Beer?

[threebikesmcginty]

Camping in Italy at the mo, been a bit of a struggle beer wise, found Kwak and Duvel in France in the way down. Good news though is the local coop here has Orval, McChouffe and La Trappe. Campsite is 99% NL so tricky to get anything decent on site, made do with a dark lager, Kaiserdom the other day but in actual fact it wasn't too bad, it was cold and the temp about 32 degrees so anything cold would have done!

 

[ceepeebee]

Weird, Italy seems to be a hotbed of new craft stuff, mind you it's all v small breweries...

I had the magic rock bourbon barrel aged bearded lady tonight...... It really is quite awesome. Best beer I've had since my bottle of sodom and Gomorrah in January.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

While I was on holiday, I tried some of the local stuff from Shizuoka's Oratche Kaze no Tane (Wind Valley) Brewery. Their red ale was okay and the weizen was drinkable but none of it was better than average. Tonight, I will (finally) be checking out Vivo! in Ikebukuro...

 

[The Jogger]

Mrs Jogger likes Cruz Campo but I can't find anywhere that sells it in the UK.

 

[User169]

Latest list from the De Molen beer festival - well worth a trip over if you have a spare weekend in September.

Brouwerij de Molen,
Bodegraven, Netherlands Plastic Soup Barrel Aged 11%
Zure Kersen Bom 6.2%
Ginger Shot 4.2%
Moord & Brand Balsamico 9.8%
Moord & Brand High Ester Rhum 9.8%
Moord & Brand Bourbon 9.8%
Hel & Verdoemenis Wild Turkey Eisbock 18%
Hot & Spicy III 10.2%
Hel & Verdoemenis Kopi Loewak 10%
Dutch Fresh Hopped ?%
Brouwerij Emelisse,
Kamperland, Netherlands
Laugar Brewery,
Barakaldo, Spain
Amager Bryghus,
Kastrup, Denmark
Jopen Brouwerij,
Haarlem, Netherlands
The Kernel,
Londen, England
Thornbridge,
Bakewell, England
Alvinne,
Moen, Belgium
Närke Kulturbryggeri,
Örebro, Sweden
Mikkeller,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Toccalmatto,
Fidenza, Italy
Brewfist,
Codogno, Italy
Struise,
Oostvleteren, Belgium
To Øl,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Naparbier,
Noain, Spain
Fyne Ales,
Cairndow, Scotland
Mont Salève,
Neydens, France

 

[ceepeebee]

So glad I managed to sort out the trip now!

Am tucking into a Buxton black rocks, so tasty.

 

[User169]

Flight of Rochefort...

All superb, but really lovin the 8.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

For those of you in the UK, which is most of you, the Guardian has started this crowdsourced guide to the best craft beer pubs in Britain... https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/52144e3be4b055bf6bac8603

 

[TissoT]

I do enjoy a bottle of Leffe blonde
or a bottle rev james by brains (cardiff)

 

[smutchin]

For those of you in the UK, which is most of you, the Guardian has started this crowdsourced guide to the best craft beer pubs in Britain... https://witness.theguardian.com/assignment/52144e3be4b055bf6bac8603

Good stuff. I've posted a review of the Four Candles.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Brune biere in Brasserie Georges in Lyon, brewed on the premises in front of your own yeux.

Not bad at all!

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I should post a belated beer update from Tokyo for last Wednesday. Once again, I didn't manage to get to Vivo! but went back to Baird's Harajuku Taproom because it was pissing down and the Taproom is the closest craft beer bar to where I train. I tried a whole lot of different beers though. I started witha fruity seasonal Asian Beaty Biwa Beer (5.5%) which had a much more subtle fruit that some of the summer fruit beers I have tried here, indeed the fruit really seemed to add some refreshing sharpness to what was effectively a really good golden ale. Second up was a style I can't recall having before - a Keller Helles (5.5%). It was nicely bright upfront with a very bready kind of middle - exactly as Baird describe it on their blog. Nice, but not complicated and I guess it is not supposed to be. Then it was one of their regulars - the Teikoku IPA (6.5%) - which claims to be an IPA in the English tradition. It is perfectly pitched in my view, and balances hoppiness with a breadth of fruity flavours. Definitely deserves its awards... and then finally, I had another, which I really shouldn't have done - I tried their Shimaguni Stout (4.6%), a dry Irish stout, and I am sure it was fine, but I really don't remember...

 

[Paulus]

Brune biere in Brasserie Georges in Lyon, brewed on the premises in front of your own yeux.

View attachment 28228

View attachment 28229

Not bad at all!

I and a couple of friends were there a few years back. Wonderful art deco interior and excellent beers and food.

 

[User169]

I was in the Ardennes for a few days and tried some of Fantome's beers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantôme_Brewery

They've built up quite a following in the US, but remain relatively unknown in Belgium: indeed, the bottles I got all had labels for the US importer even though I bought them 20kms from the brewery.

Anyhow, the beer themselves are variations on a saison theme. The one I liked most was "Pissenlit" (wet the bed) which is made with a dandelion infusion - very spicy and herbal with a slight funk. "Brise bonbons" (ball-breaker) was great too. It's a much hoppier brew, although I guess they must use European hops since you get a really herby taste, rather than the US citrus/pine IPA taste.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Picked up a few bits en route home, 3 different beers from Northmaen and one from Mastri Birrai, good offers on Duvel and DT packs with a glass at the Eurotunnel shop too. Yet to try Northmaen and Mastri, will report back later.