Leffe: Vladimir's Beer Thread

**Pannonian** · 12-28-2006, 15:00

I haven't seen this one come up in these discussions before.

Adnam's Broadside

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

THEY SAY:
" Broadside is rich, with aromas of almonds, zest and conserved fruit, and a perfect balance of malt and hop flavours - an award-winning* pint to savour."

* Gold Medal Winner in the Strong Bitter Category at the CAMRA Champion Beer Of Britain 2003.

Broadside pours a clear, amber-red colour with a relatively creamy, quite frothy, off-white head that lasts to the bottom of the pint and laces the glass copiously.
It has a somewhat fruity aroma, mostly citrus-like, but also a hefty dollop of vine-fruit. It's a touch spicy, and has a malty, bready, fruitcake aroma. There's also a faint floral note.

It's extremely smooth, with a rich and creamy mouthfeel. The taste is rich and malty, with a trace of cinnamon-like spice in the background. The malt also gives a nutty quality to the flavour and a hint of sweet caramel. There's not a lot of hop flavour - just a gentle bitterness that keeps the beer well-balanced. There's a slight, cherry-like tart fruitiness which leads into long and lingering, dry-ish finish which, paradoxically, is at once deeply satisfying yet still leaves you thirsting for another pint.

• The Verdict •

At 4.7% ABV, this is a classic session ale. It's a beer I've had a few times and it's consistently been good - something that can't always be said.
The flavours are quite subtle, it's not an overpowering taste at all. That's not to say it's bland.....heck no, It's just that the flavour doesn't slap you across the face and scream HOPS-n-MALT in your 'lug-hole' (ear). Of course, this means that it's deceptively easy to drink and, as the ABV is relatively high for a session ale, consumption may lead to a temporary loss of brain/mouth co-ordination. Obviously, not for me. My case, I'm afraid, is permanent.

As for food pairings, me and Big Al shared a packet of 'Four Cheese -n- Red Onion' flavoured crisps (chips). Bet you don't get them stateside. The delicate flavours of the Gouda married to the stronger Parmesan, and balanced by the Cheddar and Red Leicester didn't go well with the beer at all. But then, the crisps were pure gantin' (not overly pleasant).

We need a stickied and moderated beer thread that's also searchable.

**Andres** · 12-28-2006, 15:30

Since the Beer Thread has been closed, I think I'll post this once more in here:

Let me introduce to you "Beersel" brewed in a small brewery called "De 3 Fonteinen":

Beersel Lager: brewed with malt, Saaz-hop and sugar. It's a beer of low fermentation and has a pleasant bitterness of 40 EBU.

Beersel Blond (my favourite): lagermalt, wheat, hop (10%) and water, alcohol percentage: 7%, light, sweet taste but also a tiny bit bitter.
Beersel Bio: alc 7%, not filtered, re-fermentation takes place in the bottle, lightly sweet taste and a fine bitter "afdronk" (sorry, don't know the word in English).

You can find some more info here:

http://www.3fonteinen.be/index_e.htm

**Andres** · 01-03-2007, 11:31

Originally Posted by Pannonian

We need a stickied and moderated beer thread that's also searchable.

Thirth !

Or maybe Beirut can rename this thread in something like "The official beer thread" and put a link to this in the stickied "Links to popular threads" ?

**Beirut** · 01-03-2007, 12:08

Originally Posted by AndresTheCunning

Thirth !

Or maybe Beirut can rename this thread in something like "The official beer thread" and put a link to this in the stickied "Links to popular threads" ?

The pleasure is to serve.

**Andres** · 01-03-2007, 12:20

Originally Posted by Beirut

The pleasure is to serve.

Thank you very much

All hail to Vladimir for this wonderful thread!

**Prodigal** · 01-03-2007, 15:25

I drink fanatastic amounts of beer at every available opportunity, & got over the leffe effect some years ago.

I cannot strongly enough recommend to anybody who can find it, Black label Duvel, (Belgium beer), not the white label, (although that's pretty good the black labels better). Its 8. something proof, & is not in the least bit sweet, also it tastes like a much lighter beer. Finally, & this I've found not to be the case with most strong beers, it makes me hysterically happy.

**Fragony** · 01-03-2007, 16:08

Duvel has too many bubbles in it, drinking it is like swallowing air.

**Bava** · 01-03-2007, 16:30

Now that we´ve got an official beer thread i hope its ok to present some beers that are not from belgium. Here are some of my favourites:

Pöllinger Helles: 4,9%, slightly bitter but with a very light taste overall. The perfect beer for a nice dinner.

Kneitinger Bock: 6,9%, very malty but smooth as silk. I usually dont like dark beers but that one is too good to miss.

And of course my absolute favourite: Augustiner Helles. The best "all purpose" beer IMHO (though i had a little too much of it at the WM 2006).

**Vladimir** · 01-03-2007, 17:29

Originally Posted by Bavarian Barbarian

Now that we´ve got an official beer thread i hope its ok to present some beers that are not from belgium. Here are some of my favourites:

Pöllinger Helles: 4,9%, slightly bitter but with a very light taste overall. The perfect beer for a nice dinner.

It's good that you mentioned beer with dinner (as opposed to a college student’s beer for dinner). I’ve never much liked drinking wine with food. To me, wine is something that must be enjoyed on its own and makes my food taste less good (sorry for the 3rd grade English

). My recent experiences with Leffe made me realize just how good high quality beer can be with food.

One of the reasons why wine isn’t best with food is because of its (generally) higher alcohol content. When I drink it during or before a meal the alcohol buzz takes away from the quality of the food and makes me focus on the quantity of food. I’d rather prefer drinking water vs. wine because the water helps cleanse the palette and I do love the taste of my food. Wine just sits on the tongue.

Maybe it’s personal choice or my evidence of my savage American upbringing (I prefer the latter

) but beer, good beer, goes better with food. The richer texture of beer is more like food while wine is like old grape juice; good but it stands better on its own. Also with high quality beer I’ve found that I want to drink less because I enjoy each bottle more. American beer is ‘git drunk’ beer which is good on occasion

but hell, I’m getting old and the waist line is going to start expanding.

Edit: Oh, and let this thread be a lesson that something good can come out of temporarily closing the Backroom. I didn’t think it was possible myself.

**Andres** · 01-03-2007, 16:58

Originally Posted by Prodigal

I cannot strongly enough recommend to anybody who can find it, Black label Duvel, (Belgium beer), not the white label, (although that's pretty good the black labels better).

Actually, the black label doesn't exist anymore. IIRC, Duvel switched the labels in 2003, now they are all white. So the black label Duvel you are referring too, must be old Duvel. So if you find some black labe Duvel, make sure it's still good for consumption.

Besides the regular Duvel, you also have "Groene Duvel", created in the sixties for the occasion of the "Gentse Feesten". The red letters were replaced by green ("Groene") ones.

There was a demand for a lighter version of Duvel and thus "Groene Duvel" was created. It is still available, but only near Moortgat (where the Duvel brewery is situated) and in a few select cafés in the surroundings of Brussels. It has an alcohol percentage of 7,5 %. It's being sold in smaller bottles of 25 cl. Contrary to the regular Duvel, Groene Duvel is filtered. It's a blond beer with a somewhat vague hop aroma. It tastes lightly sweet, turning into a hop end. It has a long, bitter aftertaste.

All you need to know about Duvel, can also be found here:

http://www.duvel.be/pages/home.aspx?...en&pageid=home

**Bijo** · 01-05-2007, 20:35

Originally Posted by Prodigal

I drink fanatastic amounts of beer at every available opportunity, & got over the leffe effect some years ago.

I cannot strongly enough recommend to anybody who can find it, Black label Duvel, (Belgium beer), not the white label, (although that's pretty good the black labels better). Its 8. something proof, & is not in the least bit sweet, also it tastes like a much lighter beer. Finally, & this I've found not to be the case with most strong beers, it makes me hysterically happy.

Dunno, but I can drink any kind of beer with any amount of alcohol, but for some reason Duvel just messes me up. Gives me a bad headache after the first couple of jugs.

...............But Kanon is even worse. These two are the one that could kill me.

**Big_John** · 01-06-2007, 14:51

well, i picked up the tripel karmeliet. haven't tried it yet. instead of the box i mentioned, i got a biere de garde called 3 monts that i've heard good things about and a little sampler box of 4 st. bernardus beers, pater 6, prior 8, abt 12, and tripel.

had the pater 6 last night... WOW! thick and creamy.. didn't expect that mouthfeel from a 6.7 abv. amazing flavor and aroma.. looks so unassuming with the little monk on the side of the bottle. went well with some dutch goat cheese and fresh baked bread. but it could stand up to any food, and is easily drinkable on its own. looking forward to the other st bernardus offerings!

http://www.sintbernardus.be/
http://www.sintbernardus.be/en/beers.html