Drink Like A Belgian With The Boozy Beggar

On Wednesday, October 29th join The Boozy Beggar's Seth Feldman for a special beer and cocktail event, "Drink Like A Belgian," featuring unique Belgian spirits and liquors from Distillerie Biercée. Rockwell's Neighborhood Grill, 4632 N Rockwell St. 6-10pm 

Featured spirit:
Peket de Houyeu Genever - Belgian Gin distilled with juniper berries, hops and grains.

Featured beer:
Kwak - available on draft 
Tripel Karmeliet - available in 11.2 oz bottles

Featured liqueurs:
eau de villee (lemon)
orangine (orange and cocoa bean)
griotte (cherry)
noir d'Ivoirie (belgian chocolate)

SPECIAL Distillerie de Biercee's spirits & Belgian beer pairings:
Tripel Karmeliet with the Peket de Houyeu Genever
Kwak with Biercee Eau de Ville

Featured cocktails:
Three unique Peket de Houyeu cocktails will be featured - 
The Belgian Dude: Orangine cocoa Belgian liqueur, Kahlua topped with cream and garnished with a candied orange peel
The Sloe Press: Plymouth Sloe Gin, Biercee Griotte, fresh lemon and Original Sin Cider.  
The Work Horse: Peket Genever, Biercée Eau de Ville, fresh grapefruit, chai-tea simple syrup and Imbue Bittersweet vermouth.

Featured food pairing:
Chicken and Kwaffles - Kwak laced waffles topped with Kwak honey butter, fried chicken and a Chipotle-maple syrup.

About Distillerie Biercée

The Best of Belgian Fest 2014

Goose Island's Belgian Fest is always a happy and hearty way to ring in the fall season. Coinciding with Riot Fest, Great Lakes Brew Fest, and many other events that weekend made this perhaps one of the most under-attended Goose Island events we've experienced. But with copious amounts of Belgian-style beer flowing, a manageable crowd, and zero lines, we certainly weren't complaining. 

The Goose Island Clybourn brewers were indeed the shining star as expected, showcasing experimental, small batch recipes aged in various barrels and bursting with complex flavors. With quite a few of the expected players absent (Half Acre, Pipeworks, Solemn Oath, Three Floyds, Une Annee) left opportunity to spend time with newcomers such as 4 Hands, Aquanaut, Middle Brow, Rude Hippo, Scorched Earth, Bucket List and Moody Tongue.

The common theme of the menu – experimentation. Each brewery had their own spin on the traditional concept of Belgian recipes, pushing the boundaries of beer styles. Collaboration with local coffee roasters is as prevalent as ever, with local, farm-fresh fruit additions in a close second place. A number of breweries including 4 Hands and Transient Artisan Ales showcased beers on the wild side, marrying the Belgian spice characteristics with the tropical fruit and citrus esters from Brett and Lacto fermentation.

Below is a wrap-up of our stand out beers for the day.

Vainglorious, Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub
Full-bodied Belgian stout, split batched and aged in red wine and bourbon barrels respectively. Blended back together with Intelligentsia coffee and black raspberries from Mick Klug Farms. Jammy fruit throughout, sweetness balanced with the roast of the coffee.
(10%)

Robyn Dark Matter Coffee Remix, Middle Brow Beer Co.
Blonde, abbey-inspired farmhouse ale blended with Dark Matter coffee, aged in Goose Island Lolita barrels. Coffee flavor was earthy and well balanced with the ale body. Subtle spice and fruit notes throughout. (6.9%)

Super Flare, 4 Hands/Wicked Weed
100% Brettanomyces fermented IPA with tangerine zest, guava and mango. Dry-hopped with Galaxy and Mosaic. Tropical fruit forward, harmonious, zesty, minimal Brett funkiness. (7%)

Jaggery Tripel, Ten Ninety Brewing 
For the traditionalist, looking to be impressed – a Belgian-style Tripel brewed with jaggery sugar. Complex notes from beginning to end. Residual sweetness lingers with flavors of caramelized sugar, molasses, spice and vanilla. This would be an amazing pairing for rich cheeses or dessert. (11%)

Stella, Aquanaut Brewing
Our first experience with this brewery was a very pleasant one. Full bodied, aromatic Belgian Tripel with notes of creme brulé, clove, cinnamon, floral hops. Smooth caramel, vanilla, malty sweet finish with just a bit of heat that makes it a smooth sipper. (10.8%)

Two Weeks Less, Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub
A cask conditioned wild ale aged 4 months in oak barrels. Citrus fruit aroma, juicy, tart wild peach flavor with a lingering toasted wheat finish. Sweet upfront with a light, tart finish. (5.6%)

(L) The beautiful ruby-colored Vainglorious. (R) Enjoying American-style Belgian beer & football in the Karl Strauss room.

Portland, Maine's THE Festival 2013

Written by Dave Leshinski

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend THE Festival in Portland, ME. The two day brewfest was organized by The Shelton Brothers and Twelve Percent Imports, showcasing some of the most rare and sought after beers in the world, along with the master brewers themselves. 

Guests included (but not limited to) Brasserie Cantillon, De Ranke, Drie Fonteinen, Tilquin, De Struise, Mikkeller, and Westvleteren, incredible New England breweries Hill Farmstead, Allagash, Maine Beer Co, and Oxbow, as well as countless others. 

It was was an overwhelming but incredible experience, taking place in a classic New England, craft beer-centric city. Here’s a list of my top 12 beers from THE Festival (Not in order of awesomeness):

1. “Kriek” Drie Fonteinen (Belgium): Incredible Belgian sour. Dark pink color, intense funky nose, cherry flavor is “all up in your grill” yet balanced at the same time.

2. “The Green Dragon” Against The Grain (Kentucky, US): This was crazy intense yet smooth at 12.5% ABV. Classic, chewy barleywine with a boatload of New Zealand hops added to lend it a lemon creme finish. I came back to this table multiple times.

3. “Surette Riserva-Aged in Peach Whisky Barrels” Crooked Stave (Colorado, US): A farmhouse ale aged in peach whiskey barrels. Boom! Nuff’ Said.

4. “Flora” Hill Farmstead (Vermont, US): A wheat saison aged in wine barrels with local bacteria. This brewery can do no wrong in my opinion. Everything they make is a work of art and this brew is no exception. Light, floral, and tart. An excellent summer sipper.   

5. “El Cedro” Jester King (Texas, US): A farmhouse ale copiously hopped and aged in cedar with Brettanomyces. This was my first experience with Jester King and I was thoroughly impressed with their selection. All very creative and boundary breaking brews. El Cedro had a little bit of everything going on - barnyard funk, piney resinous hops and a distinct dry finish that can only be achieved from cedar aging. They also had a gin barrel aged nordic beer that was BIZARRE but very tasty!

6. “Pilot Pale Ale” Maine Beer Co. (Maine, US): A new pale ale brewed solely with Simcoe and Citra hops. Light, crisp malt bill, with a unique “juicy” tropical fruit finish. A-mazing. For you Chicagoans, it is very reminiscent of Half Acre’s “Taco Day”.

7. “Agamemnon” Omnipollo (Sweden): An imperial stout brewed with maple syrup. Smooth, creamy, maple-y goodness. Definitely one of the best maple beers I’ve had yet.

8. “Okie” Prairie Artisan Ales (Oklahoma, US): An imperial brown ale aged in bourbon barrels. Yikes...this was delicious, as was ALL of their offerings which is why it was so hard to pick the best. Okie was everything you’d want from the style and more. A robust, chocolate malt bomb with a smooth vanilla/toffee finish from the bourbon. GREAT beers from a GREAT new brewery.

9. “Mexican Cake” Westbrook Brewing Co. (South Carolina, US): An imperial stout brewed with cacao nibs, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, and habanero peppers. I’ve had some chile pepper beers before but this definitely takes the cake (hehe). A velvety smooth mouthfeel that leads into dark chocolate and spices that swirl on the palate. I was worried about the habanero, but its subtle and complements all of the other flavors. Definitely something I would search for in the future.

10. “Trappist Westvleteren XII” Brouwerij Westvleteren (Belgium): Hands down, BEST belgian quad I have ever tried. Your taste buds are overwhelmed by layers, upon layers of dried figs, plums, and raisons, and for 10.2% abv, the finish is like silk. The part that blows my mind is that this table had no line the entire time! The volunteer actually looked bored. If this brew was easier to obtain I’d dedicate my life to it.

11. “Saison Framboise” Brasserie Trois Dames (Switzerland): A farmhouse ale brewed with raspberries. Very intense raspberry on the nose and on the palate, with a tart, funky finish. An extremely flavorful raspberry inspired brew. Trois Dames was the most underrated brewery at the festival. Their head brewer in attendance, Raphael Mettler, was so friendly and knowledgable it was hard not to stay and talk beer for the remainder of the afternoon.

12. “Ginger Libation” Green River Ambrosia Meadery (Massachusetts, US): Not really sure how to classify this meadery’s only “mead-less” offering. It’s basically a high gravity Kombucha, slightly sweetened with cane sugar, pineapple and citrus juice. It’s light, effervescent body gives way to a tart, fruity ginger-bomb. I could see how non-believers would misconstrue this as a girly drink, but at 9% abv I’d slap on a pink bikini and sip this all summer long.