Equinox - a very remarkable beer

After I received some disappointed feedbacks from some folks regarding my post on Deus, I had to do a better job next time. This of course would depend on the beer as well.
There were still two bottles in the fridge, one of them Equinox from the Brasserie de la Senne near Brussels. The logo interested me and the design was good enough for chosing this one for a Friday evening, while watching the newest "Silent Witness" episode.

And the decision was more than the right one: This is a marvellous drop. While pouting it into my new Moeder Lambic glass, a dark black fluid comes out of the bottle, like a stout.
The bouquet remebered me of some herbal honey, mostly thyme honey. When it is in your mouth, a mix of roasted cocoa with a fresh melted caramel flavour welcomes you and while going down, a distinct taste of yeast and hops is saying farewell.
With 8%, the alcohol is typical for a Belgian beer. I definitely have to visit the brewery one day, because I am quite sure, the other beers from that place are also fantastic.

Deus Brut des Flandres

Yes, I of course brought some beer bottles from my last stay in Brussels back home, but this one was already waiting for me in the cellar.

It is a Deus, the bottle looks more like a Champagne one, obviously you have to use champagne flutes, not an "ordinary" beer glass :-)







The brewing method is still quite young, probably an invention from last century, when someone wanted to combine Belgian brewing art with French Champagne savoir vivre.

The sparkling beer requires a production time of many months. Made of barley, it is brewed in Belgium and refined in France using an ancestal technique, including the "riddling" and yeast removal. In total, there are three fermentation processes.

It is indeed, having tasted it, a unique mix between Champagne and beer with a very fuzzy note, which I normally don't like when drinking. The smell and the taste in the mouth ist quite the same: an interesting mix of yeast and dry oranges. When it goes down, the yeasty taste disappears and the sunny oranges remain long in your mouth and nose.

In total, very interesting indeed, but I would say that the sparkling note, which is probably one of the other main characters of this beer, is not my style.

My Moeder Experience

After a quite successful event in front of the European Commission building, to welcome Mr. K in Brussels (so he didn't have the feeling that only Barroso and Rasmussen were happy to have him in town), it was time to celebrate this in a more private atmosphere.
As one of my colleagues, I mean the US/UK guy in Brussels, who is the probably best expert on Belgian beers in Europe (you have to check out his blog), knows that I am also quite a big fan of beers, he decided to take us to the best beer place in Brussels: The Moeder Lambic Fontainas. As I tweeted yesterday already, this is my new favourite place in town: 46 beers on draught, unbelievable!!!!!!!

Though I already tried some Belgian beers before (as you might imagine), it was my first event that really got deeper into the "mysteries" of Belgian beer. As a German and a fan of English Ale/Irish Stout, I was quite curious and at the same time still sceptical regarding the famous brews of our neighbours: A non-Belgian always complains about the uniqueness of the German "Reinheitsgebot", compares Belgian beers with Inbev and, finally, remembers the Asterix story, where you always have to run to the toilet after some glasses of beer.







So, guess what: .... I was thrilled by the stuff tasted :-)

It started with a Zeezuiper from the small micro brewery Scheldebrouwerij in Meer, near Antwerpen.
This was an amazing beer, aromatic, with the taste of fruits, combined with a distinct yeast finish. Though not a light one with 8%, you did not taste the alcohol at all. The finish then is slightly different, because it is a bitter one, but not intense.
The next remarkable one is a classical Brussels beer, the so-called Lambic.

I tried a Lambic Cantillon. Not so much alcohol as the classical Belgian beers (5%), the waitress warned me when I ordered it: "Did you have it before already? It might taste very strange to someone, who never tried it!" This announcement was even more a challenge :-) The taste is really unusual, having in mind the "normal" taste of beer: very sour and dry, close to a fresh squeeze of lemon. Let me give the explanation why: Unlike conventional ales and lagers, which are fermented by carefully cultivated strains of brewer's yeasts, lambic beer is instead produced by spontaneous fermentation: it is exposed to the wild yeasts and bacteria that are said to be native to the Senne valley, in which Brussels lies. It is this unusual process which gives the beer its distinctive flavour. The first two sips were unusual, then simply great.
The last remarkable one (I had others, too, of course) was another one from Schelderbrouwerij, the so-called Oesterstout.

Yes, another "Wow". As a big fan of the Isle's stouts, I was very curious what the Belgians could create with this dark beer: of course a lot of more alcohol (instead of 4,2% 8,5%) a marvelous mix between sweetness and bitterness. It reminded me of a dark chocolate, combined with a (sea)-salty finish, probably great with seafood like oysters or mussels.
I did not only drink, but also had a snack: Moeder has a delicious variety of cheese and sausages, perfect partner for the wonderful beers :-)

Delirium tremens

After a disappointing working day - I was expecting an official statement by Barroso that he would refuse to have tea with the Uzbek President Karimov next Monday -, the impossibility to join a strategy meeting, combined with beer tasting in Brussels and the horrible defeat of the Germans today during the handball world championship, I decided to lay down on the couch, together with a nice bottle of Delirium Tremens.











Although tasted it already two weeks ago in Brussels, today's the time to concentrate on the stuff.

The label is famous (the pink elephant), the pub near Grand Place in Brussels is famous, and the beer itself?

With 8.5% alcohol, triple fermented, the first smell and taste is fruity, not as intense as other Belgian beers. After that, the yeast comes into the game, remembering me of some Bavarian Weissbier. Unfortunately, that's it!!! Still I was waiting for some other flavours, that first were not present, but even after half the glass, nothing else happened.

Don't know yet, if the tap Delirium is different, but this one definitely was the final conclusio of the day: Disappointing.

Leffe Brune

After dealing with upcoming Karimov's visit to Brussels January 24, I decided to have the first of Alain's Belgian beers, he brought to Bonn together with his son.







Just by chance, I thought that Leffe would be a good start (Deus will have to wait for a special occasion, Chimay Grand Reserve has to rest for a long time to develop), I opened it up yesterday evening.

After finishing the bottle with our guest student from L.A., I was somehow disappointed: comparing to other Belgian beers, it is quite flat. Though I am a big fan of malty beers, this one is one the one hand too sweet, otherwise the taste is mo or less unbalanced and I didn't get any characteristic flavour out of it.

I can imagine that the blonde version is even more disappointing.

So I am looking forward to Deus and Delirium Tremens :-)


—-- Written on iPad

Meister Festbier

Ok, I shift now my beer tests to the blog, especially to give some more insight, though I don't try to compete with Andrew's
Beer blog, focusing mainly on the huge Belgian variety of beers.

My today's choice, again bought at probably one of the finest beer groceries in the Rhineland, was a Festbier by the small brewery Meister from Unterzaunsbach in Bavaria.











Though the label looks like it would be a drink for CSD, I assume that the Bavarian guys from the Oberpfalz, who are more or less "conservative", didn't guess possible consequences when labeling in pink.

The Festbier, brewed in autumn for special occasions, is one of the best I've tried. It is a dark one, with a discrete sweetness and overlaid by spicy fruitness. Other Festbiers have sometimes a quite intense caramel flavour, this one definitely not. In addition, it is not carbonated too much, so I did not miss the fizzyness. The water for the brew comes from a brewery-owned fountain.

So, in total, a very remarkable Festbier.


—-- Written on iPad

Position:Röttgener Straße,Bonn,Deutschland