Abbaye de Leffe Blonde

A Tall, Beautiful Blond.

It's been too long since last we drank. So let's get to it!

This week we have Leffe Blonde. A Belgian "Abbey" Ale which tries it's best to take us back to the time when clergymen in funny white robes brewed fantastic beer. The only confusing bit comes when you read the history of the brand, which is named after Notre Dame de Leffe, A monastery founded in 1152 on the Meuse River in the province of Namur in southern Belgium. Not confused yet? Well the bottle reads "Anno 1240"... Maybe that's when they started brewing right? Well, tough call, Abbey brewing was already a strong tradition at the time, and there's no telling when exactly they decided to get down to business, what we do know is that in 1460 it was destroyed by a flood. Then a fire in 1466. But the brewery part was pretty much okay... until it was attacked by billeted troops in 1735. Then completely destroyed in the French Revolution in 1794. It's okay though, all the funny robed men came back around 1902.

In 1952 a Flemish based brewery partnered up with the Abbey to start crankin' out brew again. This brewery was bought up by, then, InterBrew and was brewed in Mont-Saint-Guibert until all Leffe brands were moved to the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven. You now know InterBrew as international brewery giant InBev (Anheuser-Busch/InBev) But because they left the original 1952 agreement between the Abbey and the Flemish brewers alone, this is a truely unique commercial brew and was the first of its kind to pay royalties to the Abbey (And they continue to be paid.)

So let's pour one up, then!

Color: The color of this beer is great. Clear but with a dark honey hue. Almost burnt orange just around the head. Could be just a touch foggy, but not cloudy. Just a touch opaque. Good continuous show of "champagne" bubbles, although not as energetic.

Pour: This is an aggressive pour, resulting in a great foamy 3-finger head (It filled my English Pub Glass) The head settled to a lacy film which was well-retained to the end of the glass.

Nose: Very sweet, strong apple tones almost apple juice-like with an almost wheaty thickness settling into a sort of honey scent.

Taste: This is a hard one to nail down. It starts off bitter, almost like a dark ale but then it mellows to almost a cider, with hints of honey and cinnamon. If you let it linger a while longer it brightens up and becomes very citrus-like. It finishes with a warm, sweet tone followed by a lingering bite of hops and spice. The whole flavour seems to change if you take a quick sip as opposed to a long taste, the sweetness and apple-tones are lost in passing and there's only a sort of rich, spicy cider impression.

Feel: Not too thin. Not too thick. The carbonation is there but not overstated, maybe not quite enough if you like your beer fizzy. If what you're looking for is tongue-bite, though, the cider-notes seem to take care of that, it can even be a bit much on the tongue by the end of the glass.

Over-all: This is a great dessert-beer. A little too sweet to drink all of the time, and wouldn't go well with some foods. But as an after-dinner beer, this one could be just what the doctor ordered. It's a bit thick and round for a sweet beer, so if you're used to a thin, fizzy beer you might want to take it slow, it's not unlike eating a piece of cake, a piece of cake served up 1240AD-style at a Belgian Abbey.

So many beers, so little time

Sorry I've been gone so long! It's been crazy lately.

I've got a few new brews in the fridge to sample, and I'll be writing another review soon.

Thanks for reading,

-Nick P.

Hoegaarden Wheat Beer (witbier - biere blanche)

Today I'll be reviewing the Hoegaarden Original Witbier. This is a uniquely brewed wheat beer with added spices including orange peel and coriander. Brewed since 1445, according to some records, this wheat beer now practically owns the market on wheat beer in Belgium, where 9 out of every 10 sold is a Hoegaarden. The brand is owned by AB InBev and is available pretty much worldwide. Hoegaarden is brewed in a 9-step process that starts with Belgium's natural spring water, as is tradition, and through a series of fermentations, filtrations and coolings, it is crafted into a one of a kind witbier. The unique flavor is largely due to the addition of high-quality wheat, coriander and Curaçao Orange Peel. Let's crack one open...


Color: This beer is a very cloudy, almost milky, pale straw-color. It is so opaque, in fact, that when held to the light you can cast shadows in it by placing your hand behind the glass.

Pour: I poured the beer according to the pouring directions on the back of the bottle (that's convenient). Pouring 2/3 of the beer into the glass, swirling the bottle to collect particulate and pouring the rest to form the head. The head was very nice and white, 2 and a half fingers thick and creamy, settling to an island of light foam after a few minutes. There is also a small amount of dark colored particulate that comes to rest at the bottom of the glass.

Nose: The smell of this beer is wonderful. Very sweet and pleasant with hints of citrus and apple accompanied by the rich warmth of wheat and spice showing through.

Taste: This beer hits you with all of it's flavor at once. Rich, warm wheat flavors mingle with a hint of honey and citrus. It becomes a bit cidery, with hints of spice appearing courtesy of the added coriander, as it sits in your mouth and then just as you're wondering if it's too sweet, it hits the brakes with a subtle but effective bite of hops. It finishes with a lingering citrus-like sweetness and a cooling herbal bitterness both sharing dominance over the palate.

Feel: At first, the carbonation (which is subtle) tingles the tongue slightly. The brew is light and drinkable without being thin. It is also very clean, leaving no noticeable residue or slickness despite the (pleasantly) long-lasting residual flavor.

Over-all: What a unique beer! There's no doubt about it, in regards to a beer I can sit and enjoy by itself, this is my favorite so far. Absolutely delicious, not overly filling, both sweet and bitter without compromising either. The experience of the smell, taste and feel all combining as you take a big sip of this beer is one of a kind and I'd recommend it to anyone. That being said, if you're not a wheat beer person, you may not be as into it as I am as it does have certain characteristic properties of wheat beers. Also, if you're a major "Hops-Head" chances are this just isn't going to do it for you. Something about this beer is really festive, the added orange peel and coriander are reminiscent of holiday cider. The most pleasant aspect over all for this beer is that it's a light-colored wheat beer that isn't too thin, and you have to appreciate that. Drink one.



What Am I drinking this week?





That's right, Hoegaarden witbier beats out
Sierra Nevada for this week's favorite.

König Pilsener

My set of new beer glasses arrived just a few days ago, they look excellent and what's better is that having the proper glass is actually bringing out the full character of the beer. I always wondered what all the fuss was about selecting the proper glass, apparently there's something to it! At any rate, today I'm tasting the König Pilsener.

König Pilsener is the centerpiece of the König Brewery product line. König is located in the Beeck area of Duisburg, Germany. Apparently the brewery has been around since 1858 when it was founded by Theodor König. The Pilsener-style brew was unique at the time, but pilseners became fairly widespread towards the end of the 19th century. As a matter of fact the first records of the König Pilsener brand was in 1911. During the early 21st century, the brewery changed hands a few times and finally ended up owned by Bitburger Holdings.

So, let's get a Pilsener glass... and check this thing out...

Color: The beer has a pale, golden color, characteristically crystal clear. It looks crisp, no clouding at all, no particulate.

Pour: It poured nicely, not very aggressive which meant no sneak-attack from the head, which was a thin, fizzy head that dissipated quickly to a film. Bubbles continue to appear well after the pour, almost champagne-like. (Note: The thin, bubbly head will slowly reconstitute as the beer reaches the bottle-neck of the pils glass. Swirling will cause showers of bubbles to fall into the beer and then rise back into the head)

Nose: Very subtle nose with just the hint of hops and pine.

Taste: The brew starts with a sharp bite of bitter hops which swiftly blooms into a combination of more complex flavors, which came as a pleasant surprise. The first of the flavors is an earthy one, presumably the character of the malt coming through, this lends to balance the beer. A slow sip also presents subtle hints of honey and pine. It finishes gracefully with a lingering bitterness from the initial hops flavors. There's something over-all floral about this beer, but I can't place it.

Feel: Very crisp, soft carbonation but not soda-like. A slight sharpness on the tongue but very drinkable.

Over-All: This was a pleasant surprise for me. The Pilsener has always been an interesting beer to me, it's pale color and crisp feel are certainly characteristic of it's lager brothers, but it is punctuated with a strong "hoppiness" that isn't present in most pale lagers, and lends a little more 'umph' to the drinking experience. This is a good all-around beer for the beer taster. Very refreshing, good collection of flavours, and just enough hops to really stand out. Is it my all-time favorite pils? Probably Not. Is it a darn good traditional pils? absolutely. If you're bored of your "smooth drinking" go-to beer and need a wake-up call for your taste-buds that won't fill you up in the process, I'd say this is a good way to go.

What Am I drinking this week?

I've got my work cut out for me

Here's the collection of interesting beers that has amassed in my refrigerator as I wait for my beer glasses to ship.


In order from left to right:

-Smuttynose "Shoals Pale Ale"
-Leinenkugel's Honey Weiss
-Legend Lager
-König Pilsener
-Road Dog Porter
-Hoegaarden Original White Ale

I'll be carefully tasting and reviewing each of these (hopefully) tasty beverages soon, so keep an eye out.

-Nick

New Beer Glasses

I just ordered a great set of glassware, if you're still drinking your beer out of cups then I suggest you check out this great deal.

Libbey® International Beer 12-Piece Set

Pretty slick huh? The best part is I snagged it for $25 total with shipping from Sears.com

It's available for comparable prices on Amazon and K-Mart and similar places, I'll tell you how they are as far as size, drinkability and (I suspect, most importantly) durability, as soon as I get them.

ALSO, Beer-notes are coming! Don't worry! I just picked up a mixed-6 of some great looking brews that I've been hearing about for a while and I'll get to tasting here in the next couple of days.

Abita Ale TURBODOG

For my first review, I'll be tasting Abita Ale's TURBODOG Ale. This one caught my eye while I was popping in on a newly opened beer and wine shop here in town. The label is simple and bold, and it comes in stout little bottles, which sent the right message for a dark ale, to me. So I went for it, and at something like $9/6 12oz. bottles, it wasn't a huge risk.

Founded in 1986, the Abita Brewing Company is nestled in the piney woods 30 miles north of New Orleans. According to their website, they're owned and operated by local shareholders who have been with them since day one. They have a rather respectable collection of styles as well as a root beer. The styles include the "Purple Haze" Raspberry Wheat Brew (Which I've seen in my local grocery store, and may have to give a shot now) As well as Ambers, Goldens, Pale Ales, Harvest brews and some Big-Bottle High-Gravity brews that promise bold-flavor. I like their packaging, the kind of cardboard six pack that holds the bottles in place and wraps them all the way up so that only the neck sticks out the top. It sounds strange, but it's great because it protects them from exposure to UV rays and prevents a lightstruck flavor from developing during shipping and shelf-stay.

Anyway, I bought it, brought it home and poured it into a nice frosty glass (I like to drink dark beers cold, I may post another tasting at ambient temperature)




Color: Dark, Almost Coffee-Color, with a hint of Amber when held to the light. Maybe a touch foggy, but that's largely due to carbonation.

Pour: Poured easy and thick, with a head that sneaks up on you. The Two-finger-thick Head is foamy and tan, almost rootbeer-float like, and never truly settles in the beer, lingering well into the glass. Note: even at the end of the review, there's only a few sips left in my glass and there is still a thin, consistent foam.

Nose: Wheat-Like, A fair representation of an ale, dark and rich smelling with toffee-like overtones. Nutty and somewhat bitter.

Taste: Dark and Earthy, almost a chocolaty malt... not sweet by any stretch, but hinting at a bitter-sweetness. The complexity of the flavor is (unfortunately) cut short by the carbonation and a strong, intensely bitter, hoppy finish.

Feel: It's very carbonated for such a dark beer, which doesn't let the flavor fully develop in your mouth, it keeps the whole experience very "surface" and dry for an ale. If you hold in it your mouth and agitate it a bit, it settles to a sort of smooth, almost velvety consistency, but it's not as rich as you hope it is when you look at it.

Over-all: A tasty little beer if not a touch bitter, The only ABITA Ale that I've tasted. It's good enough that I'll be keeping an eye out for their other brews in the future but I'm not sure there's a place for it in my fridge. It's a dark ale, but it wouldn't satisfy my craving for a truly rich, dark ale. It's a very good beer, but a little too safe to win me over. If you have friends who aren't "ale drinkers" they may find this a good "gateway ale"

For the beer-drinker:
Well, it's an easy-drinker if you're into ales. Personally, I prefer a Pale Ale, so it's a touch dark to be my daily drinker. It is unusually refreshing for a dark brew, it doesn't leave you with the bready, "I just ate a meal" feeling that some of the richer, thicker ales do. I say give it a shot, for the price it's worth trying. It tastes a lot like some other dark ales that I've drank, but with an extra shot of carbonation that lightens it up a bit. I probably won't be drinking it often, but I'll certainly never turn one down.

What Am I drinking this week?