Leffe: Vladimir's Beer Thread

[Beirut]

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]

The pleasure is to serve.

Thank you very much

All hail to Vladimir for this wonderful thread!

[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.

[Fragony]

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

[Bava]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Does anyone here drink Conniston beers? The brewery is in the lake district, and both their Bluebird and Old Man bitters are well worth getting hold of. The bottled stuff is bottle-conditioned as well, which is even better. I wish SN hadn't stopped doing that with Spitfire.

I'll also put a word in for my local Brewery-both Brains SA and Brains Dark are excellent.

[Pannonian]

Does anyone here drink Conniston beers? The brewery is in the lake district, and both their Bluebird and Old Man bitters are well worth getting hold of. The bottled stuff is bottle-conditioned as well, which is even better. I wish SN hadn't stopped doing that with Spitfire.

I'll also put a word in for my local Brewery-both Brains SA and Brains Dark are excellent.

I mentioned Bluebird in one of the Backroom threads. Theakston's Old Peculier is a good heavy beer to accompany heavy meals (red meat and their like). Abbot Ale is a good alternative to Spitfire as a session beer, or a light beer for light meals (white meat, fish, etc). Ales should be drunk cool, but not cold - excessive cold numbs the tastebuds.

What you should do when you go into a pub with a good selection is ask for a sample of the rarer beers. The sample size shouldn't be too large, just a sip or two - I've had to ask the bartender to not draw so much. They don't usually mind, and will even happily discuss the merits of the different beers with a connoisseur. Once you've had a taster, it's good manners to buy at least 2 pints, whether or not you found anything to your liking.

[Andres]

tripel karmeliet

Some background before you start consuming:

http://www.bestbelgianspecialbeers.be/main_eng.html

[Vladimir]

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

http://www.sintbernardus.be/images/a...%20Denmark.jpg

Dear God, Sam Adams was #1 in a European competition?!