OT Belgian ale knock-off for Firkin

S

spence

Joined
Jan 11, 2002
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533
Firkin:

I seem to remember you mentioning a fondness for the Belgians (or, to be more accurate, their fermented grain beverages), but limited your thirst due to the dollar factor.

I'm sure you're probably aware of the U.S. and Canadian-brewed Belgian-style ales. I don't know if you've given Hennepin (by Ommegang out of NY state) a shot. No, it's not a Duvel or Chimay White, but it can be pretty good. It runs for half the price of the Belgians where I live.

S.
 
Spence,

Thanks for the thought, I've tried all three of Ommegang's products and they're good values for sure. I think Hennepin is their best. Here in S. Cal. they're close to the price of Duvel which is a buck or two less than than Chimay White. Haven't gone to a mega-discount place though.

Have you tried anything from Unibrou (Quebec)??
Here, most cost slightly more than Ommegang and I think quite a bit better. I like some of them better than Duvel--different styles.

Good timing, this last Saturday I went to a Belgian Beer Party hosted by some local microbrewers. They had 60 kinds, almost all from Belgium!!! 35 were very limited in supply, had to spend a tasting ticket on a wheel of fortune spin to try to get those bottles opened. If you didn't get one you wanted, you could get a pour of one of the 25 other ones instead. Or any already open "wheel" bottles that weren't emptied yet.

Amazing event, I don't know how they got that stuff together....several from Fantome, Cantillon, Vapuer, Hanssens, and others; even a tiny bit of scarce stuff like Rochefort 10 and Westvelteren 12. No, I didn't get any of the last two. :( But I got to taste Cantillon Iris and Westmalle triple :)
and more than several others....really gotta pace yourself with those Belgians even at 4 oz tasters.


Couldn't get any from New Glarus (Wisconsin, I think) which is supposed to be a really good Belgian-style brewery. That was gone in a couple of hours. I heard somebody hand carried that in from Chicago since it's not distributed here. And one from Dogfish Head was gone too :( :(

Makes it really difficult to go back to the cheaper stuff I need to drink to keep the beer bill down.

Of course some of the stuff they had runs $5-12 or even more for a 330 ml bottle IF you can ever find it...sigh.
 
Firkin,
New Glarus has a belgian style ale? Shoot, and I grew only a few hours away in Chicago. Well, I going home for a visit in June - maybe a roadtrip is in order.

westmalle is fine ale. I'd love to hear your opinion on other US made belgian style ales. The only one readily available here is the Blue Moon white style, I like it, but I've never tasted the real thing in that style.

Pat
 
New Glarus has a belgian style ale?
Click to expand...

Two, it seems--descriptions:

New Glarus Raspberry Tart "Sour, strong fruit flavor"

New Glarus Belgian Red "Sour, cherry flavor"

Don't know if the fruit lambic-like things are to your taste, but people told me they were quite good. Some liked it better than Cantillon Rose De Gambrinus, which I really liked. To calibrate the tasting descriptions the Lindemans Kriek and Framboise were described as "sweet"--I agree and don't particularly like Lindemans stuff except for Cuvee Rene (gueuze).

Haven't had Blue Moon in a while, but I thought it was a bit cloying with too much spices and didn't have the tartness I like in this style. From Belgium, Hoegaarden White would be one to try for this style. Microbreweries make things called "Wit" or "Witbier" to this style. I've heard Allagash (sp?) back east makes a good one. The very sadly now closed Celis brewery located in Austin, TX used to make a great one. No surprise, since the brewmaster relocated there after his brewery in Hoegaarden burned. *%*& you very much Miller for buying him out, reducing distribution area and then closing down the brewery . :( :mad: :barf:
 
Drinking these isn't my habit--they're special treats...because of cost and availability.

If some of these were as easy to get as Heinekin, and priced the same, I'd probably need a new liver or two, or not be able to fit into the bathtub. Maybe both.
 
Firkin:
Thought of this old tshirt I had and thought you'd get a chuckle. Drank many a pint in this establishment:D :D :D :D

Firkin2.jpg

Firkin1.jpg
 
So how many of you guys brew your own beer? I can't imagine being a serious beer drinker and dealing with the retail beer scene in the US. I went to high school in Germany (Bonn, West Germany back then). I developed a serious taste for German beer. My favorite ones were from the Paulaner brewery. For several years I was able to go back to Germany every summer but eventually the folks move back stateside and cut off my supply. Oklahoma didn't import Paulaner for a long time and I used to get it on trips to Colorado. Now I can buy it locally but rarely do. Two factors: high price and variable quality. It's bad enough to pay $2 a .500 ml bottle but when you get them home and they don't taste good, that's a real pain! Beer is just too fragile to be reliable this far away. Especially if it is something unusual that might sit in a warehouse for months and then on the shelf for longer. Light and heat are going to do it in.

So I started brewing my own three years ago. This winter I finally made the jump from bottles to kegs and that has made everything much easier. Less cleaning and more consistent carbonation. You can't reallly brew a true Belgian lambic beer since they do it with naturally occuring wild yeasts. I recently made a beer with ten pounds of sour cherries that at least brushed up against Belgian style beer. You actually leave the cherries in the wort for five days after the boil. It was really weird to leave all those hops and floating cherries in my wort and then pitch yeast on top of the whole mess. You filter them out after five days and then proceed normally. "Cherries in the Snow" is the name of the beer. Good holiday beer. I love Rocky Racoon Honey Lager as a typical beer and I make a doppelbock that is actually pretty darn good. I was trying for Paulaner Salvator but I'm not quite there yet. I'm drilling holes in the downstairs refrigerator and running tubes to convert it into a draft system.
 
Wow, lots of threads to reply to. Guess I'll start at the top.

You're welcome, Firkin. I thought it might be old news. I agree that Hennepin is Ommegang's best.

Yeah, I've done the Unibroue-thing. You're right - they're good, definitely a step up from Ommegang. Fin-du-Monde is their ale that comes to mind, although I've drunk two others of theirs on occaision. They're about the same price as the real stuff, so I usually stick with Chimay, Duvel or Boon if I'm going to spend the bucks.

That party sounds like fun. I'm envious. Given the alcohol content of your average Belgian, it doesn't take many of those 4oz'ers to leave you singing Frere Jacques from under the nearest table. I'm not familiar with New Glarus, but if they put out a good approximation of a Belgian red (I'm thinking Rodenbach), it would be worth tracking it down.

I like Westmalle, too, Outdoors. I'm not as harsh as Firkin re: Blue Moon, but it ain't my favorite. I haven't tried Allagash's white, but it's readily available in my neck of the woods.

Tulsamal, home-brewing is something I've wanted to do for awhile, but my time is pretty limited at present. A dopplebock is one of my favorite German styles. Great winter-time drinking. If you're sitting on kegs of a good one, you're lucky.

My fiancee's sister lives within walking distance of Fuller's brewery in London (Chiswick). I did the tour there and at Young's when we were visiting this past summer. Fuller's was great because it was led by a retired member of the brewing staff. The guy had 20+ years there. It was interesting to hear about the changes they've gone through over time. But it's still a family-run operation. The fact that he pressed 6 pints on me didn't hurt, either.
 
tulsamal:

I've done some homebrewing in the past-small partial mash augmented by extract. It's great fun if you've the space and time. A brewing partner and some of your last batch really helps, especially if you're bottling! I alwalys did ales, as I didn't have a cool enough space to lager German styles. From the recipe names you mention, sounds like you're using Papizan's (sp??) book. It's great.

You're in Oklahoma? Don't know about there, but many areas of the US now have vibrant local micro-brewing activity and getting fresh, quality beer is much less of a problem than it was a few years ago. But ales are the most common style. Real cask-conditioned ale can even be found some places. If I thought I could brew up a batch of Schneider Weiss I might start brewing again though.

Fortunately, for us Belgian afficiandos, the high alcohol content, brown bottles and bottle conditioning make these styles less vulnerable to damage during shipment or poor storage. Many people cellar them for a few years if they can afford to buy enough that they don't drink it all (I'm not in this category--inadequate finances and willpower). I recently tasted an amazing 1998 Christmas brew. A different 1985 vintage was definately well past prime though...didn't taste bad, but there wasn't enough left to see why someone bothered to cellar it in the first place. Too long, I guess.
 
Spence,

Walking distance from Fuller's??? Dayum!!

I think I could live on their ESB and 1845 bottled stuff. I can only imagine what the real cask stuff is like...

I've heard other good things about New Glarus. I'd guess they might compare to the now gone Rodenbach Alexander that had the cherries in it. Don't know if they (New Glarus) make one without fruit. And yes it was quite the tasting, don't know if they can pull it off again. I really hope so. The high point of my beer experiences for sure. Oh yeah, they also had Liefmans Goudenband, another of my favorites. If you like Rodenbach you'll like Liefmans.
 
I'm outta my league here but if any of you home brewers want to send a few bottles you know the address.
 
My first overdose of British ale was Fuller's ESB, long, long time ago. Was back to England recently and became partial to The Dog's Bollocks...it's a beer...really... from a brewery...really...see - would I lie:D

hobgoblinns.jpg
 
Alexander Rodenbach gone? Well, that explains why I haven't been able to find it for awhile. Any other tragic news to impart, Fir?

Goudenband is high on my list, too.

The Fuller's was a treat, though the rest of the day was a blur. The guy who distributes it in CA was along for the tour, so I got some of the scoop on how and why these drinkables are distributed the way they are.

S.
 
Spence,

As I recall, Rodenbach was bought by somebody big, Interbrew I think, and they dicontinued ONE of their three products, Rodenbach Alexander, which had cherries in it. Supposedly, the other two brews Rodenbach Red, and the other, I think Rodenbach Grand Cru (?) were still in production. I've not seen anything from Rodenbach here in a while, but I've not looked really hard. Usually what used to be here was the Alexander. Maybe they've reduced distribution. Don't know if the brewmaster is/was named Alexander Rodenbach or not...

rec.food.drink.beer (if I remember right) has lots arcane information like this.
 
Spence wrote:
I did the tour there and at Young's when we were visiting this past summer.

Mmmmm...Young's Stout :D or if it's cool out and I'm in the mood, Young's Double Chocolate Stout. Only beer I've had that goes good with the dessert course of a meal.

I'm also lucky here in Dallas (Addison, actually), 'cause we have a branch of The Flying Saucer. There's a giant wall 'o spigots there with dozens & dozens of varieties on tap. Heaven! <br>
 
Flying Saucer?

I've heard about that establishment. You're truly a lucky man to live near them.

EDIT:

try a tart/sour Belgian Kriek or Framboise with a something decadent like a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. You'll thank me.:)
 
Dhuff:

Haven't done Young's DCS, but I got on the outside of a liter of Old Nick (my fave from the Young's stable) while I was there.

I have to say, though, that the Young's tour was a bit of a let down after Fuller's. Rather than a former brewer (Fuller's), we had a tour guide who was exactly that - a tour guide. The exception, speaking of stables, was when we got some petting-zoo time with the Young's shire horses. Young's used them to make deliveries up until a few years ago. They stopped because folks complained about the beer wagons holding up traffic. Young's still keeps the horses, and they are gorgeous animals.

Been to Flying Saucer. Lot's of fun. Just arrive thirsty, and make sure you have cab fare.

S.
 
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