Achel Blond and Bruin

Well Bruges seems so long ago now (only 3 weeks and we're already pining for another visit) so I may as well share what was my first beer of that wonderful visit, and also one of my very last.

Now normally our first beer is always the one and only Tripel de Garre - after a chaotic 4 hour plane and train journey it certainly hits the spot (and is met with a relaxed, at home, sigh of relief)

However this visit there would be no first day De Garre, a note pinned to that ancient wooden door stated that they would be closed for the next 4 days - all the festival period?
CRAP!....quick rethink and plan b, namely 2be (hey that's no hardship) so a quick stroll down Wollestraat and it's time for our first beers (me Achel Bruin and Linda Brugse Zot)

Achel as you know is one of the eight Trappist breweries and one of the six in Belgium - well only just because Brouwerij der Sint-Benedictusabdij de Achelse (Achel for short) actually sits on the Belgium / Netherlands border, the brewery sits in Belgium, the gardens in Holland.
It has the lowest production of all the Trappist breweries and is also the Trappist I have sampled the least (yes Westvleteren has passed my lips on more occasions)

So on with the beer, Achel Bruin pours a deep brick red that is clouded with a slight haze and is topped with a bubbly, creamy, tan coloured head that slowly falls.

Lovely aroma of sweet candy sugar, rich caramel malts, dark ripe fruits (raisin and fig) with a slight sharp, crisp finish.

Taste is dark candied fruits, sweet demerara sugar, light spices, bready malts and a hint of cocoa with the slightest hop bitterness on the finish.

My first beer in Bruges and it's a cracking start.


Now then, onto Achel No2 - yes the Blond, and this was savoured at what was our first visit to this particular bar - Cafe Rose Red located on Cordoeanierstreet (near to Cambrinus) and from the outside it can look like it's part of a hotel, but the multitude of beer paraphernalia hanging reassures you that beery heaven awaits you inside (and it does) a pleasant cosy bar with a well chosen beer list, this is now a must visit bar for us.



Achel Blond pours a slightly hazy amber and is topped by a thick, white, fluffy head and just like the Bruin it really hangs around.

Intense fruity aroma (banana and pears) coupled with clove spices, light hops and a bubblegum sweetness.

Taste follows the aroma with full on fruits (banana again) but also a citus sharpness, floral hops, candy sweetness and a dry, bitter finish.

So two great beers (and bars) from an often overlooked Trappist brewery, will I be sampling them again - most definitely, will we be visiting Cafe Rose Red again - you bet.      

Wit Goud

Well yet another fantastic Bruges beer festival has come and gone, with many great beers sampled (yes the crowds were as large as ever) and also many great places visited.

Amongst them was our first ever visit to a beer shop located outside of Bruges, a trip organised by our ever obliging mate Filip (thanks once again for a great weekend) along with me and my wife on that beer buying spree was fellow Belgian Beer Board member (and lambic fanatic) Daniele.

The shop in question was the excellent Drankencentrale Rotsaert in Zedelgem - I now know what the term "tourist prices" means when referring to Bruges.
So a very happy half hour was spent buying many outstanding beers (some you don't pick up too easily in Bruges) I felt very fortunate to have bought beer........as the Belgians do.

Included in that fantastic haul were a few from farmhouse brewery Hof ten Dormaal - located in the rural farming region around Leuven, this is a brewery that is very much self sufficient.

So now what we have here is for me a double first, my first Dormaal beer and my first chicory beer - in fact the only chicory beer in production (an ingredient that is also grown on the farm) which is then dried and used to replace a portion of the hops during the brewing process.

The beer pours a hazy deep amber (for some reason I was expecting it to be golden???) and is topped by a large, white, bubbly head that slowly fades as you savour - a very nice looking beer.

Aroma again was a surprise, instead of sharp and bitter notes it was crammed with sweet caramel malts (nice) dig further and yes you do get bitter, grassy, hoppy elements - like I said a surprise BUT a very pleasant one.

Flavour follows with a honey sweetness, then yeasty bready malts, balanced out with bitter hops along with a banana fruitiness and a clove like spicy finish.


My first beer from Dormaal (with others to follow) and it's been a great introduction.    

A very special tasting

Now I know that the festive period is just a distant memory but what I'm about to review now is what has undoubtedly been my "Holy Grail" since my love affair with Belgian beer first began.

It's no secret that my favourite beer is the mind blowing Stille Nacht from the mad brewers of Essen and what we have here is the highly sought after barrel aged version, namely Stille Nacht Reserva.
A beer that is only released once every 5 years (since 2000) and in very limited quantities.

The release here is the latest 2010 Reserva (yes even though it was released in 2013) what it is in fact is the regular 2010 beer (hence the date) matured for 25 months in Bordeaux barrels then bottled and released to the eager waiting public.

The bottle in question belonged to our great friend Filip Geerts (who runs the outstanding site Belgian Beer Board) he most generously brought that precious bottle (and a bottle of the wonderful Winterkoninske Grand Cru) to the recent bottle share that was held during the weekend of the 6th Bruges Beer Festival - the location for this magical evening that great bar of Rudy's - De Bierboom (located on Langestraat and well worth a visit)

Now for the taste..............................

The Reserva pours a clear deep amber with the slightest suggestion of a faint white head that in the blink of an eye vanishes, leaving behind a sticky, oily film - a result no doubt of the lengthy barrel ageing process and the formidable 13% ABV.

A powerful aroma of woody oak-like tannins, sticky sweet caramels, red skin grapes, along with that there's the regular Stille Nacht jammy characteristic - only this time very much in the background.

Taste....WOW........instantly you get the barrel ageing then grape like vinous notes along with slightly tart red skinned fruits, then you get the toffee, jammy sweetness combined with rich plum bread before  an alcoholic Port like finish.

So there we have it, my search over - and was it worth the 10 year wait.....HELL YES!!!! now it's just a waiting game until the release of SN Reserva 2015.