New July draughts @ Moeder Lambic

After my return to Brussels, and before going to bed at my hotel near the Midi station, it was time again to visit Moeder Lambic at Place Fontainas and try some of the guest draughts.

My first was a new one from Brasserie Rulles, the Meilleurs Voeux:

Compared to other beers from Rulles, I was quite disappointed. It is slightly sour, with a finish of different herbs. But all together, it is not well balanced and to some extend flat and boring.

As I knew, that the Moeder Lambic team would not let me leave without a positive surprise, I ordered a Plat Mixte with the georgious Belgian cheese and sausages, to neutralize the Rulles flavour a bit, and tried the next one.

I chose an IPA from Viven, a brasserie I did not know before. The beer is called "Viven Imperial IPA" and guess what: it was a blast. I probably don't remember having a better IPA than this one.

Viven is a small brasserie, founded in the late 90's, located in Sisjele, a small Flemish village. The first taste was a very fruity one, a mix between melon and peach; for an IPA surprising enough. After the fruity start, the IPA-like bitterness reaches mouth and nose, combined with a very hoppy note. All those tastes together results in a tremendous good beer, definitely on of my top ten. For my next visits in Belgium, I will try to find some more beers from this smal brewery.

As a dessert, one should not order chocolate, cake or someting else at Moeder, but a beer again. So I did :-) I was happy to read on the board, that they have a Trappiste beer on draught, a St. Bernardus 12. As it is quite difficult to find Bernardus beer outside of the region, where it is brewed, I had to give it a try. And I was lucky: Having a dessert to eat, one won't find so many different tastes and smells like having this one.

The first feeling you have when drinking it is like biting into a bar of very good marzipan. After the almond taste leaves your tasting nerves, roasted malt start to blow, together with a very decent note of hop. Though I have to admit, that this one might not be a beer for the summer, I made the right choice, especially because the temperature that evening wasn't too high.

The St. Pancras International Heaven

Yes, I know: it took months until a new post here. I will promise to be a bit more stable in writing!

Although Andrew the Beer Pope told me already about the good variety of English beers in a shop at St. Pancras, I never found the time to look out for it. Yesterday, I took the chance to walk around, because I had still an hour to go for my Eurostar (uncomfortable as ever, by the way) and at Tesco, I did not find any new stuff.

And there it was: Sourced Market, a deli place, located at Kings Cross, not at International. And I found a good variety of English Ales and Lager I did not know before. Additionally, I bought a bottle of an American IPA.











You dear reader will be informed about my tasting notes later :-)

With a very heavy bag, I returned to Bruxelles, where I spent the night. And yes, I made a stop at Moeder Lambic, because they have some good new "guest beers" announced and I wanted to give them a try. Those notes will follow soon.