Have beer, but no travel

Sometimes I do drink beer but the travel involved is from my living room to my patio...

The beers are, from left to right...

Urthel ,Tripel (Hibernus Quentum) --  Belgium/Netherlands -- with greetings to Hildegaard or Bos should the read this. I missed you at Zythos...

Mikkeller Big Worse  Barley Wine -- Denmark/Belgium -- with thanks to the Danske Ølentusiaster for telling me about this beer (though I've had beers from this contract brewery before: Beer Geek Breakfast and Santa's Little Helper)

 

Spezial Lagerbier -- All Franconian -- My eternal thanks to the Merz family -- we'll see you in May

Dr. Fritz Briem 1809 -- Berlin/Bavaria -- A "Berliner Weisse" style brewed by Weihenstephan just outside of Munich. Nice and tart, almost as good as the Jener Weisse I had last fall (thanks Sebastian, a/k/a Der Dopplebock for getting me the Jener Weisse)

Westmalle Tripel -- need I say more...

Not pictured but present: Maredsous Triple

I do have to say that of the three triples, the Westmalle was my favorite The others were tasty but didn't say "Tripel" to me. I wish I had a St Feullien Tripel to compare because in Belgium that is the tripel I often drink...

Why no pictures?

I am embarassed to say that I had drunk so much beer that I left my camera at the Kulminator on Saturday night. Luckily, John from Boulder was staying in Antwerp until later the next week and picked up my camera on Monday and eventually mailed it back to me. 

I blame it on the last glass of draft Avec le Bon Vœux...

So there may be some pictures at a later date...

Zythos Beer Festival Day I

Had a great time, drank lots of beer. Spent an evening at the Kulminator, did the same. Sorry no pictures :(

Night of the Great Thirst

Or in Vlaams, De Nacht van de Grote Dorst.

First off, we were going to meet some beer friends at a famous beer cuisine restaurant in Schepdaal called De Rare Vos (the Sly Fox). It involved taking a train from Anwterp to Brussels South Station and then a bus to Schepdaal and then a short work. We left time for problems and ended up getting there an hour early, but hey, more time for beer...

They have a house beer (called, surprisingly Rare Vos) that is brewed for them by the Lambic brewery Giardan was dark gold/light amber in color and while didn't have the full on sourness of a lambic, had just enough to be refreshing...

After this and a couple of Orval's (of different ages) I got a text message from one of the people we were to meet, saying they were running late. Tom and I decided to go ahead and eat. I had Rabbit cooked in Gueze and Tom had Beef Stew cooked with Kriek (cherry lambic) Both were excellent. Of course, we ordered a bottle of each beer to go with the meal...

The original plan was to walk the 6km to Eizeringen, the site of the festival.  However it had started to rain our waiter (one of the owners?) offered us a ride, which we accepted. After a small hike up the hill (the street was blocked off for the fest) we arrived at the pub In de Verzekering Tegen Grote Dorst (Insurance Against the Great Thirst), which hosts the festival. 

We were early enough to grab one of the few tables -- most people had to make do with standing a tent outside. Soon our beer friends arrived and the lambic was flowing. Mostly, you bought full bottles, either 375ml or 750ml so it was good to have lots of people with which to share. Soon the table was full...

One of the treats was beer from a brewery that had been out of business for over 15 years, Eylenbosch (which was actually very near to the Rare Vos).  The bottle below is a Faro (sweetened lambic) from 1988! It was a little oxidized, but very, very nice and very drinkable.

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On the way out I held my camera up over the crowd to get a picture of the inside of the pub. I got too much ceiling, but maybe you can the the flavor...

Tomorrow, the Zythos Beer Festival in St Niklaas.