a-hatching

Five collaborations

Four miles of nowhere

Three tropical tree eggs

Two staring wings

And an icy raven looking needy

Oh, the things I'm willing to do for the season!  Drink a Belgian beer?  Well, alright, it does have somebody lordly on the label, so it goes with the song.  I'm also tickled that it says "Robijnrood" on one side, which I misread repeatedly as "Robinhood".  Shows where my sympathies lie, I guess.  What it really is is a red ale, ruby red is the promise, from Brouwerij Haacht.  Charles Quint is no stranger to Belgian beers, but he also has his place in the Spanish beer world.

It does have some ruddiness to it in the glass, sort of a rusty brown color overall.  Very light beige head sits firmly on top.  It certainly smells Belgian, although not as sour or tangy as some.  For the most part the aroma is sweet, although there's just a touch of sour apple.  In the mouth it is plainly a Belgian beer, malty, slightly sour, a real mouthful.  It doesn't have an unpleasant aftertaste, and the flavor is balanced and well under control before the swallow.  It's not a bad sipping, talking beer, with enough body to make snacks welcome but unnecessary.

summer harvesting

Squeezing in another purchase before a short vacation, I grab a couple of things from Birra Y Paz (they're going on vacation, not me.)  I feel like I ought to be getting some things that I don't normally subject myself to, and actually the bars are full of various types of ale more than anything else.  A lager here and there, but there's a downright shortage of sours this year, plus the typical lower offer of stouts for the summer.  As interesting as lambics are as a style, I just can't get into them as much as a taste experience.  I do, however, deeply enjoy a black currant drink.  It's one of Lindemans lesser-seen lambics, at least in Madrid, but I think Cassis is worth a shot.

Slightly winey smell, fruity, but old fruit.  Like a lot of lambics, it has a deeply tinted appearance with the essence of its most promoted ingredient.  It looks a lot like black currant nectar, in fact, but with a rosy head on top.  It has that fruity lambic stickiness, and a good amount of sweetness with no bitter at all, very much like Mort Subité, for example.  It's maybe even heavier than currant nectar, with more body and staying power in the mouth.  It builds in sourness, but maintains a refreshing cleanness to the flavor that allows it to take a place among summer beers.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €3.15

some truth telling

I felt the need to find something strong for the weekend, since the news is full of nothing but awfulness.  Also, it's gotten a little colder again and a strong beer is more of a comfort than a bright and happy IPA.  I'm still taking a risk, though, with a Belgian stout, since I'm not the biggest fan of Belgian beers and their penchant for weird aftertastes.  Also, it's a cuvée, although it is described as a Russian Imperial Stout in style.  Cuvée Delphine is also barrel-aged in bourbon barrels, so even more potential sweetness.  I seem to recall De Struise from other moments, without any bad impressions, so I will go in under the assumption that they know what they're doing.

Unless the truth is you did kill that guy and bury him under the floor

The aroma is fruity and juicy, not what you expect from a stout but very much a Belgian sensation.  It even veers into winey-ness, with hints of heavy alcohol along the lines of barrel-aged beers.  It looks like a rich, velvety drink, just what you want from those black beers.  While I was apprehensive about the flavor after taking a good whiff, remembering some previous disappointments with cuvées, it's a pleasing and complex flavor in reality.  There is a little bit of fruitiness, but it's well balanced with stouty earth and smoke, as well as a hint of dark chocolate.  There's a good amount of body, but it's not super smooth I would say.  It has a slight prickliness going down, like a cat that wants you to know it isn't your little pet the way the dog is - it might choose to hang out, but you don't have total control, dammit.  Not that you should expect any real roughness, it's more symbolic and just respectful to acknowledge it.  The fruit comes out more and more as the beer warms, developing a clear raisin quality.  However, there's also a feeling of freshness too it, and naturalness.  These are not raisins that have been at the back of the cupboard for ten years, nor is it just raisin flavored chemicals.  In all honesty I would have preferred a lean into the chocolate taste, but it's a warm and cuddly flavor in the end.  No regrets and that's the truth.

Supplier: Labirratorium

Price: €7.85

gold!

On the fifth day of Beermas I went and bought for me

Five malts of gold

Four avian hallucinations

Three French magicians

Two love ya dearlies

And the simplest answer there could be  

I admit, this is another lazy one, but sometimes you might as well take the things that just fit.  This is Gordon Finest Gold, a lager by John Martin Brewery.  It sounds like it should be a British beer, but it's actually made in Belgium.  So a little surprise after all.  I only wish instead of 10 it said 5 on the label, that would have fit absolutely perfectly.  I guess the other option would be drinking five.

Very normal looking beer, transparent, snow head, pretty standard beery smell.  It's actually quite lagery, with a lot of grain being most identifiable.  At first it tastes a lot like a normal beer, just calm bitter, but suddenly a sort of medicinal flavor bursts out, and the beer takes on a thick and round quality.  It feels much heavier than it looks, and the mild scent also didn't give any clues about its body.  It might be the Belgian influence that gives the beer some complexity and fruitiness.  It has that little tang at the end of the drink that so many Belgian styles possess.  It also packs quite a punch at 10%.  That might be like getting a fist of rings to the head if you're not careful.

have a little punch

I'm conflicted about La Cervecista.  It's a decent enough place with shelves full of appealing beers, but it's really a retail space for Mahou.  Oh sure, there are a bunch of craft looking beers on shelves and in fridges, but they are part of Mahou's network, like Founders and Nómada, or they're the typical Belgian and German imports.  Still, I feel like I ought to at least check things out.  Also, they have some quick and easy ciders right now, and it's still not as cool as I would like outside.  No cider just yet, though, I bow to Belgian influence today with Lindemans Framboise.

The heavy smell of fruity lambic fills the air immediately, in a tantalizing way of course.  The dark red beer sits in the glass like a vampire's party drink and the cotton candy head makes it all the more celebratory.  The flavor is tangy, like ripe ripe raspberry, not a lot of sweetness underneath.  I remember Mort Subité being a little sticky, but much like with the peach, Lindemans shows it knows how to balance out its beer.  It's a lot like a barely diluted fruit syrup still, with a powerful amount of taste.  Aside from the head there isn't much to indicate you're actually drinking a beer.  It's not a very alcoholic beer either, at only 2.5%.  You could easily fashion a cocktail out of this and fool people into thinking there's no alcohol at all.  Not that you want to go around fooling people about those things.

Supplier: La Cervecista

Price: €2.30

kaboom

I was poking around Be Hoppy, looking for a good black beer and on a lower shelf I spied something looking up at me.  It turned out to be Belgian, not usually my first choice, but I have to admit there are some excellent things that come out of there.  This is one of the more modern products, a bourbon barrel aged stout, climbing up to 13%.  Whew, Moccha Bomb indeed! 

It's a thick looking very dark brown beer, not too much head, but the thin layer is resistant and decorative.  It has a slightly Belgian aroma, tangy and mildly sweet, but there's more dark chocolate than dunkel.  While the flavor is oaty and puffy, there's less chocolate there.  The Belgian twist comes out clearly.  It has a smoothness but also a good amount of solidness, almost like a melted ice cream.  A taste of fruit develops, raisins or maybe dried apple.  It's not quite as clean as some recent beers, leaving a slightly sour aftertaste at the top of the throat, but it's not hard to get down at all. The fruitiness makes it seem like a nice afternoon beverage, something to sip under an umbrella in a shady beer garden.  But there is a hidden strength that lies in wait, and although the bottle is a normal one, it packs quite a punch.  A nice piece of cake or a brownie a la mode would be amazing right now.

brown dragon

It's been a few weeks since my snowy day adventure, which turned into the "green massacre".  That is, the trees of Madrid are even less prepared for significant amounts of snow than the people, and a whole big bunch of them lost limbs or just fell right over after receiving a good covering.  But like I said, it's been weeks and there are still, still piles of branches blocking sidewalks and keeping parks closed.  Not being prepared for snow I can kind of understand, but not being prepared to clean up tree debris?  It's windy here!  Shit falls all the time!  They must be making due with the three vehicles they normally use instead of getting a few extra for an extraordinary situation.  Anyway, it's not a bad time to relax with a nice stout.  Now, it's Gulden Draak, but it's an imperial stout, which piqued my interest.  I think I'm close to fifty-fifty with how well Belgian beers have treated me up to now, so let's try to tip the scales a little more in their favor.

In spite of the distinctly Belgianish aroma, it's still promising with a slight stout smokiness and just a little bit of tang to call your nose to attention.  It might be a stronger stout at 12%, but it's not one of the darker ones, being barely darker than some more robust brown ales.  The head is creamy and resistant, looking standard beige at first, but after getting all piled up on top has a lighter mocha foam hue.  The taste is overwhelmingly Belgian, with the sweet-sour and slightly throat-grabbing finish.  It's a fruitier stout than I tend to like, if no chocolate is involved at least.  It is a mouthful, smoothing out the sour fruit with an almost creamy texture.  While it goes down easily, it is not to be ignored on its way.  Thankfully, no strong flavors come out by surprise as the beer warms up, it stays pretty much the same as it was at first.  Again, not exactly what I look for in a stout, but I really can't complain about it.

Suppler: Labirratorium

Price: €3.45

Door #14

Oh dear, a lambic.  Beer from the north, a reminder of the cold season...if only it was a beer I liked better.  They've been picking up in popularity for a few years now, certainly benefiting from their history, a retro, hipster choice, and one that a lot of people are happy to make anyway, considering the proliferation of sours in the craft world today.  Oude Geuze Boon has the name to back up the style, if that's what you're into.  Well, maybe my tastebuds will die off someday.

It has that lambic champagne color, and something of a champagne aroma.  I might have let it sit in the refrigerator a little too long, as it's more active and bubbly than it probably should be.  The taste is surprisingly bland, with just a hint of sour and wood.  Even though it feels like it should be a mouthful of water, it's not very easy to drink.  It grabs at the throat a little, kicking on the way down.  Although the sourness makes it feel like a summer drink, something to cool you off and perk up, that roughness gives it a more wintery coat.  I don't know if I would like a mild cheese or something to go with it, something fatty does seem like it would pair well.

Building possibilities for the new year is exciting, but not always easy to keep up optimism about.  Good thing there's a beer more to my tastes waiting for me.

Door #12

It's a cavalcade of familiar names, now it's Hoegaarden.  This witbier has been found at taps all around town, usually as a sort of representative of the Belgians styles not in the bottle.  Cloudy and light orange, a fruit basket in scent dispersion, but without the throat grabbing aftertaste that so many Belgian beers, and some non-Belgian wheat beers I might add, tend to show me.  Although it should be a little spicey, not hot but a complex ball of flavors, it's not quite a winter beer for me.  I think of it as a light and gentle summer kind of beer, but maybe the bottle will add some weight to it.

While it looks just like I remember, there is a surprising sourness to the aroma, and even a little something like pear.  The flavor is immediately wheat beerish, a little sweet and tangy, crisp and light.  I keep waiting for some bitterness to kick in, but it it's a while before it becomes barely detectable.  There's kind of a grapefruit sensation, like a soda in fact.  I'm a little disappointed in this bottle version, though, the flavor is not as strong as I recall the tap beer being.  It takes until the very end for a little banana bread to make its appearance, smoothing out the citrus sharpness.  It would be nice to have a little cheese plate or something, since the acidity would cut through any lingering dairy in the mouth.

Halfway through the calendar, halfway to Beermas!

Door #11

Oh danger, more Belgian beers coming in!  This one at least is oak aged, so I expect a pretty good kick.  As a red ale, it's fitting for the time of year.  It's not very cold these days, though, so I guess I don't any serious alcoholic insulation.  Rodenbach Grand Cru, let's see what you can do.

It starts out with a puff of syrupy aroma, promising to be one of the sweeter red ales.  Seems in keeping with a Belgian one, to be honest.  It's a deep ruddy color, not a whole of head, but there is a fine sliver of it that hangs around on top.  I find it hard to distinguish anything but a grapey, winey sort of scent.  It's not as harsh as a lot of red wines, say, but there's a lot of fermented fruit in there.  It's also rather wine-ish in taste, although definitely a sweeter one.  It's a pretty heavy feeling beer, with a smooth but powerful sensation in the mouth.  It builds up a little at the back of the tongue, not with a strong aftertaste exactly, but there's a feeling of coating.  This is a jolly beer, warming and seasonally sweet.  This coincidence works for Calenbeer!

What kind of coincidences await for Beermas?  They all are, really, with the abundance of names and labels and everything.  Can't hardly plan anything.

Door #9

I guess you can't have an Advent Beer Calendar without a Belgian beer, unless you are specifically not doing Belgian beers.  When people think of Christmas ales, those are the breweries that tend to come to mind.  It's not really at the top of my list, but I guess I'll accept it.  Sometimes you find a surprisingly good one, and we need to keep trying things in life anyway.  Dupont's Saison is something different for me.

It doesn't look bad, a nice mellow yellow and fluffy head.  But, oh man, there's a farty smell coming off it.  It didn't make any weird noises when I opened the bottle and it isn't expired, but this gives me pause.  If I hold my nose the flavor is that typical Belgian, less sour in the aftertaste in fact, with an edge of fruity sweetness around the mildly bitter core.  It has a fairly thick sensation to it too, although it's not especially cloudy.  There's kind of a smokey burned off quality to the aftertaste, not very unlike Schlenkerla.  I should investigate whether this brewery also makes rauchbiers or the like.

(Oops, forgot to get a picture of the beer in the glass.  

The sulfur fumes must have overwhelmed me.)

Long weekend over, was I as productive as I had hoped?  Of course not.  Got a lot of rest though, so lots of energy for the short week.

and not even october

Although we had a very very nice day of storms and rain, it's still August and the temps are going to go back up.  It's just a fact.  I guess a lighter, fruitier beer would be nice after all.  And there aren't many fruitier than those Belgian lambics, despite my guarded appreciation for them.  This is Lindeman's though, and I have been rather pleased before.  I can see a nice apple beer being a calming beverage on a cooler night than many.

It's surprisingly standard looking, although quite aromatic.  At a distance the scent is like apple perfume or apple scent additives, but up close it's a stronger cider sour.  Pretty resistant, clean white head.  Plenty of happy little bubbles dance their way to the surface.  It's a very active looking beer.  The apple flavor is a little strong.  This is more like apple juice and something like champagne than an apple flavored beer, although it's true that most of the fruit lambics are rather heavily weighed down with taste.  And with substance.  It's not a light and bubbly session style or crisp cider, there's definitely some stickiness.

                              

Supplier: Más Que Cervezas

Price: €1.68

currant affair

Stick with red beers for now?  How about a black currant lambic?  I do love black currant juice, or "nectar", so it could very well be a delight.  Lindemans has surprised me in the past with a delicious peach lambic, so I'm not too apprehensive.  Black currants are something of a delicacy for Americans, because apparently we are not allowed to grow black currants.  They aren't native plants and as an imported species they have a tendency to disrupt the environment they grow in.  Either that or they're so tasty the mighty berry lobbies have been keeping them away out of terror of competition.

It looks very much like other popular red lambics, a much brighter color than currant juice to my recollection.  It has an almost astringent aroma, so that's different from the others.  The taste is subtle at first, and even when it comes out it's not exactly overwhelming.  It is a little heavy, sort of a sour candy more than fruit syrup.  I find it gets a little scratchy after a number of sips, almost like some citrus heavier NEIPAs.  Fortunately, it doesn't go the way of cherry or raspberry lambics with a heavier and stickier feel over time, staying fairly light despite the sweetness. 

Supplier: Birra y Paz
Price: €2.85

thirdly

On the first day of Beermas I went and bought for me
A bird dropping beads on the street
Two turtledoves
Three Belgian roosters

Yes, not French and not hens, but something along those lines.  Next door, as it were.  There might be only one bird on the branch, but at 8% we might imagine the other two on the ground.  This is Arabier, a Belgian Strong Pale Ale, elsewhere called a Golden Ale.  And, not just a Belgian style, but a genuine product of Belgium, De Dolle Brouwers to be precise.

It's a very unassuming beer, with no oddness or eye catching anything about the color or aroma.  It's a little bit sour, as one might expect from Belgian beers.  I let the head go down a bit, since it's like whipped cream on there, and I take a first sip.  WOW.  It's a sour beer.  It's not abrasive, though, which is something some NEIPAs have had trouble with.  It's also not clingy or covered in graininess, which I have experienced with other sour beers.  Although not my favorite style, it's a sharp, clean flavor and something that would really pick you up on a summer evening.  Even in the winter, some overheated pubs might serve a good number of Arabiers, especially if they rely on saltier snacks.  It has the kind of flavor that would cut right through anything else, and with that tiny hint of sweetness be a welcome interruption.  Although, it does develop a bitter side the more it rests, so if that's more your preference you can probably just let it sit for a couple of minutes.

Supplier: Be Hoppy
Price: €3.50

a present

As much as I love dark beers, I also love raspberry flavored things.  True, there are raspberry beers, but so many of them are...weird.  Too syrupy, too sour, that sort of thing.  Sagra did make a nice one a few years ago.  But, those who are really known for fruit beers are the Belgians, and I could not resist snapping up Bacchus Raspberry Beer from Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck.  It was the last one on the shelf too, so there's the added attraction of something about to disappear.  It comes nicely wrapped in paper and the naked bottle has a wine-ish look to it, or at least something a little less common than a simple beer.

All wrapped up

It's a weirdly dark reddish brown, with a sort of cream head.  There is raspberry in the scent, light and tickly, nothing too strong.  While the fruit is the first thing you notice when sipping, there's a kind of bitter-sour floor to it, giving balance to a beer that sometimes is a little too strong on the fruity syrup.  The flavor remains constant, not gaining in sourness or sweetness, and it's quite a light feeling beer to boot.  While it might be cozy for some wintry valentine, it has the fluttery easy feel that thirst quenching summer beers benefit from.

Strangely naked

Supplier: Heneket
Price: €4.20

danger red

I take all beers with good will, despite being leery of some.  If I can avoid the typical Belgian beer, I will.  Still, I've had some very nice ones, and you always have to keep yourself open to something new.  La Maison Belge on Santa María de la Cabeza specializes in Low Country beers, mostly Belgian with a few Dutch brews thrown in.  If there's a safe place to get a Belgian beer, I guess that'd be it.  They also have a selection from La Virgen now, which I don't remember seeing the first time I went.  Gotta support local industry, even if it has some (ahem) international support.  Actually, AB InBev is based in Belgium I think, so it all fits together.  After a bit of browsing, I picked up Corsendonk Rouge, thinking a red beer would be a nice compromise between my beloved black beers and the oppression of the seasonal temperatures.

The aroma is appley, crisp, and sweet, and the head is lively and robust.  I guess the beer is redd-ish, sort of a coppery color.  It does fit more closely with "amber".  If you get your nose down in it the aroma goes a little sour.  The taste is Belgian; hits with sweet, tails off with sour.  While other Belgian beers do have some bitter in the middle or even the beginning, Corsendonk Rouge covers it up pretty well.  There might be just the slightest hint of it at the top of the swallow.  But, mostly it's a cidery sweet, a bit thick in the mouth. It is a nice smooth beer, and doesn't get all syrupy or develop some weird tangy aftertaste.  It is, perhaps, a wee bit heavy for the sunny afternoon.  Not too much though, not by a long shot.  And the light fruity sweetness of the flavor keeps it refreshing and a reasonable choice even for a summer drink.  Well done this time, Belgium.

Supplier: La Maison Belge
Price: €2.90

devil-iveries

Although I was looking more for stouts, I couldn't resist the label in this Belgian ale.  Too bad it's not closer to Halloween, but if I can have stout every day of the year, I can have devils on my label too.  Triporteur From Hell is a dark ale from B. O. M. Brewery, claimed on the label as the oldest brewery in the world.  Given how much creativity there is in craft beers and Belgian beers, I don't really know what to expect from an infernal special delivery.

I like how approving the angel is back there

A nice, dark brown beer pours out, topped with a beige head that is suitably fluffy.  It's not especially strong-smelling, just a hint of that Belgian tang.  The taste is just what you expect, slightly sweet at first then growing to a stronger, woody sort of flavor.  There are perhaps honey-like notes in it, popping up between the slats of the barrel-aged memories.  It's not as sour as many a Belgian I've had in the past, although those who like that flavor won't be disappointed.  It's still definitely a Belgian beer.  It starts to get a little bit bitter in the aftertaste, just enough to keep it interesting.

Supplier: La Maison Belge
Price: ~€3.40