For all my beer loving buddies: Here's one for ya with real balz

[markw]

You ain't gonna believe this

I guess it's for those times when ya really feel like a stiff one.

 

[jcl]

Eesh, and I thought The Rogue Vodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon ales had strange ingredients!

Rogue Ales

 

[ImcLoud]

I heard of it before, bull ball beer.... I don't think I would try any beer flavored with meat... There was a news story in RI a few months back where a chinese guy at a china buffet was getting off in the Lo mein, kind of the same thing...

 

[Adam]

I just threw up in my mouth a little...

 

[nibhaz]

Eesh, and I thought The Rogue Vodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon ales had strange ingredients!

Rogue Ales

Worst Rogue beer I've ever had! Just a kind reminder to myself why I shouldn't go the L-store after imbibing...lest I'll be tempted by gimmicky marketing.

 

[jcl]

Worst Rogue beer I've ever had! Just a kind reminder to myself why I shouldn't go the L-store after imbibing...lest I'll be tempted by gimmicky marketing.

I never could get past the pink bottle. Reminds me of Pepto too much. Makes my stomach kinda turn just seeing it.

 

[panteragstk]

Eesh, and I thought The Rogue Vodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon ales had strange ingredients!

Rogue Ales

That one was pretty odd. I did finish the whole bottle though. I think the worst one I've had was a Belgian Tripel that was brewed with charries and had "cherry juice added". 11%, but tasted like a mouthful of cherry juice. Gross. I'll take breakfast beer over that any day.

 

[nibhaz]

That one was pretty odd. I did finish the whole bottle though. I think the worst one I've had was a Belgian Tripel that was brewed with charries and had "cherry juice added". 11%, but tasted like a mouthful of cherry juice. Gross. I'll take breakfast beer over that any day.

Have you tried Three Philosophers? It's a Belgian Quad with a wee bit of Cherry Lambic added (2%). abv. 9.8% It's a pretty solid brew and I'm not the biggest fan of Kriek.

 

[jcl]

Have you tried Three Philosophers? It's a Belgian Quad with a wee bit of Cherry Lambic added (2%). abv. 9.8% It's a pretty solid brew and I'm not the biggest fan of Kriek.

I like Ommegang's beers. I remember when they first started up and I lived in NY. I could get a 750 ml bottle for < $6.00. Only time I drank belgian ales as my regular brew. I find Three Philosophers is akin to the New Belgium Frambozen, an ale mixed with a bit of fruit. I like both, but you have to be in the mood, and one is enough. Not as in your face as a full lambic.

 

[Rickster71]

I like Ommegang's beers. I remember when they first started up and I lived in NY. I could get a 750 ml bottle for < $6.00. Only time I drank belgian ales as my regular brew. I find Three Philosophers is akin to the New Belgium Frambozen, an ale mixed with a bit of fruit. I like both, but you have to be in the mood, and one is enough. Not as in your face as a full lambic.

They are one of my favorites.
I like their Abby Ale the best. Doug and his wife were kind enough to bring a mixed case when we had a little GTG last summer.

 

[jostenmeat]

That one was pretty odd. I did finish the whole bottle though. I think the worst one I've had was a Belgian Tripel that was brewed with charries and had "cherry juice added". 11%, but tasted like a mouthful of cherry juice. Gross. I'll take breakfast beer over that any day.

Are you sure it was Belgian? I personally think Tripels are the best beers in the world, and I don't recall ever seeing one with cherries or cherry juice. Of course there are so many Belgian beers maybe there is one, but I haven't drank it, just the usual suspects, Karmeliet, Westmalle, and perhaps my favorite Val-Dieu.

Regarding "Belgian Quadrupels", I'm not sure there is such a thing. There are quads, but they are not Belgian. I think the term quad started in Holland.

But, +1 to Ommegang. Their Hennepin is the first non-Belgian "Belgian style" that I ever enjoyed, and it took a damn long time to find one. Over here, it is a very high value IMO, because it's like maybe 85% as good as some of my fav Belgians, but at less than half of the cost. (Usually about $2.50ish a bottle.) I know a super beer nerd that also prefers the Abbey Ale, but having bought a number of both, give me the Hennepin every time.

I have plans to start brewing my first beers later this year, and I don't even know if it's in the realm of possibilities for me, but if it was remotely possibly to do a bottle fermented tripel, I'd feel like I was an alchemist who succeeded in turning lead into gold! (After all, the going rate for most all of the brands is about $6 for a bottle of less than 11.2 oz or whatever it is.)

 

[nibhaz]

Regarding "Belgian Quadrupels", I'm not sure there is such a thing. There are quads, but they are not Belgian. I think the term quad started in Holland.

Never one to let a semantic mistake slide I’m not a Belgian fanatic so I just lump Belgian styles all together regardless of actual origin. I know blasphemy…sorry. :dunno:</SPAN>

 

[jostenmeat]

Never one to let a semantic mistake slide I’m not a Belgian fanatic so I just lump Belgian styles all together regardless of actual origin. I know blasphemy…sorry. :dunno:

Actually, I let them slide everyday. This one was a little weird to me, because dubbels and trippels have a style associated with them, but I have absolutely no idea how a quadrupel tastes like, and I've been carrying various Belgian beers for a while. Anyway, I believe the story is that back in the days before they could measure ABV, they would "double" or "triple" the ingredients to make them stronger. The nomenclature likely stopped at triple, due to the importance of the Holy Trinity, as after all these were religious monks brewing the stuff.

As we're now on the "etymology of beers", the Hennepin beer was named after the Belgian priest who discovered Niagara Falls. I'm sure they chose it to combine the ideas of both New York and Belgium.

 

[Sgratien]

There is a park/ community center where I grew up called Hennepin park- seems appropriate now with all of the beer we drank there.

 

[nibhaz]

Actually, I let them slide everyday. This one was a little weird to me, because dubbels and trippels have a style associated with them, but I have absolutely no idea how a quadrupel tastes like, and I've been carrying various Belgian beers for a while. Anyway, I believe the story is that back in the days before they could measure ABV, they would "double" or "triple" the ingredients to make them stronger. The nomenclature likely stopped at triple, due to the importance of the Holy Trinity, as after all these were religious monks brewing the stuff.

As we're now on the "etymology of beers", the Hennepin beer was named after the Belgian priest who discovered Niagara Falls. I'm sure they chose it to combine the ideas of both New York and Belgium.

Your lack of concrete facts forced me to google quads...seems like it is a rather vague category though the general consensus is that they are strong and often have an abv north of 10%. Also some suggest that in Belgium the designation of Grand Cru is often applied to brews that might be considered quads in other regions. </SPAN>

Clear as mud </SPAN>

 

[jcl]

That got me interested. I thought for sure that La Trappe was Belgian, but in fact it's from Holland. Here in TX Real Ale makes a Black Quadrupel which is good.
The Beer Advocate came up with 209 Quads, but doesn't differentiate between 'Belgian Style' and 'Belgian' in the search. Quadrupel (Quad) - BeerAdvocate
After a few clicks I found a real Belgian ale. Makes me thirsty just viewing the list.... I'll have to head over to specks and see what they have.

 

[jostenmeat]

That got me interested. I thought for sure that La Trappe was Belgian, but in fact it's from Holland. Here in TX Real Ale makes a Black Quadrupel which is good.
The Beer Advocate came up with 209 Quads, but doesn't differentiate between 'Belgian Style' and 'Belgian' in the search. Quadrupel (Quad) - BeerAdvocate
After a few clicks I found a real Belgian ale. Makes me thirsty just viewing the list.... I'll have to head over to specks and see what they have.

How many do you think there are total, from Belgium? (I wonder when they started calling them Quads too.) I don't like the association of Quads with Grand Crus, because many of the latter aren't strong enough to be named that way. I think there may even be some that aren't even strong as Dubbels. The last GC I bought was St. Feuillien (I even have their glass), and it isn't any stronger than the Tripels I get for example.

Anyway, they're all expensive. I need to learn how to brew.

So far I have found 3 people who have offered to give me advice on brewing so far. One I haven't met yet (friend's "stepmom's son" sorta), another is a woman who lives far away now and brewed some years ago, and another couple of guys who are a bit of a drive away told me I can watch them brew at some point (however, they have a bad habit of not sterilizing the boilermaker/kettle, but I think they plan on addressing that). I need to peruse Norther Brewer's site when I can make time for it.

 

[3db]

I stumbled across this "smoked" beer from Germany. I'm not a dark beer fan but this tasted really good.

 

[jcl]

I stumbled across this "smoked" beer from Germany. I'm not a dark beer fan but this tasted really good.

Have to admit the few times I've had rauchbier it didn't do it for me. That was a long time ago though. Now that I eat barbeque while drinking beer on a regular basis I've probably developed a taste for it

 

[nibhaz]

So far I have found 3 people who have offered to give me advice on brewing so far. One I haven't met yet (friend's "stepmom's son" sorta), another is a woman who lives far away now and brewed some years ago, and another couple of guys who are a bit of a drive away told me I can watch them brew at some point (however, they have a bad habit of not sterilizing the boilermaker/kettle, but I think they plan on addressing that). I need to peruse Norther Brewer's site when I can make time for it.

Hmmm home brew must be more common here in the Midwest. I have three friends with full grain set ups and one still brewing from extracts. Beyond that I have a handful of acquaintances that are home brewers as well. </SPAN>

Personally I’ve always wanted to do it but I know I want to go full grain and buy top of the line equipment so the (self-imposed) cost barrier to entry is high.</SPAN>