My bottle of McChouffe had been sitting in the fridge for quite a long time. I don't really get to use my fridge much, or any other household appliances, which have either been mothballed since May or are still in their original wrapping. As the builders gradually clear out of the house, more things become usable, and yesterday evening the fridge door was unobstructed and inside, among all the trapped children and mysterious fungi, was this Ardennes Bruin.From the large green bottle it pours a dark and quite opaque brown. Lots of gas in here: forming a thick head which dissipates quickly but leaves a strong, sharp fizzy texture on tasting. Beneath it it bears a strong resemblance to many other brown Belgian ales: the Trappist dubbels in particular. I get dark and slightly spicy fruit; sweet and estery rather than bitter, with a slight slow-burning yeasty sharpness behind it. I probably drank it too cold as I found the flavour a little bit underwhelming: I'd expect more from a dark ale of this provenance and strength. Bunging the lees in smoothed it out, but didn't turn it into a palate pounder. Still, I enjoyed it as a characterful winter's night beer. I've set up a stash with more of this sort to see me through the cold months, but they'll have to wait until I have more freedom in my own house before I start cracking them open.
So is there a whole beer wing in the new kitchen?
ReplyDeleteNo, but thanks to some top advice from fellow beer bloggers, my new attic makes a fantastic cellar.
ReplyDeleteJust be careful of the attic as there can be massive temperature swing up there
ReplyDeleteNot in Zythophile's, or mine, apparently. So nyeh.
ReplyDeleteIt still has to be better than the shed, where the temperature fluctuates similarly, with the added bonus of occasional direct sunlight.
If you don't have big temperature swings your insulation must be shot. My attic is baltic in winter and baking in summer, which is as it should be I suppose, if the insulation in working; the heat doesn't escape up into the attic in winter doesn't penetrate down into the house during summer when the roof is heated by the sun.
ReplyDeleteI think Oblivious lives in one of those faceless, soulless modern day sprawling housing estates, just like me. The only thing they got right with these places was the insulation in the attic.
I just realised you probably mean temperature swings over a shorter period...
ReplyDeleteI do. My attic insulation is excellent, but has not yet lived to see a summer. Nor will all my lovely Danish imperial stouts, I hope.
ReplyDelete