The BeerCast

For the 6th edition of the BeerCast podcast, we stay in the divided lowlands of Belgium, and sample four more beery delights from Flanders and Wallonia. After the success of Episode 5 we continue on the fruity theme with Brouwerij Huyghe’s famous Früli strawberry beer (4.1%), and discover why a certain East Midlands town has taken it to heart. Then we move on to western Flanders for Rodenbach Grand Cru (6.0%) - a beer the entire panel wholeheartedly agree on - before sampling one of the most discussed ales in the world - Delirium Tremens (8.5%). Finally we pop southwards and try one from Wallonia - Trappistes Rochefort 10° (11.3%), the strongest beer ever tested on the BeerCast. For this episode, Shovels and Richard are joined by podcasting debutant John, another of the panellists lucky enough to have visited the country in question. But will this edition bring back any good memories for him?

1. Früli Strawberry Beer (4.1%abv)
Brouwerij Huyghe, Melle.
250ml glass bottle

Made with 70% white beer and 30% fruit juice (either strawberry or cranberry, depending on the variety), Früli is one of Belgium’s fruit beer success stories. Produced by the Brouwerij Leon Huyghe in the eastern Flanders town of Melle, it is exported all over the world, and the Strawberry Früli won a gold medal at the 2004 International Beer Competition. It has an enthusiastic unofficial fan club, who have developed Früli pub crawls in towns and cities with more than one bar that serve it on tap. Two of these routes can be found in Leicester, the unexplained centre of the British Früli universe.

What They Say - “Früli is smooth, well-rounded and packed with natural fruit flavour. It is sweeter than ordinary beers, with just a hint of bitterness and a little citrus zest that balance out the palate.” [Fruli.com] “A strawberry smoothie, with bite.” [Time Out Magazine]

What We Say…
Shovels - Doesn’t taste much of beer but it’s really alright 7
John - This reminds me of a spritzer, like a fizzy strawberry wine 7
Richard - Not as bad as many other fruit beers 5

2. Rodenbach Grand Cru (6%abv)
Palm Breweries, Roeselare.
330ml glass bottle

Beer and wine don’t have that much in common - but the ‘red ales of Flanders’ are known as the ‘Burgandies of Belgium’. The most renowned of these is Rodenbach Grand Cru. Made with a complex mixture of 20 different strains of yeasts, and four malts, Grand Cru is possibly an acquired taste - the official website describes it as “a tart beer whose flavour may startle the uninitiated.” Someone very much initiated was the late beer writer Michael Jackson, who named this as one of his favourites in the world. But will our panel be able to handle the tartness of this special ale, or will more work be needed to fully appreciate it?

What They Say - “Rodenbach Grand Cru has a gentle sour taste, characterised by a fruity and very refreshing aftertaste. It has a willful character and typical soft sour taste for which it is known and loved.” [official website] “It’s the most refreshing beer in the world.” [Michael Jackson, the BeerHunter]

What We Say…
Shovels - Winey and intense, and in no way refreshing 1
John - It tastes like Worcester Sauce! This is terrible 1
Richard - Are we drinking one that’s off? It’s just awful 1

3. Delirium Tremens (8.5%abv)
Brouwerij Huyghe, Melle.
330ml glass bottle

Another offering from the prolific Brouwerij Huyghe is Delirium Tremens, a beer that would win a ‘best dressed’ contest hands down. A fake-ceramic bottle (it’s really painted glass) with a label featuring pink elephants and dancing crocodiles, DT (named after the unpleasant alcohol side-effect) was also a firm favourite of the BeerHunter Michael Jackson. Others too, as it was named best beer in the world in 1998. Formulated on Boxing Day 1989, when a strong pale ale was created at the Melle brewery with three strains of yeast, the abv of 9% caused a few shaking side-effects at first tasting. The euphamism of seeing pink elephants served as a useful logo for the beer, then the brewery as a whole, and now a successful cafe in Brussels (the Delirium Cafe), serving over 2000 ales on the premises.

What They Say - “The first sip warms my throat and belly like an old woodstove does a log cabin. It’s lightly hopped and surprisingly malty for such an airy, sunshiny beer. The aftertaste is fruity, almost cherry. This beer must be sipped slowly so you can revel in each sweet drop. DT has a big body, a rich mouthfeel, and a long sweet aftertaste.” [beer writer Stuart Kallen]

What We Say…
Richard - Fizzy, it overflows in the mouth when you drink it 5
John - Dry and chalky, it hides the alcohol well - it’s not bad 4
Shovels - Like a strong Hoegaarden, it’s going down too slowly 3

4. Trappistes Rochefort 10° (11.3%abv)
Abbey Notre-Dame de Saint Remy, Rochefort.
330ml glass bottle

“Some find the high alcohol content to be disagreeable” says the official website for the trappist abbey at Rochefort, with typical Belgian understatement. Trappistes Rochefort 10° is the strongest of the three hearty beers produced by the fifteen or so monks who live there - the others being 6° and 8° (at 7.5% and 9.2%abv respectively). Since 1595 the holy men on site have been working to brew great beers - and all with some secrecy, as the site is not open to the public, and all financial gains from sales are put towards the upkeep of the Abbey. Our final Belgian beer on this two-part podcast is the strongest beer yet for our tasters, but will it be a worthy send-off as we move onto pastures new next time?

What They Say - “Dark colour, full and very impressive taste. Strong plum, raisin and blackcurrant palate, with ascending notes of vinousness and other complexities. Reddish brown in colour, with a very compact head and an aroma of figs, it feels like honey in the mouth. The alcohol profile is a major component in the flavour of this rich ale.” [official website]

What We Say…
John - Like a barley wine on steroids, would be great in winter 7
Richard - All kinds of things going on, and it keeps developing 6
Shovels - Plum and raisin tastes, but it’s a bit overpowering 4

BeerCast panel verdict

Früli Strawberry Beer - 19/30
Trappistes Rochefort 10° - 17/30
Delirium Tremens - 12/30
Rodenbach Grand Cru - 3/30

Panellists - (from top left) Richard, Shovels, John

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #6 - Belgian Sauce
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with Episode 7 - German Beer. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!

Windhoek, as all nerdy Geography types like myself know all too well, is the capital of Namibia. A large tooth-shaped mass of desert in far south west Africa, it is the world’s second emptiest country (after Mongolia). Yet here, 6000 miles away in eastern Scotland, Windhoek Lager has managed to find itself for sale in Lagerboy’s local beer retailer. The people behind this? The Germans. Namibia was Africa’s only German colony, as part of ‘Südwestafrika’, and wherever they end up, they know a thing or two about brewing. In 1920 a handful of the country’s independent breweries were finding the going difficult, so like good businessmen anywhere, local ex-pats Carl List and Hermann Ohlthaver snapped them up and merged the operations. ‘South West Breweries’ was re-named as Namibia Breweries Ltd in 1990, when the fledgling republic gained control from occupying South Africa.

One of their core brands is Windhoek Lager, described on their website as ‘A premium, natural beer brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516 using only the finest imported ingredients certified to contain no genetically modified organisms. This beer is mild in bitterness with a distinctive hops flavor, delivering an exquisite taste profile.’ Leaving aside the foodmiles implication of having German hops transported to southern Africa to be turned into beer and flown back to Europe, the beer itself is not too bad. A bit bitter, slightly gassy, but otherwise fairly inoffensive. It is liked by other people though, having won a gold medal at the 2005 DLG Awards (Deutshe Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, of course). But for Lagerboy, it’s a run-of-the-mill beer, similar to other German lagers. And as with those, you could do far worse.

Nambrew Ltd

After four consecutive British-based podcasts, the BeerCast blasts over the constrains of the channel and into Europe. Arguably the finest brewing nation in the world (certainly per capita of population), Belgium is a beer-lover’s dream. As such, it was a natural choice to be the first pit-stop on the global beer circuit. This episode, our podcast studio is swelled by the presence of Andy and Jess (this time not via wires and cables, actually in person), having just come back from an adventure in Brussels. We try two fruity beers, and then two dark trappist ales - with varying results. Join us next time for more Belgian escapades with another podcast debutant. Until then, on with the show…

1. Timmerman’s Peche Lambic (4%abv)
Timmerman’s Brewery, Itterbeek.
330ml glass bottle

Timmermans have been brewing traditional lambic ales in the town of Itterbeek for over 150yrs, since 1781. They are now owned by the congolmerate Anthony Martin, but still produce old fashioned ales. A Lambic is a distinctive Belgian style of beer where instead of the usual introduced brewer’s yeast, the beer is left to ferment naturally over summer in giant open-air vats, exposed to wild airborne yeast. This gives the beer a distinctive dry, cidery, sour taste. All Lambic beers are produced in the Senne Valley, within 15km of the Belgian capital. Scientific tests have identified 86 different micro-organisms in a single beer. However, many of the key yeasts are understood to reside in the timber fermenting vessels rather than waft in on the breeze.

What They Say - “Timmermans Peche is a sweetened Lambic with added peach juice (14%). Only the juice is used, as the stone of the fruit is too bitter and would change the taste significantly. For best results, this beer should be drunk from a champagne tulip flute.” [Timmerman's Official website]

What We Say…
Andy - If I watched cricket, which I don’t, I would watch it whilst drinking this 8
Shovels - Sweet and it doesn’t really taste like a proper beer 5
Jess - I wouldn’t stick to this all night, it’s too much 4
Richard - All I can taste are peaches and sugar 4

2. Liefman’s Kriekbier (6%abv)
Liefman’s Brewery, Oudenaarde.
330ml glass bottle

Known as the ‘Pearl of the Flemish Ardennes’, Oudenaarde is a town in northwest Belgium. Liefman’s are one of the area’s many breweries, and at over 300yrs old, have a long history. They produce a range of fruit and wheat beers, but are perhaps most famed for their paper-wrapped kriekbier - a traditional Belgian beer fermented with Morello cherries. Made once a year in July when the cherry harvest takes place, they are dumped into casks of a year-old sour brown ale called Goudenbrand (similar to a lambic), and left to ferment for as long as six months. The resulting brew is bottled, wrapped, and shipped around the world. An acquired taste, it packs a real sweet and sour punch.

What They Say - “Kriekbier is quite sharp on the nose, with obvious cherries, some banana. In the mouth it is rather winey, with sour cherries and touches of bubblegum. The tart fruit is very mouth puckering, and is quite lively on the back of the throat.” [The Oxford Bottled Beer Database].

What We Say…
Richard - At least this is a bit nicer than the peach 5
Shovels - I’m no fan of sweet beer, and I don’t like cherries 3
Jess - I can’t drink it without my face screwing up 2
Andy - This one smells like a farm, and lingers everywhere 2

3. Chimay Rouge (7%abv)
Chimay Trappist Brewery, Chimay.
330ml glass bottle

‘Bieres de Chimay’ are located inside the abbey Notre-Dame de Scourmont, in the Wallonian municipality of Chimay, Southern Belgium. Since 1862 the Cistercian trappist monks have developed beer, which is still brewed on site. According to their website - “The monks carry out their work with the same concern for perfection that they strive for in their life of prayer and study, so over the course of time brewing has become a true art.” Chimay produce four beers – Rouge, Bleue, Blanche, and Doree. The latter is only drunk at the abbey, and is the monk’s own tipple. It’s so secret, no mention of it appears on their official website. Very, very rarely a bottle is spirited out and finds it way for sale - but not for us, as we made do with the Rouge.

What They Say - “Topped with a creamy head, Chimay Rouge gives off a light fruity apricot aroma. It’s taste, which imparts a silky sensation to the toungue, is made refreshing by a light touch of bitterness. To the palate, the taster perceives a pleasant astringency which complements the flavour qualities of this beer very harmoniously.” [Chimay Brewery]

What We Say…
Richard - This is such a nice beer, I like it a lot 8
Jess - Sour without sweet works, I would drink this 7
Shovels - Good bouquet, caramelly at the top of the mouth 6
Andy - Too bitter, quite strong, not my thing 3

4. Verboden Vrucht (8.5%abv)
Hoegaarden Brewery, Hoegaarden.
330ml glass bottle

Verboden Vruct - Le Fruit Defendu - Forbidden Fruit - call it what you will (and all three names are on the bottle), it’s a strong dark ale brewed by the massive Brouwerij de Kluis, Hoegaarden - one of the most famous names in world brewing. Founded in 1965 by Belgian milkman Pierre Celis, who, frustrated at the last traditional brewery in Hoegaarden closing, decided to revive the style and set up production in his hay loft. Sadly a fire in 1985 meant the brewery could only continue with aid from the Belgian national giant Interbrew (now InBev). Their increasing input frustrated Mr Celis, and he eventually sold out to them and moved to Texas to start brewing traditional Belgian beer there. InBev are the worlds largest beer producer, with sales in 2006 in 130 countries, worth €13bn.

What They Say - “Forbidden Fruit is a complex beer with a mixture of malts and spiced with coriander. It is deep red in colour, rich, sweet, malty, and full bodied.” [InBev website]

What We Say…
Jess - I like it, but I have to find out why 8
Richard - If it was half the abv I’d drink it all the time 7
Andy - Smoother and less intrusive than the Chimay 6
Shovels - This one sneaks up on you and goes ‘there I am’ 5

BeerCast panel verdict

Hoegaarden’s Verboden Vrucht - 26/40
Chimay Rouge - 24/40
Timmerman’s Peche Lambic - 21/40
Liefman’s Kriekbier - 12/40

Panellists - (from top left) Richard, Shovels, Jess, Andy

• Listen to the episode here: BeerCast #5 - Belgian Waffle
• Subscribe to the podcasts in iTunes or our site feed

We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with Episode 6. Stay tuned for details…and please leave us comments on the blog or iTunes, or emails. Cheers!