Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Self-Opening Cantillon

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cantillon
Our friends Steve Shapiro and Gail Williams from Beer by BART are visiting, in part to go to the Cotati Accordion Festival to see Polkacide, and others. Last night we were opening beers and I pulled a 2007 bottle of Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus out of the cellar.

cantillon-rose

After opening the bottle, removing the crown, we were searching for a corkscrew (we’re still settling into our new home). I looked back at the cork and noticed it had risen up from the bottle a few centimeters on its own. It almost appeared like an unseen ghost was opening the bottle. We all stopped and watched the cork as it very, very slowly kept rising. It took long enough that Steve pulled out his phone and started video-taping it just before it popped. It took a long time, at least two or three minutes. It started moving very slowly and then picked up speed toward the dramatic conclusion. Eventually, the cork reached the end and rocketed out of the bottle, exploding up and out, hitting the ceiling. It even left a baptismal mark on the ceiling in our kitchen. I fully expected it to start gushing, but it didn’t at all. And most importantly, it tasted fantastic. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen a bottle open itself.

Belgium Beer

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belgium
Today in 1831, Belgium gained their Independence from the Netherlands.

Belgium
belgium-color

Belgium Breweries

Belgium Brewery Guides

Other Guides

Guilds: Belgian Brewers Association; Brewers of Europe; European Brewery Convention

National Regulatory Agency: Bureau for Import and Export Licences and Agricultural Refunds (Bureau d’Intervention et de Restitution Belge)

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: EU Regulations on Ingredients and Allergens

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.08%

Belgium

  • Full Name: Kingdom of Belgium
  • Location: Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between France and the Netherlands
  • Government Type: Federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy
  • Language: Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%, German (official)
  • Ethnic Groups: Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11%
  • Religion(s): Roman Catholic 75%, other (includes Protestant) 25%
  • Capital: Brussels (Bruxelles)
  • Population: 10,438,353; 82nd
  • Area: 30,528 sq km, 141st
  • Comparative Area: About the size of Maryland
  • National Food: Moules-frites
  • National Symbols: Lion (Leo Belgicus); Red poppy
  • Affiliations: UN, EU, NATO
  • Independence: From the Netherlands, when King Leopold I ascended to the throne, July 21, 1831 / A provisional government declared independence from the Netherlands, October 4, 1830

belgium-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 16 (for beer & wine); 18 (for spirits) / Since 10 January 2010, it is illegal to “sell, serve, or offer” any form of distilled alcohol to those under the age of 18 or any alcoholic drink to those under 16. So fermented drinks like beer or wine are permitted above 16. Previously, it was illegal to sell alcoholic drinks to under-16s, but accompanying adults could buy drinks for them.
  • BAC: 0.05%
  • Number of Breweries: 151

Belgium-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: bier / bière / slang: pint (rhymes w/hint)
  • How to Order a Beer: Un beer, ahls-yer-bleeft / Une bière, s’il vous plait
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Gezondheid (huh-zohnd’-hayt) / Op uw gezonheid / Proost / Sante
  • Toasting Etiquette: Wait to see if your host offers a toast before sipping your drink. The guest of honor may also give a toast. Women may offer a toast. It is polite to stand for a toast. Raising your glass and saying “Sante” is the typical toast. A toast is always made to the host or to the one who buys the drinks.

    The Flemish raise their glasses twice during a toast. The glass is initially raised during the toast and then at the completion of the toast.

belgium-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 57%
  • Wine: 37%
  • Spirits: 6%
  • Other: <1%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 9.77
  • Unrecorded: 1.00
  • Total: 10.77
  • Beer: 5.49

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 9.8 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 16
  • Sales Restrictions: Time, places, specific events, intoxicated persons
  • Advertising Restrictions: Some
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: No

Patterns of Drinking Score: 1

Prohibition: None

belgium-eu

Toronado Belgian Beer Dinner 2012

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Home-Brew-Chef
Yesterday, one of my favorite beer events of the year took place. The annual Toronado Belgian Beer Dinner with food by Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, ran to twelve courses and was paired with 21 different Belgian and Belgian-inspired beers. Including the beers that were used as ingredients in each dish, a total of 48 different beers were involved in the meal. Here’s my photo record of the event.

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The Toronado ready for its annual beer dinner.

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With preparations for the dinner going on in the back room.

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While diners waited outside for the doors to open and the feast to begin.

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Back inside, the first beer, Dupont Avril, was poured and ready for the thirsty, incoming throngs of people.

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Then Sean Paxton introduced the meal and talked about the first course, the idea behind it, what ingredients he used and the beer or beers he paired it with. This was repeated for each of the twelve courses.

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First Course: Cream of Caramelized Belgian Endive Soup. White Belgian endive coated in Belgian soft sugar and caramelized, Foret Saison, yukon gold potatoes, splash of organic cream. Paired with St. Louis Gueuze.

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One of my favorite stories of the dinner was that brewer extraordinaire Jeff Bagby and his fiance Dande were in town for a friend’s wedding, read about the dinner here on the Bulletin, and decided they could make part of the meal before catching their flight back to San Diego. Toronado owner Dave Keene wore this short in honor of Jeff and Dande coming, and in the end they cancelled their flight so they could stay for the entire feast and left the next morning.

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Second Course: Charcuturie Platter. Liberty duck rillettes infused with Itchegem’s Flemish Red, house-made headcheese cooked in Russian River Temptation Batch 3, duck heart rabbit liver Affligem Noel pâté, herbs de Provence cornichons, house-made Nieuw Ligt Grand Cru ‘03 & date mustard, dried fruit Gouden Carolus Noël compote, red beet juice & Oud Beersel Geuze Vielle pickled cauliflower, served with local ‘The Bejkr’ breads. Paired with Boon Oude Geuze Mariage Parfait 2003 and Rochefort 6 2007.

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The Oud Beersel Geuze Vielle pickled cauliflower.

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Third Course: Water Buffalo Butter Poached Sea Scallop. Smoked in Mort Subite lambic barrel staves, De Dolle Oerbier duck demi glaze, turnip purée infused with Gouden Carolus Carolus D’Or 2006, sprinkled with black truffle salt. Paired with: De Dolle Stille Nacht Special Reserva 2005.

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Arne Johnson from Marin Brewing, Rodger Davis, currently working on his own new brewery — Faction Brewing, Jeff Kimpe, from Triple Rock, and Betsey Hensley, friend of the Bulletin and former Toronado employee.

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Fourth Course: Waterzooi. Monkfish, crawfish and lobster meat mixed with purple potatoes, baby fennel, leeks, lobster mushrooms, shallots and simmered in a Westmalle Tripel shellfish stock with a sweet cream. Paired with Delirium Tremens and Tripel Karmeliet.

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Fifth Course: Lapin a lá Gueuze. Local rabbit braised in Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze with shallots, thyme, bay leaves, served with a candied kumquat baby carrots, caramelized pearl onion gueuze sauce.

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The fifth course was paired with Russian River Temptation Batch 4 3L and Dupont Avec les Bons Voeux 2009.

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Sixth Course: Duck Braised in Sour Cherry Sauce. Sonoma county duck legs cooked sous vide with a dried and sour cherries Boon Kriek sauce on a bed of beluga lentils simmered in Goudenband. Paired with Cantillon Oude Kriek 2008 and Rodenbach Vintage 2008 .

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At the halfway point. Jeff Bagby, Dave Keene, Bruce Paton and Sean Paxton.

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Seventh Course: Carbonnade of Lamb Cheek. Westmalle Dubbel stewed lamb cheeks with leeks, caramelized onions, prunes, dried figs, thyme, bay leaves and a Mort Subite Kriek red currant sauce. Paired with De Dolle Oerbier Special Reserva 2002 and Maredsous Brune.

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Sean keeping things moving in the back room.

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Eighth Course: PB & Foie Gras. Cantillon Saint Lamvinus foie gras mousse, on a hazelnut fig cracker, tart cherry gastrique, garnished with vanilla bean sea salt. Paired with Malheur Brut Michael Jackson Brut 2006.

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Pouring Duvel.

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Ninth Course: Beyond Greens. Curry-scented cauliflower, quinoa cooked in Fantôme La Dalmatienne, mâche greens, golden raisins rehydrated in Moinette Blonde and toasted hemp seeds and toasted almonds with a Drie Fonteinen Doesjel Lambic Paneer cheese tossed in a goat yoghurt Drie Fonteinen Oude Geuze dressing. Paired with Duvel.

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Tenth Course: Assorted Belgian Cheeses, including Grevenbroecker, Meikaas Boerenkaas, Kriek Washed Fromage, Charmoix, Wavreumont, and Le Saint-Servais
With Saucerful of Secrets wort honey, The Bejkr Biologlque bread, Oude Gueuze Tilquin injected dried apricots, Cantillon Rosé De Gambrinus beer jelly and assorted crackers and breads. Paired with Bockor Cuvee Des Jacobins Rouge and Orval.

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Eleventh Course: Strawberries & Cream. Organic strawberries and lemon thyme macerated in Hanssens Oudbeitje Lambic 2006 with a homemade Advocaat, Lindemans Gueuze Cuvée René 2006 sabayon, almond crumble. Paired with Russian River Damnation 23 Batch 46.

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Twelfth Course: Liège Style Waffle. Speculoos flavored yeast waffle made with Chimay Red, Belgian pearl sugar, drizzled with a St. Bernardus Special Edition Abt 12. quad chocolate sauce.

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The last course was paired with De Struise Black Albert 2009, De Struise Pannepot 2007 and Rochefort Trappistes 10.

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My dinner companions at the end of the feast. Dave Suurballe and Pete Elzer from Wine Warehouse.

Beer In Art #155: David Teniers’ Self-Portrait At An Inn

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art-beer
Today’s work of art is yet another painted by David Teniers the Younger, a Flemish artist born in Antwerp. The painting is a Self-Portrait at an Inn, finished in 1646.

Teniers-self-portrait-at-inn-1646

Here’s how one source describes the painting:

David Teniers the Younger is one of the greatest Flemish painters of the 17th century; he specializes in genre scenes, especially indoor ones, in taverns. This is what his self-portrait shows here, like a manifesto; he has depicted himself, with a pitcher in one hand and a glass of beer in the other. One can note the minute description of the place, the restrained range of colour, the attention given to details which become as many still lifes, and the brushstrokes, precise and delicate, yet not effaced.

To learn more about David Teniers, Wikipedia has a good overview and there’s also a more detailed biography at the National Gallery and the Web Gallery of Art. You can see more of his work at the Web Museum, Olga’s Gallery and the National Gallery. There are also additional links at ArtCyclopedia

Beer In Art #154: David Teniers’ Peasants Dancing Outside An Inn

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art-beer
Today’s work of art is another painted by David Teniers the Younger, a Flemish artist born in Antwerp. The painting is known as Peasants Dancing Outside an Inn. The painting is in the Royal Collection at Windsor, which I believe means the Queen of England owns it. It was completed around 1645, although the Royal Collection lists the date as 1641.

Teniers-peasants-dancing-1645

The Web Gallery of Art describes the painting:

The painting, which would appear to date from the mid- or late 1640s, is essentially a genre scene of a type that had been pioneered by painters like Jan Brueghel the Elder, Frans Francken II and David Vinckboons. The broad characterisation of peasant types by Teniers is to some extent derived from Adriaen Brouwer, but the squat proportions of the figures, with their large heads and big feet, are typical of the artist’s style. Not all the figures, however, are peasants. The couple in the left foreground, accompanied by a child and a dog, are bourgeois types. So too is the woman nearby being helped to her feet. Dress and coiffure suggest social distinctions that may give the painting extra meaning.

The inn in the left half of the composition occurs again in a painting in Dresden, but the general layout of the composition with buildings on the left, a tree with or without a fence marking the centre, and a distant view on the right is a well-established format in Teniers’s work. Otherwise it is the range of observation and contrasting actions that holds the attention. The bagpiper leaning against the tree, the man vomiting, the man near the centre leaning on his stick, the dancers, the woman looking out of the window of the inn are all memorable figures in a painting of varied emotions and changing rhythms. The figure helping the woman to her feet anticipates Watteau, who was a keen admirer of Teniers. Genre, landscape and still life are all combined in this composition, which provides abundant proof of the artist’s skills.

The second painting of the same Inn they’re referring to appears to have been done around 1660 and is also titled Peasants Dancing Outside an Inn, though it’s often referred to as Peasants Dancing Outside An Inn II

Teniers_the_Younger_David-Peasants_Dancing_outside_an_Inn-1660s-II

To learn more about David Teniers, Wikipedia has a good overview and there’s also a more detailed biography at the National Gallery and the Web Gallery of Art. You can see more of his work at the Web Museum, Olga’s Gallery and the National Gallery. There are also additional links at ArtCyclopedia

Beer Anniversary: Vanberg & DeWulf

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vanberg-dewulf-new
Today, 30 years ago, Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield launched Vanberg & DeWulf, one of the first companies to specialize in importing Belgian beer to the United States. Originally, they conceived of the company as a way to keep visiting Belgium on a regular basis and see the many friends they’d made when they lived there for three years after college, not realizing they’d be part of a larger movement popularizing Belgian beer in the states. At the time, here’s what they were thinking.

We lived in Belgium for three years right out of college and began importing so that when our companies transferred us to the States we would still have an excuse to return to see our friends and visit the places we loved. What began as a hobby turned into a career, and we have a decades-long wacky, improbable fascination with the culture of the country and its brewers.

As my friend Tom Peters from Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia put it:

Toast to the pioneers of bringing Belgian beers to the US. Don Feinberg & Wendy Littlefield have been bringing us the likes of Duvel, Boon, Dupont, Scaldis and other top-flight Belgian ales for the past THIRTY YEARS! They were at least a decade ahead of the times. Their portfolio helped me start offering Belgian beer in Philadelphia way back in 1985. Without their efforts Monk’s Café probably would not exist, nor any of the other Belgian beer bars that came along later.

Like many bars and beer establishments, they’re taking part in the Coast-to-Coast Toast tonight, lifting a glass of Belgian beer to Vanberg & DeWulf, and especially to Don and Wendy, for their three-decade efforts.

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When I spoke to Wendy last week, she said they expect about 350 places to participate in the toast, and around 200 have even signed-up on the Eventbrite page, where you can see if there’s one going on in your neighborhood. For a full list, by state, of the more than 350 events that were known as of yesterday, check out that list at their C2CT website.

Even if you can’t make it out — I’m staying in and toasting with the missus, for example — toast them in the comfort of your home. It should be easy enough to find one of the great beers they import. Any beer from the following Belgian breweries will fit the bill.

  • Amiata
  • Castelain (also St. Amand)
  • De Cam
  • Dilewyns
  • Dubuisson (Scaldis and Cuvee de Trolls)
  • Dupont (also Moinette, Foret, Les Bons Voeux and others)
  • Slaghmuylder (Witkap Stimulo Singel Abbey Ale)
  • V&D exclusive collaborations with De Troch (Lambrucha)
  • V&D exclusive collaborations with Et Famille (Lambickx)
  • V&D exclusive collaborations with Scheldebrouwerij (Hop Ruiter)

You can also find a list of all 30 of the beers in their portfolio at their C2CT website.

In addition, Don and Wendy have partnered with Untappd, the foursquare of beer. I confess I’ve only been using Untappd for a couple of weeks now, since I finally scrapped my Android for an iPhone 4s. But so far I really like it, in the same way I enjoy checking into Foursquare for absolutely no reason. It’s just fun. Anyway, check in today (and for the next 30 days) with any of the thirty beers in the Vanberg & DeWulf portfolio and you’ll earn a special Belgian beer badge.

BelgianHolidayBadge

In addition to the badge, you’ll also be entered into a contest to win a trip for two to Belgium, courtesy of the Belgian Tourist Office and Delta Airlines.

Here’s an overview of some of their other accomplishments, and Lew Bryson has a nice tribute he did for a local Philly distributor.

Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield were the first to import Duvel, Rodenbach, Affligem, Boon lambics, Blanche de Bruges to the USA. They were the first Americans inducted into the Belgian Brewers Guild in its 500-year history. Ever and always they have represented beers from independent family-run breweries. They were the publishers of the first US edition of Michael Jackson’s The Great Beers of Belgium. They founded Brewery Ommegang on a former hops farm in Cooperstown in 1994. Ommegang was the first US brewery dedicated to all bottle conditioned, cork-finished, Belgian-style beers. They introduced the 750 ml format to the US craft beer scene, and built the first farmstead brewery in the US in a century.

I first met Don and Wendy about fifteen years ago when I worked for BevMo. At that time they were not just importers, but had recently founded and built Ommegang in upstate New York, a partnership with Duvel Moortgat and others. I saw and talked to them both for a number of years after that, but then I didn’t see them for a time after Duvel bought them out at Ommegang and they moved to Chicago. Happily, I was reunited with them when the Craft Brewers Conference took place in Chicago two years ago and I attended a Dubuisson (Bush) beer dinner where we had a chance to really catch up, before heading to the Publican for a nightcap or three. I love their passion for what they do, and how much they love and value their relationship with Belgian culture and its brewers. I hope I remain half as passionate for what I do after thirty years. They’re a great example of just how much fun you can have when you really and truly love what you do.

Happy Anniversary Don & Wendy, here’s to thirty more years of great Belgian beer!

Belgium’s Liquid Communication

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belgium
The NPR program PRI’s The World had an interesting piece yesterday by a Clark Boyd entitled In Belgium, It’s Not Just Beer. It’s ‘Liquid Communication.’ I like that turn of phrase, “Liquid Communication,” though the gist of the article is that the author, understandably, worries that ABI might start capitalizing on the romance of Belgian beer as they attempt to launch their “Belgian Beer Cafe” chain in the U.S. There are already 55 of them worldwide, but now they’re seeking to franchise them in the states, too. The concept appears to be making the Belgian beer cafe as famous as the Irish bar or the English pub that can be found in every big city in the world, and probably just as authentic.

ABI, of course, has several Belgian beers in its portfolio, including Hoegaarden, Leffe, Belle-Vue and the ubiquitous Stella Artois. According to the pitch, the cafes would also carry non-ABI Belgian beers, but you know which ones would get the most attention and focus. They would no doubt appeal to consumers who are not hardcore beer geeks but have heard the news that Belgium makes some world class beers. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it’s hard not to share the author’s concerns that ABI would fuck it up for everybody. Stella Artois is not exactly the best or most representative Belgian beer, yet it’s now the one most people are aware of. But it’s as far away from what makes Belgian beer great as Bud is from Trumer Pilsner or Radeberger. But I would certainly like to communicate liquidly.

Beer In Art #143: Adriaen Brouwer’s In The Tavern

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This week’s work of art is by the Flemish artist Adriaen Brouwer, who was a part of the Baroque movement and lived from 1605-1638. He was especially known for his genre works and painted scenes of everyday life, which were very popular during his lifetime. According to Wikipedia; “Tradition has it that Brouwer himself spent much time in the alehouses of Flanders and Holland. His works are typically detailed and small, and often adopt themes of debauchery, drunkenness and foolishness in order to explore human emotions, expressions and responses to pain, fear and the senses.” One well known painting of Brouwer’s, In the Tavern, done in the last year of his life, 1638.

brouwer-in-the-tavern

Referred to by one art critic as “a particularly picturesque scene,” he describes the painting:

Adriaen Brower has portrayed a group of individuals seated at a table. An innkeeper is serving them. The style is remarkably direct. The figures are in various positions, notably the figure in the middle who is raising his glass of beer with gusto. The artist has paid careful attention to his details: the remains of a meal on the table; the knife sticking out of the belt of the figure with his back to the viewer; and the carefully executed jug in the foreground.

While I like it, I think my favorite is one that’s known by various titles: The Bitter Drunk, the Bitter Draught, the Bitter Tonic, and the Bitter Potion. Painted in 1635, some accounts say it depicts a man having just taken some disagreeable medicine, while based on the titles, others believe simply strong, bitter beer. But I just love the expression on his face. Who among us hasn’t seen a bad drunk with that expression?

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Yet another is known as Seated Drinkers, though its date is uncertain.

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Another is Peasants Smoking and Drinking, painted in 1635.

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And finally, Village Scene with Men Drinking, painted between 1631-35.

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You can read more about Brouwer at his Wikipedia page and his biography at the Web Gallery. There’s another biography at Art Table, and also a small gallery of more of his work. You can see yet more of Brouwer’s paintings at the Web Gallery of Art, Olga’s Gallery, Wikimedia and ArtCyclopedia.

Tour de Geuze 2011

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tour-de-geuze
The biennial Toer de Geuze, or Tour de Gueuze, took place last week in Belgium. In a news report on Flemish National Television, both our own Steve Shapiro, from Beer by Bart, and Pete Slosberg, founder of Pete’s Wicked Ales, are interviewed in the piece. And Pete’s wife, Amy Slosberg, can be seen nursing her recently broken leg. Looks like they had a great time.