Sunday, September 28, 2008

Weekend Notes: Belgians are coming


I've received a bit of criticism about my lack of Belgian Ale coverage. The truth is, I have had many Belgian Ales and never really found one I liked so I pretty much gave up on them. Now, this weekend I was on vacation. A few people offered to go to the liquor store and pick up some beers, I declined to attend picturing an evening ahead of cards and BL Smooths. After about 10 minutes, I got a call that I needed to proceed to the liquor store post haste because they were having an Octoberfest Event with a 60+ beer tasting. I secured a driver, and made my way there. First off, the Kappy's Liquors in Falmouth, MA is incredible, their selection was amazing and I could have spent all day in there. Second, they had a lot of great brewers in house. I liked the Cape Cod Brewing IPA, I liked the OffShore Ale Co's IPA enough to pick up a 6 pack. I visited my friends at Harpoon and Sam Adams. One of the last tables was Belgians and I thought, it's free, you gotta try one. After speaking a few minutes with the beer rep, I chose a Belgian that was on the dark side, the Angelique. The beer was malty and heavy. It wasn't light and fruty like it's brethren. It was delicious. I can't do a formal review on just a few sips, but it definitely brought some kick with 7% ABV. I may have to pick this one up again. I enjoyed many other beers as well, too many to name. But, the good news is that we may get a Belgian beer reviewed after all on this site.

4 comments:

potsy said...
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ALeahy said...

WIth the recent uptick in postings, I thought you might want to see this article:
http://www.wsj.com/article/SB122248088796681557.html?mod=article-outset-box

Ive tried a few Leinenkugels and frankly found them overly flavored. In honor of Big Bill L.'s passing, I think you owe the man a review

Beer Crusade said...

I actually tried a Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest at the Octoberfest, it was decent. Not enough of a sample to give a review though

Mike said...

Belgians worldwide are eagerly anticipating your judgment on their national product.

PS - this post is tease #2 for a Belgian beer review.