This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 240: August 28, 2015
Diary entry:
I am currently in Brussels for the European Beer Bloggers and Writers Conference (#EBBC15 if you wish to follow along).
Today was the first day of the conference, put on by Zephyr Adventures. This is the same conference I went to last year in Dublin and enjoyed immensely! As with the pre-conference tour yesterday, the beers today were all provided by the Belgian Family Brewers. The Belgian Family Brewers is a consortium of 22 family-owned and run breweries in Belgium, who select certain of their beers to carry the Belgian Family Brewers logo. Their mission is to raise awareness of the Belgian heritage and tradition associated with their historic breweries.
What was slated to be a very quiet morning turned out to be a bit more interesting, as I received an invite to join a group led by Jules Gray of Exposed Magazine in the UK and Steve Lamond of Beers I’ve Known on a tour to the Brussels Beer Project, new brewers in Belgium since 2013 who are finishing up the work on opening their own brewing premises that should be ready next week, and open to the public in October. The new brewery is on Dansaert, approaching the inner ring around the center, in an up-and-coming neighborhood that is undergoing a new renewal. I look forward to visiting again when they are open!
From there it was back to the hotel for the start of the conference, which kicked off with lunch and 11 beers available for tasting. Luckily, many of these I had tried before, but there were a few new ones for me, of which I sampled three at lunch:
Saison Dupont Cuvée Dry Hopping (2015) by Brasserie Dupont – A very nice bitterness and funk. Dry and sour. I enjoyed this one!
Timmermans Oude Gueuze by Brewery Timmermans – Again, and Oude Gueuze from one of the bigger names in lambic brewing that surprised me in how good it was! These lambic brewers do make very good lambic, and their traditional oude gueuze and oude kriek offerings should not be looked down upon!
The third beer, the Scotch Silly Bourbon Barrel Aged by Brasserie de Silly, is the beer of the day below.
Finally, onto the real purpose for the visit, the conference itself!
We had sessions today on the past, present and future of beer in Belgium, featuring a panel of family brewery owners, and a panel discussion on how to find content for your blog beyond just beer reviews. Some interesting points about how there is more to beer writing than just the beer itself, but the story surrounding the beer, or the experience. Which is what I’m trying to do with this diary.
After a press conference where the Belgian Family Brewers announced their new media campaign to raise awareness and pride on the heritage of Belgian beer, we came to perhaps the most fun, and hardest work, part of the conference, the speed blogging.
One hour. 11 beers. Around 5 minutes per beer. The brewers and brewery representatives came to our table of 7 bloggers and had 5 minutes to pour our beer, explain the beer and the brewery, and for us to photo and taste the beer, all while taking notes on the beer and brewery from the speaker as well as our own tasting notes. This was hard! And the hardest part was having to dump, as there just was’t enough time to drink the full tastes before the next brewery arrived. And heck; at these ABV’s, it just wouldn’t have been smart!
Bush De Charmes by Brasserie Dubuisson – Bush blonde in Chardonnay barrels from Mersault in Burgundy. Delightful!
Straffe Hendrik Heritage (2013) by De Halve Maan – Bordeaux, Cognac, and new barrels. Very tasty!
St. Bernardus Extra 4 by Brouwerij St. Bernardus – Very nice, sessionable Beer. While not called a pale ale, reminds me of one. Very nice.
Delirium Tremens by Brouwerij Huyghe – Much better than I remember. Very enjoyable. Why has it been years since I’ve had one?
Gouden Carolus Classic by Brouwerij Het Anker – A bit too sweet for me.
Grand Cru by Brasserie St-Feuillien – Slightly fruity. Not too sweet. Tasty.
Ename Pater by Brouwerij Roman – Low ABV. Great taste. Unfiltered blonde. Brouwerij Roman is 2km away from the abbey.
Duvel Tripel Hop (2015) by Duvel Moortgat – Same as yesterday, but well paired with a Cabriolait goat cheese and white chocolate prailine with yuzu filling. The Cabriolait cheese was outstanding! So creamy, and a little salty.
Kriek Cuvée René (2013) by Brouwerij Lindemans – Another excellent Cuvee rene. Nice sourness and decent fruit. Not yet the scharbeek cherries.
Cornet by Brouwerij Palm – Hoppy yet oak flavors still evident. They use wood chips in steel tanks, not barrels. Vanilla and fruit. Sweet, but not overly sweet. Decent.
Duchesse de Bourgogne by Brouwerij Verhaeghe – Very nice mix of sour and brown. Like this one! Surprised I haven’t checked in before. Could it be I’ve never tried it? I will try it much more in the future.
Following dinner it was off to the Belga Queen for our dinner and more beer. There were 11 beers to choose, from, but I decided to slow down a little, and only tried a couple, with the only new beer being:
Barista Chocolate Quad by Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck – Perhaps my favorite Kasteel beer ever. Nice chocolate and coffee flavors. Lots of coffee.
Finished off the official program for the night with a group visit and private event in the upstairs bar of Delirium Cafe, where there were, yes, 11 beers to try, plus all the leftovers from the dinner session!
Barbe Noire (Black) by Brouwerij Verhaeghe – Not too much dark, more sweet and bitter perhaps. But decent.
IPA Green Killer by Brasserie de Silly – Actually quite enjoyed this IPA.
Delirium Argentum by Brouwerij Huyghe – Not sure if classify as IPA, but I did enjoy it quite a bit.
The Beer:
Name: Scotch Silly Bourbon Barrel Aged
Style: Belgian Quad
Producer: Brasserie de Silly
Alcohol content: 11.0%
Bottle size: 0.15l pour from a 0.75l bottle
Purchased from: Provided to us at #EBBC15 by Belgian Family Brewers
Today is the world premier of Scotch Silly Bourbon Barrel Aged by Brasserie Silly. Here at #ebbc15. Jack Daniels barrels, though not mentioned on the labels. Nice toasty flavor. Chocolatey and a little bitter. An excellent balance of sweetness to this beer! Here presented by Didier van der Haeghen of Brasserie de Silly.
