Orval Trappist article in Celebrator Beer News-online now

(Photo, above: the new brewhouse at Orval, with

stained-glass windows in the background.)

Sorry for my absence lately. It's been a very busy few

weeks.

I'm happy to say that I have a 1,000 word feature article about

Orval, one of the seven Trappist Abbeys that brew beer,

in the December issue of Celebrator Beer News.

I'm even happier to say that you can read the entire issue

on-line now, for free, here. Enjoy!

(Photos, above: The new Guardian Angel Cafe, and the new

Petit Orval on draft there.)

You do have to have Adobe Flash player installed.

Simply click on the page image to zoom in and read.

(Photo, above: a very old enamel plate in the Orval

brewery offices.)

Coast to Coast Toast is in one week

Vanberg and DeWulf's Coast to Coast Toast is just one

week away.

OK, so just what is this event? Well, it's a celebration of

importing Belgian brews into the USA for 30 years.

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, the husband

and wife duo that are Vanberg and DeWulf, first started

importing Belgian beers stateside in 1982.

They were the first to import Duvel, Rodenbach, and

many other hallowed beers from "The Beer Country"

to our shores.

Currently, Don and Wendy import several beers from Brasserie

Dubuisson, which are labeled as Scaldis in the USA, and Bush in

much of Europe. It's just about time for Scaldis Noel, and Scaldis

Prestige and Prestige de Nuits always hit the spot. Scaldis,

Scaldis Triple and Scadis Refermetee are also fine brews.

They also import the Witkap beers of Brouwerij Slaghmuylder,

as well as several from the new Brouwerij Dilewyns of Dendermonde.

Several other special brews, such as Lambrucha, Hop Ruiter

and Lambickx are also brought in.

Their best known brewery, though, is certainly Brasserie Dupont

of Tourpes, in Hainaut Province. With a dozen world-class Dupont

brews on their import list, including Saison Dupont, Moinette,

Cervesia, and Avec les Bons Voeux, Don and Wendy have an incredible

portfolio from this world-renowned brewery.

As mentioned in the previous post, here, I have produced a movie

and article about the brewery, which publicans can download

and show attendees next week.

In fact, I will be at The Brewer's Art in Baltimore next Tuesday,

where we will show the Dupont movie. And enjoy a few beers,

I expect. Max's Taphouse and Hudson Street Stackhouse are other

local spots for the Coast to Coast Toast (C2CT) here in Charm

City.

There are already about 350 bars, restaurants, and shops across

the USA signed up to be hosts for the event.

and....a trip to Belgium will be given away to some lucky (pair)

of beer lovers! You heard right. Untappd, Vanberg and DeWulf,

and the Belgian Tourist Office and Delta Airlines have teamed

up on this.

See: Belgian trip

For more details on the C2CT event, see the Eventbrite and

Vanberg & DeWulf websites....and enjoy!!

Brasserie Dupont movie and article

(Photo, above: Olivier Dedeycker, brewmaster,

Brasserie Dupont.)

Looooong time no post here. Ten days in Belgium at the end of

September, then ten days of Baltimore Beer Week, and then

several article deadlines soon after will do that to a beer writer.

Yeah, I know. Excuses, excuses.

(Photo, above: the brewhouse is in this building)

But there is good news for all you Belgian beer lovers out

there., especially those who like world class saisons, strong

blonde ales and legendary winter brews.

I've been working on a movie of Brasserie Dupont for some

time now. Using the iMovie program on a Mac, I've taken about

70 still photos I snapped at the brewery, along with an audiotaped

interview with Brewmaster/Director Olivier Dedeycker, and made

it into a six minute movie.

(Photo, above: Dupont's 1920 boiling kettles.)

There's also a nearly 5,000 word article based on interviews

with Olivier, with much of the history of the brewery. Much of

it I had never heard before, so I think it makes for a very

interesting read.

Brewmaster/Brewery Director Dedeycker has never been to the

USA, despite working at Dupont for 21 years, and being the head

honcho for the last nine of those.

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, the husband and wife team

that runs Vanberg & DeWulf, importers of the Dupont brews and

many others brews, tell me this will one of the first times most

people stateside have seen, let alone heard Dedeycker speak.

He's a soft-spoken, modest, reserved guy, but he's also a serious

beer lover. In fact, Olivier told me he is a fanatic for authentic

lambic and gueuze, such as Girardin Black Label Oude Gueuze.

I picked out some of my best shots inside and outside Brasserie

Dupont, as well as at their taproom, Les Caves Dupont, and the

Cafe La Forge just a hundred meters away.

You can read all about this in the pdf article which is paired with

either a Quicktime movie, or MPEG-4 files.

Each zip file download comes with small, medium and large size

files of either the Quicktime movie (best for Mac users) and

MPEG-4, which will open in newer versions of Windows

Media Player, and also in Quicktime.

PC and Mac users can download Quicktime for free at:

http://support.apple.com/downloads/#quicktime

The price for this content filled, fascinating look into and

article about one of the world's great breweries? Just $2.99

U.S.

You can purchase the movie at the top right hand

corner of this blog page where you see the Visa/

Mastercard emblem.

Cheers, and Sante!

"B'More Belgians" event is this weekend

Hudson Street Stackhouse, here in the Canton neighborhood

of Baltimore, Maryland, will have its first "B'More Belgians"

event this weekend, and I'll be there.

(Photo, above: Dominic DeSantis, seated, with sister/

sour beer lover Dyana, and their Dad.)

Hudson Street owner Dominic DeSantis just bumped the taps

from 24 to 36 less than two weeks ago, and all 36 will be

pumping brews from Flanders and Wallonia, beginning at

2 pm today.

I wrote most of the beer descriptions and consulted on

the beer list, and its been a busy week. Crazy busy.

The draft list includes:

La Chouffe

Houblon Chouffe

Petrus Oud Bruin

Blaugies Saison d' Epeautre

Blaugies La Moneuse

Bockor Cuvee de Jacobins Rouge

Cazeau Tournay Blonde

Contreras Valeir Divers

Deca Westoek X

Dubuisson Scaldis Noel

Dupont Foret Blanche

Dupont Moinette

Dupont Redor Pils

Dupont Saison Dupont

Duvel Singel

Hof ten Dormaal Amber

Hof ten Dormaal Winter 11

Gulden Draak

Liefmans Oud Bruin

Malheur 10

Maredsous 8

Oud Beersel Framboise

Poperings Hommelbier

Rodenbach Grand Cru

Scotch de Silly

Silly La Divine

St. Bernadus Witbier

St. Bernardus Tripel

St. Bernardus Abt 12

St. Canarus Tripel

Strubbe Ichtegems Grand Cru

Toria Blonde

Toria Tripel

Troubadour Magma

Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne

Verhaeghe Echte Kriekenbier

There's a good bottle list too, with plenty of

Oude Gueuze and Oude Kriek on hand, among

many others.

Tough job, but someone has to do it.

Cheers!

Baltimore Beer Week has begun!

Long time no post.

I was in Belgium for ten days, 20 brewery tours and many beer cafe

visits until this past Tuesday when I returned.

No rest for the weary though, as the opening tap celebration for

Baltimore Beer Week was Thursday night.

The event was held at Ram's Head Live and was well attended.



Today, The Maryland Brewer's Oktoberfest is the highlight among the

many other events going on around Charm City.



Tomorrow: Stillwater Artisanal day at Max's Taphouse, beginning at

10.00.

Phew. I guess I might get to sleep sometime in November....

A pair of special new brews from Brouwerij Rodenbach

Rudi Ghequire and his staff at the Rodenbach brewery
in Roeselare, West Flanders have been busy.

When I last visited the venerable brouwery in June
2010, Rudi told me he had some projects he was working
on, but that he could not discuss them until they had
come to fruition.

A couple of them have now, I'm happy to say!

Rodenbach Limited Edition Vintage 2009 was just released
in Belgium this month. Vintage 2009 was aged in foeder
number 145 for two years. The taste is described as complex,
full, spicy and refreshing.

Foeders are, of course, the huge oak barrels Rodenbach ages
its beer in. There are 294 of these massive tuns, some as
many as 150 years old.

Rodenbach spokesman Peter Buelens said: "There are notes of
caramel and green apples mixed with an oak character in the
background. The soft, sour, fruity aftertaste is long and
well balanced."

Some 37,000 bottles in 75 cl size were filled of this brew,
and about 9,000 of them are headed stateside. It has 7% abv.

I'm really looking forward to tasting this, as Rodenbach
is one of my favorite breweries! The site is really a Belgian
national shrine.

The second beer is even more special, and will be vastly more
hard to find: Rodenbach Caractère Rouge.

Palm breweries and Rodenbach's Ghequire collaborated with chef
Viki Geunes of Antwerp's ’t Zilte restaurant to create this
brew. Caractère Rouge is the first test project between Geunes
and Palm breweries.

't Zilte has two Michelin stars.

Rodenbach Caractère Rouge is aged in oak barrels for two years.
The resulting brew was then steeped in cherries, cranberries and
raspberries for six months. It was then bottled with yeast so a
bottle fermentation would occur. (Yum, seriously. Sounds like
it will be a great beer!!)

Only 900 bottles of this beer were filled, so it will surely be
a hot commodity. It also weighs in at 7% abv.

Geunes commented: "The Rodenbach Caractère Rouge has a subtle
fruity nose of raspberry and cherry, with wood and caramel notes.
There is also an aroma of violets, and hints of leather and
light tobacco. In short, it is a beer with a vinuous aroma.
On the first tantalizing taste, there is crisp acidity. The
taste is then soon countered by a pleasant residual sweetness
and delicate dryness produced by the cranberries. They give the
beer a long, clean and very pleasant aftertaste.
The three fruits used together provide an effect that is clearly
not to be missed. When I taste this Rodenbach, I just think a fresh
burgundy wine."

I hope I am able to taste Caractère Rouge on a future trip to Belgium!

Moeder Lambic Fontainas article in Celebrator Beer News

I have a 700+ word article in the August/September issue

of Celebrator Beer News on Brussels' great "new" bar,

Moeder Lambic Fontainas.

(Photo, above: most of the crew of Moeder Lambic

Fontainas. From left: Cynthia Paladini, Nassim Dessicy,

Julie Posschelle, Jean Hummler, and Andy Mengal.)

With 40 beers on draft and six beer engines, you can

spend a lot of time at Place Fontainas #8. And it would

be time well spent. Assuming you are a beer lover.

But you wouldn't be there if you weren't a beer lover,

would you?

(Photo, above: the beer blackboard. Mouth-watering, no?)

(Photo, above: pictured with the article is Julie Posschelle.)

You can find Celebrator Beer News at better bars, brewpubs,

breweries and other beery spots. Locations in my area include

Max's Taphouse in Baltimore; RFD in Washington, D.C.;

Monk's Cafe in Philly; and Sly Fox in southeast Pennsylvania,

among other locales. See: Celebrator