Beer Travels: Moeder Lambic

Jake Wrote:

As part of planning the Cantillon trip, I knew I wanted to find a Belgian beer bar. Based on the recommendation of a friend who toured Belgium recently, I put Moeder Lambic on the list as that bar. Moeder Lambic has two locations in Brussels. The newer location is a 10-15 minute walk from Cantillon and has 42 taps. Of the 42 taps, eight of them are sours on cask.

The menu is organized by style and there are three to five offerings for each style from around the country. However, the tap handles are all the same which I found refreshing form the usual clutter that you see here in the states.

Upon ordering my first beer, I was given a small dish filled with what looked like sunflower seeds. After I tried a small handful of the seeds, I realized that it was actually malted barley. What a great call. Buying two row in bulk has to be cheaper than bar mix or peanuts and I think it only accentuates the true beer experience.

Since I had not eaten much during to this point and had sampled four glasses at Cantillon, I was in need of some food. The main dish on the menu is quiche and it was fantastic. I stayed for a bit and had a few drinks, listened to an amazing first date conversation, and then made my way to the train station to head back to Luxembourg. I could have stayed all night, but I had a three-hour train ride back and did not want to get in too late.

Quick Hitters:

-       If you’re going to go, stay the night in Brussels and get the full experience. There was a group tasting area that was having a great time and the place was starting to fill-in around 6pm.

-       Definitely ask the bartender for suggestions. Since you are reading this on HBG, my hope is that you know better than to say, “Surprise me” or “Something light”, but, don’t let your friends do that either. Pick a style or two and ask for a suggestion.

-       The newer location is open for more hours during the day than the older one, so I suggest heading there.

-       The bathrooms are in the basement and there are no doors. If a lady makes a wrong turn, she may not realize it until she is standing roughly two feet from you and it can be startling for both parties. Pee confidently or wait for a stall.

The Drinking Tour of Flanders

Good beer and bicycling go hand in hand. In America, there's nowhere that serves as better evidence than cycling/craft beer capital of Portland, Oregon. Portland not only has the most breweries/brewpubs per capita in the United States, it is also well known as a cycling mecca, and despite 55 days with measurable precipitation a year is ranked first in bicycle commuting among the 30 largest cities in the United States.


If you were to imagine Portland as a country, perhaps your best choice would be Belgium. Bad weather, bicycling and fantastic beer are all part of the Belgian identity. Once a year Belgians gather to celebrate the combination of those elements in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (or Tour of Flanders) spring classic bike race.


The Ronde (along with Ghent-Wevelgem and Parix-Roubaix) is perhaps most famous for its route on the cobbled backroads of southern Belgium. These brutal cobbled sections break men and bicycles alike, leaving only the hardest of hard men at the front in battle for the title of Ronde van Vlaanderen champion. Perhaps it is fitting that this year's Tour of Flanders will be held on Easter (5pm ET, Versus):

"Only those who are in top condition can say that the Ronde is not hard. For everyone else, it's the Way of the Cross." -Andrea Tafi

We are not professional cyclists. We are fans and drinkers. Drinking along with the Tour of Flanders route is our own way of the cross.

Beer 1) The route starts just outside of Brugge, namesake of Indiana's Brugge Brasserie, so perhaps a bottle of Brugge White, Black, or Tripel might make for a fitting introduction.


Beer 2) Route continues through Hooglede, just 17 kilometers from Esen, home of De Dolle Brouwers.

Beer 3) The route passes through Lendelede, just 6 or so kilometers south of Ingelmunster, home of Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck, makers of Kasteel Rouge.


Beer 4) Route passes through the region Wallonne and heads north at Russeignies, about 26 kilometers north of Pipaix, home of Brasserie Dubuisson Frères, makers of the Scaldis lineup of beers.

Beer 5) Route passes through Brakel, just 32 or so kilometers south of Melle, where the Brouwerij Huyghe produces Delirium Tremens and Delirium Nocturnum.


Beer 6) Race finishes at Meerbeke, a 21 kilometer straight shot from Brussels' Sint-Jans-Molenbeek neighborhood, home of Brasserie Belle-Vue (which I could have sworn I've seen in local liquor stores). But since we can't get that here in Indiana, we'll look north (still only 52 kilometers from the finish) to Breendonk and Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, makers of Duvel.

If you've kept up with the race, hopefully you'll be with me in celebrating a win by Cervelo Test Team. And if you've kept up with the beer, there's a good chance you passed out and didn't make it to the end of the race. No need to worry, Paris-Roubaix (the king of the classics) is only a week away.

Having never been to Belgium, I can't say this is entirely accurate. I definitely appreciate any comments or corrections. In this case I stuck to beers and breweries with beer available in the United States (Indiana in particular).

KOTBR #47 | Yay Belgium

For our latest roundtable, four knights met two friends (Matt and Chris) at the home of Matt (of Matt's Beer Blog fame) for a Belgian Beer Style Blowout. So without further ado, on to the reviews.

Jason

So the intent of the latest roundtable with Matt and Chris was to try a variety of Belgian-style beers. By complete accident, all the Belgians we sampled were brewed in America. Unlike the previous roundtable, when we reviewed a selection of Danish brewed beers that were American in style. Going from Europeans-pretending-to-be-Americans to Americans-pretending-to-be-Europeans. Completely accidental, but very poetic nevertheless.

In the spirit of Belgians in America , I will review these beers in the most fabulous of Belgian styles: Smurf



Perdition by Russian River Brewing Co. - This Biere de Garde poured with a light brown color and a light smurfy, sweet smurf. There were hints of toffee and coffee, but a very underwhelming beer, leaving me with not much of anything there but aftertaste. A Peewit of a beer. 2.25 smurfs

Lost Abbey’s Judgment Day - This dark brown beer had smurfed of dark fruit covered in brown sugar. Despite the nice smurf taste, the mouth was left dry after. My final written judgment: smurfy, smurfy smurf time! Dubbel my smurf, so to smurf... 4.0 smurfs

Lost Abbey’s Lost and Found - If you had put this smurf in front of me and I didn’t know it was a quadsmurf, I would have smurfed that it was fresh apple cider from looks alone. It had an extra smurfy fruit fragrance with more fruit smurfiness than Judgement Day. Makes me think of Smurfette. It leaves my mouth very smurfy. 3.75 smurfs

Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel - I didn’t know what to expect from the label, but I must say, I was happily surprised by this smurf. The nose was all over the smurfin’ place. But not peppery. It looked like a wheat beer with a big pilsner head. The smurfiest smurfin’ beer I’ve ever seen! It looked like a Snork party in a glass! The flavor matched up with the nose, but in addition, it left a peppery bite on the back of the smurf. La la la la la la, la la la la la! 3.65 smurfs

Southampton Grand Cru - Holy smurf! Super sour smurf! It smells like a Gargamel’s taint; or like after Azrael sprays all over the smurfin’ place. It pours cloudy and dark gold. The taste is a bit tart but also has some carmely, buttersmurffy hits, creating a smurfy flavor that doesn’t match up with the nose at all. No smurfing way! 1.5 smurfs

Unibroue Terrible - I don’t know if any other smurfs will get this, but it smells like a Unibroue beer. Lots of dark fruit and plum. Alcoholly and smurfy. But of the Unibroue beers, I find this Belgian Hefty Smurf Dark Ale to be the smurf. 3.55 smurfs

Three Floyd’s Alpha Kong - This beer is the Papa Smurf of Belgian Hefty Smurf Pale Ales. The nose is smurffy and alcoholly, giving thoughts of Laffy Taffy or Big League Chew. The flavor is also smurffy and chewy. Lots of smurf. It is smurfy and thick. A take your smurf away kind of beer. 4.25 smurfs

Barley Island Sinister Minister - Smurfed down version of Unibroue beer. It may be as sinister as Gargamel, but it is about as successful as his attempt to snack on Smurfs. 2.00 smurfs


Mike

In honor of Belgium's World Champion and all around bad-ass bicyclist, Tom Boonen, and his 16 year old girlfriend, Sophie Van Vliet, I present 16 word reviews.



Russian River Perdition - Sweat tea color. Sharp nose. Tight front, light, sour on sides of the tongue. All mouthfeel. 2.74 Mugs

Lost Abbey Judgement Day - Nail polish nose, heavy almost syrupy mouthfeel, full of caramel and grape. Grape plus cough syrup. 3.11 Mugs

Lost Abbey Lost and Found - Lighter nose. Sweet candi sugar and grape notes. Nice bubbly front, light but not lingering mouthfeel. 3.24 Mugs

Brewer's Art Green Peppercorn Tripel - Banana / pepper nose, super-lively mouthfeel, top of mouth taste. Banana plus vanilla custard? Tart or bitter? 4.41 Mugs

Southampton Grand Cru - Funky "off" nose, nose carries into front but dissipates quickly, back creamy, tasty, and yet funky. 3.10 Mugs

Unibroue Terrible - Dark milky-ish color, fruity Unibroue nose, balanced, sweet, about what you'd expect from the Unibroue crew. 3.27 Mugs

Three Floyds Alpha Kong - Apple, banana, nail polish nose. Silky mouthfeel. A really great beer from Indiana's Kings of Brewing. 4.78 Mugs

Barley Island Sinister Minister - Malty, inky nose (yes, nose). Watery, malty. Not particularly "Belgian". Subdued. Hard to follow Alpha King. 2.22 Mugs



Matt

Russian River's Perdition – Underwhelming. The flavor and nose were just not there in sufficient abundance to make much of an impression. Kind of like the proportion of German speakers in Belgium, less than one percent of the population, yet is still an official language of the country along with Dutch and French, spoken by 60 and 40 percent of Belgians, respectively. 2.2 mugs



Lost Abbey Judgment Day – This one was reddish brown in color. The nose was full of yeast, but the flavors included plum and black bread, which along with salt is a traditional offering to guests in Russia. The Belgian contingent accompanying Napoleon's Grand Armee into Russia (as Belgium had been conquered and annexed by France as part of the First French Republic) in 1812 found no such hospitality, less that 100,000 of the 700,000 strong invasion force made it out of Russia. 3.2 mugs

Lost Abbey Lost & Found – This was much spicier than its Lost Abbey brother. The mouthfeel was incredibly smooth and the peppery aftertaste lingered for a while. The persistence of this flavor is reminds me of the persistence of plastics in the environment. A Belgian-American named Leo Baekland invented the first commercially viable plastic in 1907, Bakelite. 3.6 mugs



Green Peppercorn Trippel – The nose was a bit footy, which I found somewhat disconcerting. After I got past that though, I detected some banana and I found that it was really a pretty tasty beer. Again, it had a peppery flavor to it and an effervescent mouthfeel. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, not unlike Timecop, which starred Belgian martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ron Silver who is not Belgian. 4.1 mugs

Southampton Grand Cru – I said to my self, "I can't wait to drink this one" when I caught a whiff of the dirty laundry coming off the rim of the glass. The mouthfeel and taste can best be described as sticky and sickly respectively. The stomach lurch brought to my mind images from Belgian anatomist Andreas Vesalius' De humani corporis fabrica. Vesalius was among the first anatomists to contradict the models of Galen and Aristotle. His method of suspending cadavers from a rope to allow him to move them around to see their anatomical structures, and his willingness to examine human remains meant that physicians and surgeon barbers had a more accurate understanding of how things work. 2.0 mugs

Unibroue Terrible – The banana nose and flavor of sweet roasted grain made this a very agreeable beverage. Also agreeable to the small "d" democrat in me is the regrettably brief historical period of the United States of Belgium, which only lasted from January to December of 1790. This effort to modernize the legal and political system came to an end when King Leopold II succeeded his brother Joseph II whose epitaph reads, "Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook". 3.81 mugs

Three Floyds Alpha Kong – This beer is a full on assault against sobriety and sanity, a dangerous juggernaut of a beer. It's really sweet and I simultaneously tasted Creme-Savers, caramel, marshmallows, and probably a dozen other flavors that I missed in the hubbub. The flavor and alcohol are huge on this one. Almost as big as the planet itself. A Belgian cartographer named Gerardus Mercator revolutionized the method of showing large portions of the planet while balancing the distortion you get when you flatten out a curved surface. Mercator's model maintains direction and shape over the size of continents, which increase with the distance from the equator. He also devised a method for creating hollow papier-mâché globes, which brought the price down considerably from the wood or gilded brass spheres that had been available until that time. 4.2 mugs

Sinister Minster – I got a whiff and taste of wheat toast from this one. It also had a nice quick finish. Julius Caesar called the land currently known as Belgium, Gallia Belgica, as it was a northern province of Gaul inhabited by a tribe known as the Belges. He called the Belges the bravest of the Gauls as they lived the closest to Germania and were far away from the rest of the region. 3.88 mugs

* * * * *

KOTBR final averages:

Perdition by Russian River Brewing Co. - 2.40 Mugs
Lost Abbey’s Judgment Day - 3.43 Mugs
Lost Abbey’s Lost and Found - 3.53 Mugs
Brewer’s Art Green Peppercorn Tripel - 4.05 Mugs
Southampton Grand Cru - 2.20 Mugs
Unibroue Terrible - 3.54 Mugs
Three Floyds Alpha Kong - 4.41 Mugs
Barley Island Sinister Minister - 2.70 Mugs

Belgian beer knights

Looks like we're not the only knights who love beer. Okay, so we're not "official" knights, but it turns out that there is an official knighthood pertaining to beer. That knighthood is conferred by Belgium, and it is called the Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs (in English, the Knighthood of the Brewers' Mashstaff). It is conferred to those who promote the traditions and nobility of the Belgian brewers' trade

NPR had this segment on yesterday's Morning Edition about Bill Catron, beer sommelier at Washington D.C.'s Brasserie Beck, who is the latest American to become a Knight of the Brewers' Mashstaff.

I wonder if there's a way to start a write-in campaign for Ted Miller of Brugge Brasserie.