The other stuff

On the periphery of the Toer de Geuze there was a modest amount of pubbing done in Brussels. Here's what came my way therein.

Our hotel chain, Thon, has its own house beer, a refuge from the otherwise AB InBev-dominated bar. Thonner'ke is brewed by Den Triest and is 8.5% ABV. That earns it "Triple Blond" as a style descriptor, but really it's a pretty basic blonde, more Leffe than Duvel, but without all the joy filtered and pasteurised out. It's a dark hazy orange with a generous head. The aroma is spicy -- nutmeg, cinnamon, clove -- though the flavour is a plainer mix of bread and banana. Pouring the last of the dregs into the glass improved the complexity a little, and overall it's sweet and wholesome but hard to get excited about.

In a convenient Irish pub nearby I encountered Ramée Blond, a 7.5% ABV tripel brewed by Palm. It poured clear until the last dregs went in and has a fun peachy aroma. I was expecting it to be a bit of a candy-bomb from this, but instead I got an assertive bitter citrus peel foretaste against a background of dry tannins, for a kind of lemon tea effect overall. The ABV is on the low side but there's still enough heat in the taste to pass for the style. This is a very well-balanced example and a happy discovery for me.

With the Toer over, the inevitable visit to Moeder Lambic Fontainas got me a couple of beers from Gent's new brewery, Dok. First up, Still Røkin', described no more explicitly than "rauchbier". It's a murky amber-brown colour and has a gentle aroma of kippers with a slice of orange on the side. A quite acrid, harsh, bonfire smoke opens the flavour. It fades quickly enough, though leaves a rasp of rubber in its wake. There's not much else going on; the only other noteworthy feature is the heavy bready body, more than is suggested by 5.5% ABV. This is a very simplistic affair, offering almost nothing beyond the initial promise. So much for Dok's effort with smoke. Let's see how they do with hops.

Uw Dikke Ma Zit Aan De Zuid ("Your Fat Mum Sits On The South" -- it's a football thing) claims to be a juicy IPA. It's a wholesome and mostly clear pale orange colour with fine white foam on top. The aroma mixes the promised citrus juice with sweet candy, oily dank and a more worrying savoury element. I thought one or other of those would come to dominate, but the flavour plays out the same way. There's a sickliness to it, aided by another big and heavy texture. The sesame sharpness helps offset the worst of this but it's still tough going to drink. If you're looking for easy-breezy hop juice, this isn't that beer. Unfortunately it's also missing the clean assertive bitterness that would otherwise make it a good old-school US-style IPA. It falls between two stools and isn't very nice as a result. Not a good first impression from Dok, then.

Up the hill to Gist, to follow a recommendation from Joe for the En Stoemlings lager Papy Vandepils. Obviously unfiltered, it's a witbier-yellow colour. There's a slightly fermented funk to the grass in its aroma. The flavour is perfectly clean, however, with a piquant bitterness behind a very Belgian farmyard buzz, dusted with old-world spice: white pepper or nutmeg. All that happens quickly, tailing off to finish as the cleansing, refreshing lager I was looking for. It's an unusual combination of flavours, but an enjoyable one.

A new-to-me Musketeers beer next to it: Cross the Desert, a 6.5% ABV blonde ale. It's a completely clear yellow with a striking aroma of bubblegum and mango candy. Although it has a big sticky texture to match that sweetness, the flavour is bitter and herbal with just a little balancing peach sweetness. It's an interesting take on the style, doing more with it than most, something at which Musketeers is quite adept.

An all-Stoemlings round followed. On the left is Пушкин Projekt, a Baltic porter created collaboration with Victory Art in Moscow. This is dark brown rather than black, and a little weak at just 6% ABV. A further surprise was the burst of smoke on smelling, though it is the clean and hammy sort found in Schlenkerla. Unsurprisingly that's a big part of the flavour too, the bacon balanced decadently with chocolate. One might be disappointed if looking for a straightforward Baltic porter, but for smoked lager fans it is inarguably delicious.

The yellow fellow beside it is Hoppy Madame, broadly a witbier, with additional Aramis and Strisselspalt hops. Only 4% ABV, it tastes lighter: thin and watery with not much character in general. There's a grain crispness, a gentle lemon sherbet and some summery lavender. I'd like to say it's refreshing, but the dryness is just too severe for comfort. Another point against it is the undelivered promise of the name: I wanted hoppy and it's really not. The lager above achieves this beer's goals much more effectively.

Moving on but keeping it Brussels, Crianza III is relatively new from Brasserie De La Senne. It's a mixed fermentation red ale, and I'm assuming from the name that Spanish red wine barrels were involved. There's a warning on the label to keep the lees separate from the main pour, and my waitress did exactly that. It's a burnished copper colour with an off-white head and a typically Flanders-red aroma: a rich summer fruit tartness with sappy oak overtones. The ABV is a substantial 7.4%. It's remarkably easy going for that: the sweet and luscious strawberries and cherries at the forefront, their sugar balanced with a distinctly tart edge. The resinous wood of a mature red wine follows, adding complexity without covering up the fruity fun. While it's distinctly sour, it's balanced too, avoiding any harsh vinegar tang. This mellow sipper is the beer I find myself wishing for every time I taste Rodenbach Grand Cru: an enhancement on the basic style which doesn't turn extreme in the attempt.

I haven't had any beers from BrewDog's Overworks tame wild beer facility. I guess Funk x Punk is the beginner beer from that: a mix of Punk IPA and something wilder. It's an orange-juice orange colour and smells of mandarin with a more serious heavy apricot Brett fruity slickness, The juice dominates the flavour: super spritzy mandarin, more like a soft drink than a 5.5% ABV beer. Brettanomyces adds a subtle but delicious complexity: nothing severe or barnyardy; more an accessible juiciness. This is balanced, refreshing, and honestly an excellent use for your wild facility.

Imperial stout for the lady: Velvet Vengeance, at 8% ABV. Lots of cocoa and chocolate in this, and while it's pleasant it offers nothing I've not tasted many times before. Perhaps it's better in bottled or canned form: the coldness of the draught version, I'm certain, strips out a degree of complexity. It deserved to be let warm up and supped considerately, so probably not the best beer to chose when you're legging it for the airport.

I don't know when I will next be in Belgium. The beer scene has changed significantly since I started going regularly. Maybe it'll be interesting to leave it a few years and see what happens next.