Beer #3 !!!

SURPRIZE! It's a Raspberry lambic today!!!
the official title being "Framboise Lambic, Belgian Framboise Beer" from Brouwerij Lindemans in Vlezenbeek, Belgium!

                                           a lovely 750ml bottle of Framboise...mmmmm.


Here are some more facts about lambics:

- The Hops used in lambics are aged 2 or 3 years in order to remove nearly all of the bitterness and aroma, because the brewers only use the hops for their antibacterial properties.

- Many lambics are "Bottle Fermented" or "Bottle Conditioned" which is a secondary fermentation that occurs in the sealed bottle and carbonates the product naturally.



Also, before I begin I must state that I was incorrect in the previous entry where I described Gueuze as "straight up" lambic. It is actually a blended lambic that consists of younger and more aged brews (1 year mixed with 2 or 3 year old brews), it is still carbonated however. the "straight up" lambic does exist though, and is non-carbonated, and un-blended. I'm told it is very sour and I'd love to try it!
WARNING! Many bottles of lambic style beers are sealed with a wine cork as well as a bottle cap! So bring your "A" game when attempting to ingest a lambic beer; Bring a cork screw and a bottle opener!
alright! let's have a look, a whiff and a taste!

results: It has a beautiful deep, red colour, very nearly a burgundy. It also keeps a nice pink-ish head.
It smells of nothing but the heavenly aroma of wild raspberries. What does it taste like you ask? Well hang on and let me taste it!!!

...Alright, remember when I told you that Cassis was my favorite flavour? well...I think I'm going to have to re-evaluate that statement too because this is very very good to say the least. Might be stopping by the beer store tomorrow and do a comparison test. Anyway, the raspberry flavour you get is as intense as the colour. It has none of the sour/bitter battle that goes on in your mouth when you put gueuze inside it (the bitter lingering just a little bit longer). It is also much sweeter than expected. A really really great choice for raspberry lovers like myself, this is just a big red punch in the face. As the glass empties a bit more, i'm smelling a little more of the renowned "funk" that lambic bring to the table but only a little bit. It isn't up front and in my face.
To sum this up(though hopefully not over-simplifying this too much); It is a very strongly flavored brew, that looks like a mix between frothy juice and a glass of wine; and tastes almost like drinking an extract that's been topped up with seltzer and alcohol. I love a good lambic, they always brighten my day.

I hope this has convinced you to scour your local liquor or beer and wine store for some to try for yourself. A lambic is an adventure in it's own right.
Thanks for reading!!

- Beer's slightly satiated but still proverbially Parched Paige

P.S: Lambic beers do not typically have a very high alcohol content (usually 5% or thereabouts), but if you drink a bottle all to yourself they can really sneak up on you. although, is that really "sneaking" if you just down a 750ml bottle? probably not.

Goooooooooooose...or Gueuze

Alright! Beer #2 is (I hope) going to be brilliant! Tonight I'm going with a Lambic style beer called Gueuze; this particular Lambic being brewed by Cantillon, of the Brussels region of Belgium. I was first introduced to Lambic beer my a friend of mine roughly 9 months ago, and that is what really ignited my now burning interest in exploring beer. These beers are unlike any other style you will ever taste, and are instantly recognizable (in flavour). Now traditionally they are flavoured with orchard fruit or berries but Gueuze is straight up, no flavor added. I hear it's almost a lemon-lime flavour and typically sour tasting and i think in any other type of beer a sour taste would be repulsive but...in my books the lip smacking tang of a nice sour Lambic is a welcome drought.
the other types of Lambic you may see are Peach, Framboise(raspberry), Kreik(sour cherry), Pomme(apple), and my favourite Cassis(black currant).
on to the Gueuze!

 Another fun fact about Lambics: they are Spontaneously fermented with wild hops! Doesn't that sound mysterious and romantic to you?! well! let's taste it already.




What does the bottle tell me?: well...frankly, a whole lot of Belgian French, and though I speak french I'd rather just enjoy the beer.

It looks like a: white ale poured into a frosted glass mug. if Wit beers are cloudy and unfiltered...this is like a foggy amber snowstorm.

What my nose is sayin'?: It's smelling much like a white wine, it has almost a smell like a fermented grape. I don't know how else to describe it. It hasn't got that earthy kind of funk other fruit Lambics I've had. After letting Nicole have a sniff she agreed that it smelled much like a white wine, but with a sweetness to it as well.

As for my first taste of a Gueuze? GLORIOUS! I'm getting sour flavours, citrus and lots of lemon. I love the smell and taste of these so much i can't really stick to this format I'm trying out. Sip-smell, sniff-taste. Obviously I'm pretty excited and well...Lambics get my motor running. It is nice and tart all the way down, with a really slight bitterness to finish it off. Very nice indeed.
Well, I'm going to take the rest of my yummy glass'o'gueuze into the living room and calm down a bit while I savor the flavor. I expect I will thee the same way about it once I stare through the bottom of the glass so I won't bother with that.

So! If you'd like to find out more about Lambic beer, or any beer for that matter a great book to check out is:
"Tasting Beer; An insider's Guide to The World's Greatest Drink" by Randy Mosher. I picked up this dandy at a Chapters, while searching for some literature on the subject. There is a small but informative column about it inside the "Beers of Belgium" section. Other than that I'm sure there's info a'plenty on the Internet, as well as other books on the subject. If you give one of these little gems a try like I recommend, please drop a comment in my box and let me know how it went!
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for my next beer (it will also be a Lambic....but what kind?!)

- Beer's Parched Paige

Let's get started already! I'm thirsty

I'll keep this short so i can get to the beer.

WELCOME TO THE FIRE SALE OF ALE! I'm not actually selling ale, I'm consuming it. Maybe not in unreasonable quantities, but over the course of the year to come I will be drinking as many different brands and types of "Beer" as I can. No fewer than 100 is my goal, and my wallet is the limit!

My Brother in-law Kim (http://thekimtowngazette.blogspot.com/ ...I'm sure I will learn to plug other blogs with more finesse as the year progresses) first gave me the idea by mentioning he was attempting to drink 100 beers in a year, and also my lovely girlfriend Nicole gave me a great book for my birthday this summer : Beers of British Columbia; A Guide to Micro/Macro Breweries, Brewpubs and Their Beers. which will be a massive aid to me, along with other books i will be reading in order to hone my tasting abilities. I also hope to learn to appreciate and enjoy beer more than I already do, as well as to gain knowledge by tasting. I also expect to become more proficient and accurate with my beer assessments. HOWEVER; everything stated in this blog is purely the result of my own opinion. The brewer of these beverages clearly know what they are doing, I'm just letting you know what my tongue and nose are telling my brain and fingers to relate to you!

let's begin the journey.

I will be covering a lot of lagers and ales this year, but I will be focusing mainly on Canadian Micro brews, and established European brews that are made available to me. Luckily I'm living smack in the middle of an area rich in microbreweries, brewpubs and some great beer specific stores!

Alright, now then. The first of many will be "White Bark" Wheat Ale by the Driftwood Brewery in Victoria B.C.

It is a classic example of what you would call a Wheat Beer, or more traditionally a "Wit" beer.

What the bottle is telling me:"As a traditional Belgian-style Wit, this beer is intended to be cloudy.Subtle malt allows the floral essence of coriander and Curacao orange peel from the West Indies to balance the profile of this distinguished ale.

The Look: It beautifully unfiltered light gold colour that makes me salivate at a glance.

The Scent: I'm picking up a bit of a spicy/peppery kind of smell on this. which i would assume is the coriander. As well a as a beautiful aroma of bread....or yeast at least. I love that! It reminds my of one of my favourite wines "Goldener Oktober".

The Feel, The Taste: Hmmmm, this doesn't often happen with food and drink; but it tastes the same as it smells more or less. The coriander really comes through, and though I'm not usually a fan of it, but it adds a really nice...texture and flavour(obviously) to this drink. I can taste the orange peel in intervals, first right away when it touches the tongue then again after the coriander fades away.

My Findings at the bottom of the glass: This is a very nice Wheat Ale, I have tried a few before and I haven't had one I didn't like. They are great in the summer, but I'd have one any time. This one has a unique flavour to it, more so than more I've had before which are more "citrusy". This one I think is more complex, and I appreciate that very much. Although, it isn't too good to gulp. Goes down smooth like a Wit Beer should. Now for the rest of the bottle!

(pssst! what did you think? I'd love to know! Also, please let me know of some great beers you've had and if I can get them I'll drink them!)