I had my last Norwegian beer tonight … the HaandBryggeriet “dark force.” This beer is a “double extreme Imperial Wheat Stout.” So good, so chocolaty, so heavy … yes — it was worth the wait. I could have actually “cellared” this beer … but, I only had the one. So little time … so many brews!
Beer Mentor
I had one of the Belgian beers I brought back from Brussels tonight … and I was disappointed. I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy this beer. I’ve seen it get some good reviews … I think I may have one that was “skunked.” Too bad because I had high hopes.
This beer was from the small brewery “Sint Canarus.” It is their “Maeght van Gottem.” I don’t know what that means, actually. This beer is dry-hopped “IN THE BOTTLE.” It was awesome … I poured it out and hop leaves were falling out into my beer. I really looked forward to tasting it and it was off. It’s hard to describe why. I think I just need to get another bottle and give it another shot!
Beer Mentor
Today, we went to Weingarten in Southern Baden-Württemberg to visit the “largest Baroque Church north of the Alps.” This place was quite impressive. I hope to have a post on it and the other interesting places I’ve visited on my other blog — stumblingpiper.wordpress.com. Here are just a couple of representative pictures … wow!
Right down below the Basilica, we found a nice “pub” to enjoy a refreshing beer. We chose the Leibinger … especially because it is a local-owned brewery … and the beer looked good. I enjoyed a refreshing Pils.
Enjoy!
Beer Mentor
This is pretty interesting, but I continue to see giant redwood trees everywhere I go in Germany. I did an internet search, and there is a Mammutbaum (German word for Giant Trees) Forum. In their December 2009 report, they say there are 8,393 locations with 26,610 trees. Wow!
Well, I was out riding my bike today and saw another one in a small forest. Here are a couple of photos of it.
This discovery deserved a “Spezial” beer … so I chose the Alpirsbacher Kosterbrau Spezial … and it hit the spot. Another nice lager with which to finish a nice ride.
Beer mentor
Well, I went back to its beer in my fridge. LOL
Yes, I pulled out a Weihenstephaner Kristall Weizen to enjoy … and did I enjoy it! It had that nice crystal clear color you expect and that sweet, clean taste you get with a Weizen. It really hit the spot! Wow. Yum.
Beer Mentor
As I stated in yesterday’s post, we went to Delirium Cafe … and we stayed late. So late that I’m counting the last beer I had at Delirium as today’s beer (say 1am for my sake).
This is a fantastic beer bar that has 2000+ beers on the menu. We spent most of our time upstairs in the “Hoppy Bar” drinking hopped-up Belgian Beers. However, I couldn’t get out of here without having the Delirium Tremens. Yes, an awesome beer … and on tap.
This place rocks!
Beer Mentor
Today found me downtown in the evening again … in Brussels. A friend of mine told me that there are three places in Brussels on “All About Beers” list of the 125 Best Places to Drink Beer in the World. I have a couple to add to their list … but that’s another post. The three places are 1) Grand Place (did that yesterday) (#2), 2) Le Bier Circus (#80), and 3) Delirium Cafe (#66) (did that one yesterday, too … but doing it again today!). So we covered #2 and #3 above today.
First, we went to Le Bier Circus for dinner.
I had a fish dish (I am in Belgium) which was made with an Orval Beer sauce (my favorite Belgian Beer!) and covered by Cheese from the Orval monastery (see picture). It was wonderful.
I followed this up with the beer they’ve had the longest on tap as my “beer of the day.” It is La Chouffe–a blonde beer. It, too, was very good.
I have to agree (so far) with the All About Beer list … Le Bier Circus, Delirium Cafe, and the Grand Place all deserve to be on their list.
Beer Mentor
I was in Brussels for business and found myself downtown in the evening. Of course, with Brussels, everything is about the beer — maybe you can see the sign behind me here … but it says “250 beers of Belgium.” That was just the start …
I knew I might as well get my new beer out of the way early … so I had myself an Affligem Brune.
Affligem is an Abbey brewery … although incorporated, the beer is still brewed to the traditional recipe from the Abbey. The beer menu (see below) said Brune; this was actually the Affligem Dubbel — an excellent beer to kick off my latest visit to Belgium.
What made it even more special was the fact I consumed this nice beverage on the “Grand Place.” Wow. I will try to post another entry on this location … What more can I say.
Next stop(s): Delirium Cafe and Le Bier Circus.
Beer Mentor
I went back to my Irseer Brauerei stash today and found that all I had left was their Klosterstarkbier. Well, well, well … it hit the spot … clean and unfiltered, it had nice character and it went down smooth. Yummy!
Beer Mentor
I took a spin down through the Schwarzwald today … no, not on my bike this time. I drove through a few villages just for the experience. The first village I stopped in (really a small city) was Freudenstadt. This was a lovely town with a nice little brew house. I sampled both of their beers … an unfiltered Pilsener and a Hefeweizen. Both very nice brews (I had the small ones in case you are wondering … still had a little ways to drive). The brewery was the Turm Brau. Here a are a couple of photos of the brewery.
Yep … their Pilsener was my new beer for the day!
I then drove down through Alpirsbach … and visited a more well-known Kloster brewery. I actually saw the old brew house, but I took the tour of the Kloster. I will try to post more pictures of it later, but here’s a couple of the old brew house and the Kloster’s new Pipe Organ. It was beautiful…
Oh, here’s what I bought while down there. (Don’t worry honey, I’m drinking it all here and not bringing any more home!)
Beer Mentor
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