Better Drinking

Last Friday March 3rd was our Belgian tasting and we had a great turnout. One of the tough things about beer tastings in general is being limited by the local market availability. Fortunately, we've been blessed with a great selection in general, and kudos to Adam at Green's on Buford Hwy, who keeps the shelves stocked with some excellent choices.

Belgian beers present their own challenges since Belgium has such a huge variety of styles, and various interpretations of those styles from many different brewers. In short, you have to draw a line somewhere in the sand and hope it turns out well. The attendees seemed to enjoy the mix. While not every beer suits every individual taste (we shouldn't expect that anyway), the overall response was good and I am grateful for every person who participated.

I am especially grateful to Hampton and Susan Groover for hosting this event. Susan wanted to do most of the cooking, and everything turned out great. In fact, she owes me a few of the recipes so they can be posted here. And not only was their home open to us, but their children were present with us all night, which if you're new to whole tasting experience, should tell you something about the tenor of our events.

As to the beer itself, here is a list of what we drank, by name and style:

Orval, Belgian Pale
Hoegaarden Original, Witbier
Jenlain, Biere De Garde
Saison Dupont, Saison
Westmalle Tripel, Tripel
Duvel, Belgian Strong Pale

Goudenband, Flanders Oud Bruin
Rodenbach Grand Cru, Flanders Red Ale
Liefman's Frambozenbier, Fruit Lambic
Lindemans Gueuze Cuvee Rene, Gueuze

Grottenbier, Belgian Dark
Chimay Red, Dubbel
Trappistes Rochefort 8, Belgian Strong Dark
St. Bernardus Abt 12, Quadrupel

I didn't get any photos this time, but hopefully when we do this again, my photographer will be back in town. Please check the blog periodically for updates, new reviews, and maybe an article or two.

And again, thanks to those dedicated few who keep coming to these events and for motivating me to do better and better. I hope to meet the challenge.