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 135: May 15, 2015
Diary entry:
This was one of those days that make me realize why I love independent road trips without too much advance planning so much.
The original plan from a few days ago was to be heading up to Normandy already today so we could have a few days in Paris before going home. But we had so much fun chasing castles yesterday, we decided we needed to have another day at it to see some more!
So once again… We spent the entire day today chasing castles.
Not quite as many as yesterday, especially since we had to include a few non-castle detours, such as a stop in Tours to pick up a new cord for Erin’s laptop, and another in Bois to exchange the first cord for the proper wattage cord (oops!) which wound up including a visit to a HUGE French hypermarket (where I picked up a few new beers that will be in the rotation at some point in the future).
Also decided to throw in a few wine tasting stops as well, since the Loire is one of my favorite wine-producing regions — I LOVE Cabernet Franc!
In all, we made it to ten more castles today. Not a shabby figure.
Rather than return to Saumur for another night, and in order to be a little bit closer to a highway up to Normandy in the morning, we decided to head from Chateau de Chambord all the way back across the Loire Valley to Angers for the evening.
Dinner was at the restaurant next to the hotel…Foie Gras and all-you-can-eat carpaccio! Sold!
The Beer:
Name: Sologne Blonde
Style: Blonde Ale
Producer: Chambord Gastronomie
Alcohol content: 6.0%
Bottle size: 0.33l
Purchased from: Chambord Gastronomie local products shop at Chateau de Chambord
Picked up the four different beer offerings by Chambord Gastronomie while visiting Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley. The first one I tried tonight was their Sologne Blonde, “Réserve des Châteaux”. A nice golden color. Starts off promising. Up front bitterness and a hint of fruit. Seems like it will be quite good. But slightly lacking behind it to carry it the rest of the way.
Commercial Description:
Rich in aromas and delicately hopped, it has a subtle character.
Sometimes sold as “Brassee a l’ancienne” with an image of a deer and sometimes as “Réserve des Châteaux” with an image of Château de Chambord.
