Last weekend, I hooked up with my buddy Frank (no not that Frank, another one. I know a Frank or two).
This particular Frank (much like the other Frank) happens to like beer so I brought a couple of bottles to sample. Not because we like drinking cold beer, of course. But for science.
First up was my own unpronouncable Brew#4: (zn+1=(|Re(zn)|+i|Im(zn)|)2+c, z0=0, with a trace of Mandelbrot). I'm really pleased with this one, which has delicate smoke on the nose, a bit of meaty chew and a fair bit of booze. Quite pleasantly balanced and although it's on the sweet side for me personally, I'm chuffed to bits about this one. Frank, being a tough customer to please, would have liked to find something less sticky at the end, and I agree. More on Brew#4 and its future offspring when I get to brew them.
We paired this with a fairly generic amber beer (Cad'Rousse) thereby supporting the less fortunate of this world whilst drinking beer. Sometimes charity really is a easy as that.
Cad'Rousse (brewed by Grain d'Orge, not my favourite brewery by a long shot) is decidedly easy to drink, which is both its greatest strength and weakness. It's fairly nondescript, never offensive, but never leaving much of an impression either. At 7.5%ABV, this one is deceptively easy to drink (and hence to get just a wee bit sloshed on), altough I'd much prefer something a bit more identity to it. Paired with Brew#4, it was nice to see what I'd got right about amber beers, and what was missing.
Special treat for Frank was a beer he'd been talking about incessantly ever since we started having late-night forrays in zythology:
I remember EKU from way back when I wasn't even drinking beer, when it was dubbed "the strongest beer in the world" (even though Bush/Scaldis was already around for a long time). At 11%ABV, it's nothing to scoff at, but my skeptical side reared up when I read the label: Gebraut nach dem Deutschen Reinheitsgebot. For some reason (and I'm blaming the bad reputation of German beers in Belgium), a reinheitsbier at 11%ABV didn't exactly fill me with optimism.
However, I'm glad to say that EKU was quite okay. There's an obvious kinship with Bush (and even some Bières de Garde), caused by a monocline focus on malty sweetness. Very little is happening in this beer besides sticky sweet malt and throat-tickling booze. While this sounds worse than the beer actually tastes, this really is a beer for which you to find the right occasion.
We concluded the evening with a solidly pleasant bottle of 2012 Cuvée van de Keizer:
Another sweet beer, but, in true Anker style, massively spiced, with bits of orange peel, liquorice and just a wee whiff of cardamon coming through. Not sure but I thought I detected cinnamon too. This is one of those beers you can easily cellar for a couple of years, in the knowledge that it will only get better while you're twiddling your thumbs in anticipation. But even fresh, this one's a winner.
The next evening, we swam hoppier waters and compared the Troubadour Magma 2012 with its basic version.
The basic Magma is somewhat unique in Belgium, where IPAs (let alone Double, Triple or Multiple IPAs) are few and far between. The Musketeers don't label this one as (even a singular) IPA, but it's clear from the get-go that this is what it is. Beautiful orange hazy pour, fruitpunch nose and a solid, luscious, caramelly malt backbone. With a beer like this, you can't go wrong.
Well, turns out you can: Frank wasn't too happy but face it, Frank's not too hoppy to begin with.
While the Magma is a great beer, I have had little success trying to sell it to less devout beer drinkers than myself, who tend to find the hop aromas and bitterness somewhat overpowering. Being a Hop Head, I think the balance is just right, leaning towards the slightly too sweet, but that's inherent to the style.
The 2012 version replaces the Simcoe dryhop for this year's(*) new black: Sorachi Ace.
Sorachi Ace isn't my favourite hop, being rather weird in flavour and aroma. In this beer, the fruity bitterness of the basic Magma is replaced by a woody, bubblegummy, slightly melony flavour. As expected, Sorachi Ace hints at barrel aging, without actual barrels having been involved. It's definitely a flavour you need to get into; at first it's mildly off-putting, but it does grow on you, and when sampled side-by-side with the basic Simcoe version, it's interesting as well as tasty.
*) you'll note that while Sorachi Ace is 2013's new black, the Magma we're talking about here is the 2012 version. Looks like either the Musketeers are way ahead of the trending market, or they create trends themselves by not giving a damn about them.
For fun (I mean for science!) we ended the session with that gnome of some renown:
Amazing how light and refreshing and balanced the Chouffe Houblon is after the more typical sweet undercurrent of both Magmas. Amazing also how much more subtle and refined the little gnome's hop presence is: the Tomahawk/Saaz/Amarillo combo is bold, but delicate, much more so than either one of the Magmas' more bellicose hoppiness. Because the Chouffe is drier, the hops present themselves less as counterweight to the sweetness of the malt, which is where the Magmas get most of their identity. Ironically, at 59 IBU, the Chouffe Houblon is more bitter than the Magmas (the basic version sit at an already impressive 50), but is more aromatic, with less perceived bitterness, than the Magmas.
Very interesting tasting session, which drove home the point what a superbly crafted beer the Chouffe Houblon is. Also, it made me realise once more that what constitutes a tasty beer is different for anyone, and that what makes one person go all "wow" can make the other go "meh" of even "yuck".
After all that hard work, all invested parties slept soundly, if perhaps somewhat too little, and woke feeling much more enlightened (admittedly, enlightenment was struggling for emergence and only prevailed sometime well past noon).
Greetz
Jo
 |
| Yet another two franks. |
This particular Frank (much like the other Frank) happens to like beer so I brought a couple of bottles to sample. Not because we like drinking cold beer, of course. But for science.
| And fully clothed, I hasten to add. |
We paired this with a fairly generic amber beer (Cad'Rousse) thereby supporting the less fortunate of this world whilst drinking beer. Sometimes charity really is a easy as that.
Cad'Rousse (brewed by Grain d'Orge, not my favourite brewery by a long shot) is decidedly easy to drink, which is both its greatest strength and weakness. It's fairly nondescript, never offensive, but never leaving much of an impression either. At 7.5%ABV, this one is deceptively easy to drink (and hence to get just a wee bit sloshed on), altough I'd much prefer something a bit more identity to it. Paired with Brew#4, it was nice to see what I'd got right about amber beers, and what was missing.
Special treat for Frank was a beer he'd been talking about incessantly ever since we started having late-night forrays in zythology:
 |
| The EKU of Ye Dayes of Olde |
However, I'm glad to say that EKU was quite okay. There's an obvious kinship with Bush (and even some Bières de Garde), caused by a monocline focus on malty sweetness. Very little is happening in this beer besides sticky sweet malt and throat-tickling booze. While this sounds worse than the beer actually tastes, this really is a beer for which you to find the right occasion.
We concluded the evening with a solidly pleasant bottle of 2012 Cuvée van de Keizer:
 |
| The blue one, obviously. |
The next evening, we swam hoppier waters and compared the Troubadour Magma 2012 with its basic version.
Nothing says "big beer" like calling it Magma
The basic Magma is somewhat unique in Belgium, where IPAs (let alone Double, Triple or Multiple IPAs) are few and far between. The Musketeers don't label this one as (even a singular) IPA, but it's clear from the get-go that this is what it is. Beautiful orange hazy pour, fruitpunch nose and a solid, luscious, caramelly malt backbone. With a beer like this, you can't go wrong.
Well, turns out you can: Frank wasn't too happy but face it, Frank's not too hoppy to begin with.
While the Magma is a great beer, I have had little success trying to sell it to less devout beer drinkers than myself, who tend to find the hop aromas and bitterness somewhat overpowering. Being a Hop Head, I think the balance is just right, leaning towards the slightly too sweet, but that's inherent to the style.
The 2012 version replaces the Simcoe dryhop for this year's(*) new black: Sorachi Ace.
 |
| Because a picture of just any old hop will do just fine, right? |
*) you'll note that while Sorachi Ace is 2013's new black, the Magma we're talking about here is the 2012 version. Looks like either the Musketeers are way ahead of the trending market, or they create trends themselves by not giving a damn about them.
For fun (I mean for science!) we ended the session with that gnome of some renown:
Yeah. I get it now. Double tripel equals sextuple. Or how a label can be too clever sometimes.
Amazing how light and refreshing and balanced the Chouffe Houblon is after the more typical sweet undercurrent of both Magmas. Amazing also how much more subtle and refined the little gnome's hop presence is: the Tomahawk/Saaz/Amarillo combo is bold, but delicate, much more so than either one of the Magmas' more bellicose hoppiness. Because the Chouffe is drier, the hops present themselves less as counterweight to the sweetness of the malt, which is where the Magmas get most of their identity. Ironically, at 59 IBU, the Chouffe Houblon is more bitter than the Magmas (the basic version sit at an already impressive 50), but is more aromatic, with less perceived bitterness, than the Magmas.
Very interesting tasting session, which drove home the point what a superbly crafted beer the Chouffe Houblon is. Also, it made me realise once more that what constitutes a tasty beer is different for anyone, and that what makes one person go all "wow" can make the other go "meh" of even "yuck".
After all that hard work, all invested parties slept soundly, if perhaps somewhat too little, and woke feeling much more enlightened (admittedly, enlightenment was struggling for emergence and only prevailed sometime well past noon).
Greetz
Jo
2 opmerkingen:
Ik kan mij hier echt niets van herinneren. Was ik dan zo zat?
Die eerste zin bevat een subtiele hint: "(no not that Frank, another one. I know a Frank or two)."
Ik heb er zelfs een bèleke bijgezet ;)
Een reactie posten