Marsedous Biere Belge d'Abbaye

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  Yes beers have vintages too. Some of them, like this Chimay, actually improves with age. A remarkable beer this, produced by monks of the Trappist Order in a medieval monastery called the Abbaye Du Scourmount in Belgium. For centuries these monks have been getting up at dawn and brewing beer and gifting to the world a distinguished drink that satisfies the soul as much as it pleases the palate. Once you drink this, your feelings about beer will change forever.

On a recent Sunday afternoon we cracked open the little brown engraved bottle bearing the distinctive lily emblem. Taking note of the instructions, I swept aside my standard beer glasses and poured the dark brown drink - carefully so as not to disturb the yeast sediment at the bottom - into wine glasses. Reema switched on Mozart's harp concertos and we sank into comfortable sofas to enjoy the drink.

Bringing the glass closer I sensed the aroma of roasted malts, but not in the overwhelming sense that you get when you drink, say, Guinness. Instead these malts seemed to have been roasted delicately, and there was a faint trace of sweetness in the perfume. The first few sips felt slightly port-winish, with a medium-bitter aftertaste. The winey, boozy, intoxicating feeling came a little later as the strength of the alcohol took hold. 

Soon we realised we were drinking something very special, quite unlike any beer we'd ever drunk before. The strong, distinguished Chimay character unfolded with every sip. The taste built up slowly, much like the music which was approaching its crescendo and we raised our glass to the monks and felt the vibes. 

When you drink this beer, treat it with with respect. Nibble along with it some crackers maybe, and perhaps a little cheese. Listen to some stimulating music in good company and sip slowly. Let the taste linger on. 

Only 6 Belgian beers can carry the appellation "Trappist" : Chimay, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvltren, Achen. I've had the good fortune of tasting two of them - Chimay and Orval. None of the others are available in Hong Kong as yet, so I'll probably have to make a trip to Belgium soon.

Check out www.chimay.com

Look at the abbey where this beer is made www.scourmount.be

Read my Beer Page

The Chimay range of Trappist beers is available in Hong Kong in The Beer Bay (Discovery Bay), Oliver's (Prince's Bldg, Central), Great (Pacific Place), Citysuper (Times Square)

Hoegaarden Biere Blanche

Marsedous Biere Belge d'Abbaye

Next week

Sometime in the mid-1950s a gentleman named Pieter Celis revived the ancient Belgian style of wheat beers and started a brewery in the small Flemish-speaking town of Hoegaarden in the Brabant region of Belgium. He named his brewery The Cloister (De Kluis in Flemish) and the beer, Hoegaarden. Spiced with curacao, orange peels and coriander, this beer gained wide popularity and was eventually sold to the Stella Artois group. Pieter moved on to the USA and now makes another popular white beer called Celis White. 

In Hong Kong the 5% alcohol version of Hoegaarden is widely available and I've sipped a few at the Fringe Club, Central and at some pubs in SoHo. Recently I brought a bottle home and poured the cloudy, fuzzy beer into a large tumbler (best to let the beer breathe and the flavours to develop) .

The aroma was of fresh wheat and the honest-to-goodness smell of the fields. The taste was tart, refreshing and occasionally spicy. A pleasant, easily-drunk beer, best enjoyed slightly chilled on a hot summer afternoon. The orange peel, coriander and curacao add a unique, fruity-peppery zing and makes it a good friend of spicy Thai or Schezuan dishes. I thought some jazz or light rock would go well with it, but Reema said she'd prefer some instrumental classics.

Some people claim to have evidenced the taste of an unknown herb or spice in Hoegaarden. Many think it is cumin; Michael Jackson says it is probably the "grain of paradise" !

I normally avoid spending too much effort in isolating undercurrents of this and that in my beer. I like my Hoegaarden because it is remarkably different, nicely refreshing and brilliantly thirst-quenching. Try it.

White beers are typically pale or cloudy in appearance and fermented from wheat. They either go by the word for wheat in various languages (weizen in German, froment in French) or by the colour (weisse in German, wit in Flemish and blanche in French). 

Check out what Michael Jackson says about this beer

http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000113.html

Flavoured with orange peels, curacao, coriander and hops

Hoegaarden Biere Blanche

Marsedous Biere Belge d'Abbaye

Next week

Porter is an old English style of beer, said to have originated around 1730 in a brewhouse called The Bellin Shoreditch in East London where Ralph Hardwood, the brewmaster noticed that customers were often asking for a combination of the three types of beer available then - ale, beer and twopenny. He made life easier by brewing a beer combining all three and since it was very popular with the labourers who carried meat and fish (porters) in the market nearby, the drink came to be called Porter. 

Mysteriously this style vanished around 1800 but not before giving birth to some of the styles popular today - Mild Ales and Stouts. Porters have enjoyed a revival recently, and as in so many other cases, the Americans are doing a better job of brewing this ancient British style than the Brits themselves.

The Bridgeport brewery, located in the American craft brewing capital of Portland, Oregon, makes this delightful Porter, that has somehow made its way to the shelves of Oliver's in Hong Kong. 

Excited by my discovery I ran home and poured myself a pint. What a drink ! Strong, full of roasted flavours, chocolatey, tasty. Dark as hell, inviting temptation, almost sinful. The label said that this beer was brewed "without  fear or favour" and I believe them. 

After roasting the malts, they infuse it with the famous Goldings and Magnum hops and layer the drink with chocolate, mocha and nut flavours. They add a dash of malt and yeast to the drink after it is bottled, so it undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle, which brings out the rich flavour and makes it such a heady and indulgent brew. 

To make the experience really really slurpy, have some sexy icecream, maybe the Belgian Chocolate flavour from Haagen-dazs, while drinking this beer. And put on some really good rock - something like Led Zeppellin's Stairway to Heaven - and fly. 

Check out the brewery website www.bridgeportbrew.com

Read Michael Jackson's fascinating account of the history of Porter http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000041.html

Rich, dark, sexy

Icecream with beer !

This morning I opened the young 8% alcohol version and, not being in possession of a Bolleke, poured the contents into a brandy snifter. Our German friend Kathe - in the midst of drinking the hoppy Dutch brand Oranjeboom - took a few sips of De Koninck and pronounced it too sweet. 

I felt the sweetness too but also enjoyed the smooth satiny taste and the aromatic sensation. It seemed like a good-feeling beer to me, lacking the depth or complexity of some other Belgian brews perhaps, but a tasty drink that sat easily and comfortably on the palate. It is such a friendly drink ("slips down with easy sociability", says Michael Jackson !) that you tend to down lots of it until you look at the 8% alcohol label and force yourself to stop. Assuming of course that your powers of rational thought haven't got too foggy by then.  

I carried the drink for a long time through thick and think, first while cooking, then during lunch and later while enjoying the cool winter-announcing breeze in the balcony. It held its own with all the food we ate for lunch - grilled fish Bengali style, Bengali style veg dishes and even my Cantonese pork spareribs. 

Hoegaarden Biere Blanche

Marsedous Biere Belge d'Abbaye

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