what are you drinking tonight?

I've got a six-pack of Leffe tonight.

 

i've seen that lately and have considered getting it, but haven't tasted it as of yet. how is it?

tonight i had boon oude gueze mariage parfait...my first gueze, and in fact my first non fruit lambic.

it was quite different from what i'm used to, but i did definitely like it. i couldnt see it in regular rotation in my consumption, but it was definitely a good beer.

sour, bitter, dry, not at all hoppy, rich, and complex...i dont have anything to compare it to as far as the style is concerned, but i definitely thought it was an enjoyable beer.

also had more of the blue moon spring ale...not great, but its ok

 

Leffe is an average Belgian blond. Nothing outstanding, but nothing too shabby, either. I like it. It's nowhere near the dubbles and tripels like Chimay and Westmalle, but is quite a good beer nevertheless for its style. Of the Belgian blonds, Affligem is my favorite. The Belgian blonds are good when you're in the mood for a Belgian beer, but don't want something too heavy or alcoholic. You can drink a six-pack without getting too wasted as the blonds are usually only in the 6.5-7% ABV range. These are the Belgians that you want to drink in the warmer months, along with the saisons, which are extremely refreshing beers. Leffe, Affligem, and Hennepin are my favorite warm weather Belgians.

Oh, and Boon Geuze is good. I am not a huge fan of the style as it's much too sour for my tastes, but it's something different once in a whille. I am going to have to try a few more one of these days. I have only tried about three or four geuzes so far. The price of these beers kind of turns me off also, when I would rather spend it on something I enjoy much more, like a nice Belgian tripel.

 

yeah, i definitely enjoyed it, but i wouldnt see it ever being in regular rotation for me...

i'll have to try leffe sometimes. i've even seen it in the grocery lately...it seems over the past few years major groceries have improved their selection quite a bit.

 

well fedex just brought me some goodies.

a bottle of 1982 chateau du lacaze armagnac (very tasty, very affordable)
and a bottle of unibroue's edition 2004 (bottled 3 years and 9 days ago)

of course when i placed the order i did not know where to obtain a bottle of 2004 in a shop near me; now it is available for less than i paid for it, as well as a few others i'm super anxious to try, like other extremely limited availability offerings and one i've just never seen called seigneuriale.

tonight i'll probably enjoy a small glass of the brandy along with a cold water extraction of 20mg worth of hydrocodone/apap pills. four 5/500's...i expect the final product contains at least 15-17.5mg of hydrocodone, but i know for sure i lost at least a little bit.

since i'll probably take the painkillers tonight, i'm not likely to have more than one or two small drinks, or else just the one bottle of beer. but i may just choose to drink and save that other stuff for another time.

 

I did not like the 2004 at all. It was a very funky tasting beer. A lot of people liked it, though. Plus, it might have gotten better with age. It just has a really strange spicyness to it.... almost ginger-like.

 

Tonight = Yuengling black and tan

 

well, i wanted to try something different, it got good ratings (though that doesnt tell anything about whether or not a particular individual will like something), and its something that i know has had a while to age....

i like unibroue's lineup, and am quite familiar with trois pistoles, blanche de chambly, maudite, la fin du monde, don de dieu, and the apple ephemere...i've had most of them a good number of times, and all of them at least once...

but these are all i usually have to choose from in most of the stores i visit. only recently i found one that offers any of their other beers. included are both 2004 and 2005, as well as either 15 or 16 (i forget) and the other one i mentioned a few posts up.

anyway, i'm looking forward to trying it, but realize it may or may not be as pleasing to me as some of their others.


but hey...if you were going to give it another try, do you think it would do better in a snifter or a tulip type glass?

 

Either one would work. I'd probably use a tulip. Snifters are more for barleywines and imperial stouts, but are good for some of the stronger and more aromatic belgians as well.

 

gotcha. i have a few snifters, which up till now have generally been my all around glass for a number of big, really malty and often strongly alcoholic beers. just recently i got my first tulip type glass and just really haven't found what determines which is better....

in what i've seen of glassware designed for specific belgian beers both shapes seem common in a number of different beer styles. since i've got a big bottle, i suppose i could try it both ways and see what sort of differences i might notice

 

oh and hey, what do you think of EKU 28? i want to try it sometime soon but have never had an eisbock. i understand its not supposed to be the best of the style, but its whats available to me at the moment.

 

EKU 28 is a damn good eisbock and it's one of the better of the style in my opinion. It's been a while since I had it last, but I know I enjoyed it a lot. However, my all-time favorite eisbock is by Aventinus. It's actually a weizen-eisbock. Aventinus also makes my favorite weizenbock, which is also probably my favorite German beer along with Celebrator doppelbock.

 

so i went and picked up some beer today

got a 6 pack of Engine No. 5 by the Pennichuck Brewing Co - gonna try a few of these out tonight. its a Red Ale.



i also picked up a bottle of Unibroue 16. last one left at the store, so i figured i'd pick it up.

 

well the edition 2004 is fantastic in my opinion, and i dont know when you tasted it but it may have improved since then. it was definitely a highly spiced beer, but it still was very mellow despite the complexity. the smoothness is deceiving, and i would have estimated it more along the lines of a 7-8%ABV beer rather than a hefty 10.5%...

if its been a while since you've tried it, i suggest you give it another shot, rat. but then again, i personally like spiced beers (generally).....i did notice a very subtle hint of what could be ginger, but i also personally like ginger and thought it was a great compliment to the beer.

i admit to having been initially dismayed by the nearly complete lack of head retention. but it turned out to be rich, full bodied, and yet somewhat refreshing at the same time. it definitely hit the spot, even though it would not be in my top 10

 

sorry, double post

 

It is very good beer! I had it last Thursday (the 8th)

 

is that a mass micro brew? Haven't seen it up here.

 

Tonight it's Brooklyn Winter Ale.

 

no, its a NH microbrew.. first time i've seen it, so figured i would give it a shot

 

tonight i had a bottle of Monty Python Holy Grail Ale, and it was pretty good, but nothing outstanding about it. I also picked up a sixpack of Celis Grand Cru, but have not tried it yet. I look forward to it.

I'm also going out tonight, to a rather nice restaraunt with a decent beer selection, but I've only been once. Hopefully I'll be able to get something i've never had before, but regardless I know I'll get something good.