Show 37: International Belgian Beer
Prebeer Preamble: Love ‘em, hate ‘em, or get annoyed by the stereotyping of ‘em, Belgian styles of beer are here to stay, and widely held to be some of the best suds out there. A diverse selection of Belgian brews are breaking out of their country of origin and are being produced world-wide, from North America (Unibroue, Ommegang) to Japan (Hitachino Nest), to all points in between. Today I’m once again joined by Tom the Beer Guy’s Brother as we sample two Belgian beers, of similar style, brewed half a world apart. Do the storied brewers of Belgium have anything to fear from the scrappy upstarts from other parts of the globe?
Beer #1: Tom and I start with Ommegang Abbey Ale, from a converted Belgian-style farmhouse near Cooperstown, New York. Great buzz surrounds this brewery and this beer, which is generally acknowledged to be as “Belgian” as a crunchy waffle with powdered sugar on it. What do we think?
Interbeer Interlude: The Build-A-Beer Workshop. “Taste The Monkey Bastard” Our second BABW brew, the Monkey Bastard, is all ready for drinking. Since the recipe was based on an Arrogant Bastard clone, I thought it would be interesting to drink it alongside Stone’s flagship beer. Joining me in this potentially risky taste-test are Michael R. Mennenga, Brian Brown, Kris Mayo, and Doug Kress. Does the little Bastard stand up to its inspiration? Tune in and find out!
Beer #2: Representing the Home Team in this Panglobal Belgian taste-off is Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or–Grand Cru of the Emporer. With a name that long, the beer better be good. So….is it?
Beer Geek Moment: “Wildfire Beers” The beers on this show got me thinking about how some styles can find a second, often more successful, life upon immigrating to a new country. This Moment is the result of these beery musings.
Postbeer Postscript: It all comes down to the scores, and after two big bottles of big beer, Tom and I are feeling pretty generous. There’s some serious enthusing going on here, but which strong dark Belgian-style Ale did we really flip over? Guess you’ll just have to listen….
September 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am
Thanks for having me on the show again. I rounded up both beers and re-tasted with some friends while we listened to the episode. For all the praise we heaped on these beers, I was reminded that Belgians are not for everybody, but we had a good time nonetheless. More for me.
So will you now be known as “Carolus, le guy de bier”?
September 21st, 2007 at 6:46 am
Charlie,
Great show as always. Looking for the link for the beer kit. Our local shop is about double that price…
September 21st, 2007 at 8:32 am
Carriep http://www.homebrewers.com has great prices and very good about shipping everwhere. They can make custom kits and do it all the time based on customer interests.*
* Marketing disclaimer Charlie the Beer Guy and his website have no affiliation with Homebrewers website, Thomas from Flagstaff on the other hand has a direct affiliation with the company, is mentioned on their website, and helps out there on an as needed basis.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:38 am
Charlie what does the Monkey Bastard have for the hops? Direct AB clones I have seen generally just had Centennial, but it sounds like, based on studio impressions that is not the case for Monkey.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:50 am
Found your earlier link to the recipe, 3 hops, none Centennial, interesting. The grain bill is a bit different than other clones I have seen if my memory serves too, but it sounds like it makes decent beer.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:56 am
Excuse me it was Chinook not Centennial. The ones I have seen were 2 row and 120, but looking around the web quick, I have seen a few other variations…now I just need to find a way to drink them all.
September 21st, 2007 at 10:40 am
Tom, glad to hear the show treated you well upon re-experiencing. As for the name-change, I think not. I keep thinking “This is the castle of my master Guy de Lombard”…
Carrie, the price I quoted was about 25% lower than you’ll probably find it to be. I forgot to mention I got a little discount for mentioning Brewer’s connection on the show.
And to Thomas and everyone else, sorry for the dearth of links and pictures and whatnot. My WordPress and my Safari are not playing well together, and I’m lucky to even post at all…
September 21st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Thomas, thanks for the links, the info, and the full disclosure. Pimp away.
Charlie, thanks for the clarification as regards to the price. Still cheaper than what I can get by me, depending on shipping of course. Good luck with your computer issues…
September 21st, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I am a big believer in supporting your local shop, but if they are way over priced or are slow on moving inventory so you get old stuff too often then there are options.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
[...] into three installments, the first of which features Gouden Carolus Noel. I was a big fan of their Grand Cru, but how does their Christmas brew go down with a slap-happy group of all-over-the-map outspoken [...]