Review: Liefmans Goudenband a dessert-like delight

One would think that grape skin tartness wouldn't go well at all with chocolate and powdered sugar-like flavors, but you would be dead wrong especially when it comes a wonderful tradition of Belgian beers coming out of the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium in Flanders oude bruins.

I have never been to Belgium, I have talked a lot about visiting, I've read books about it and I've even seen maps posted on the web so I'm assuming all of this real. How could I doubt anything posted on this newfangled thing currently sweeping the nation called the Internet.

Why I am in such disbelief is because of the sheer magnitude of the brewing and culinary tradition rooted in this great land. It is beyond belief. That's why I talk a lot about usually after drinking several of their beers and follow up with about half a dozen high fives (that part gets pretty weird when I'm by myself).

Liefmans' Goudenband and Cuvee Brut started appearing on Michigan retail shelves I'm wanting to say nearly a year ago. At first I was pretty excited wondering why I deserved such special fortune until I realized they were everywhere and cried a little. Anywho, it turned out to be a great thing because Liefmans apparently is making some serious inroads with American importing as most Belgium breweries rely heavily on U.S. sales to stay in business. Believe it or not, even in the incredible beer-drinking countries such as Belgium, Germany and England, then No. 1 selling beer internationally is still fizzy, yellow, over-carbonated lager like Stella Artois and that other beer that is so prevalent at NASCAR races and shotgun weddings - it shall not be named.

For those not all that keen on tartness in beers but still interested to try Liefmans, I would suggest looking up the Cuvee Brut and/or the Fruitesse. They're both made with fruit juices and wrapped in paper like an adult Christmas present.

Goudenband pours a deep chocolate brown with a crimson tint, big foamy brownish reddish head dissipates slowly; good lacing down the glass.

Biscuit, crescent rolls, rum cake and figs appear in the nose. There are dark fruits like blackberries, raisins; a nice spice element rests in the backdrop something like cinnamon and cardomam and those spices follow well up front in the first few drinks. I taste cinammon, black pepper; creamy dessert-like texture reminds me of a creme brulee or something terribly fancy I never order. Think Tiramasu without the espresso bitterness.

Bakers chocolate and powdered sugar in the finish with an aftertaste that totally splits as if it has better places to go. Suggestions of sugar cane, rock candy, along with some balsamic vinegar, soy sauce.


This is something I could drink a lot of. Cheers!

Review: Jolly Pumpkin's La Roja among best sours in US

Latest batch bottled in June. Poured into oversize tulip.

La Roja is among the five regular lineup beers that Jolly Pumpkin makes. It is classified as a Wild Ale meaning that at least a portion of the fermentation process has been through spontaneous fermentation, in this case oak barrel aging. The beer picks up all the little yeast critters from the oak, hence the term - wild. Jolly Pumpkin, located in Dexter, is one of the few and possibly the only brewery and blendery that oak ages 100 percent of their beers.

The beer pours a rusty, brownish and very firm and clear like most JP beers. One finger head with some soapy lacing that dissipates pretty quickly. The nose is filled with biscuity malts come at you with lemon peel acidity, puckering tartness with some white peppercorn, winey and spritzy along the lines of grape skin. Suggestions of boot leather, shoe polish and oak.

The taste is tad a thin up front followed by grape skin, lemon peel, very tart raspberries (especially as the beer warms), granny smith apple, all rounded out on the palate with that great biscuit and breadiness, like rye bread or brown bread. The finish is fleeting but there is some tannin-like qualities that stick around. This is probably the most acidic JP beer in their regular lineup.

Roja doesn't get nearly the credit it deserves as one of the better, year-round and very available sour beers in the U.S. It's the closest thing I have to a traditional Belgian unblended lambic I have had from the states. This is something I try to have in my house at all times, it's great with dinner or breakfast. 

Weekly Beer Thoughts: The most wonderful time of the year

Fall is closing in fast. Put away those swim trunks and fish out those warm mittens and socks. This time of year not only brings on Michigan fall colors (the best), Halloween, football and the paralyzing fear of the coming winter season, but it also ushers in a new season of beers - Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest, or Marzen (German for March), is a top-fermenting lager typically displaying very clean and crisp malt flavors balanced with slight sweeteness and a very fleeting hop profile. The alcohol by volume range usually falls within the 5 to 7 percent range, and the beer is best served fresh poured into a giant liter mug and served with, oh, maybe half a dozen German sausages and sauerkraut.

(Disclaimer: That is not me in this picture. I don't think so at least)

Being the premier beer destination it is, the southeast Michigan area has plenty of Oktoberfest events coming up soon. Local beer writer David Bardallis does a wonderful job cataloguing the various beer events in and around Ann Arbor, and has done just that with the Oktoberfest season.

Cheers!

Babies and beer

I have not posted to this blog in quite a while. As a matter of fact, there has been such a lapse in posting that the newspaper company I work for kicked me off of their site. In a way, it was freeing (is that a word?) but all that means is less people will be able to see my ultra insightful - some would say life changing, others pointless - musings on beer, food, sports, life, love etc. So to the four people who read my post regularly when it was posted on Heritage.com, all I can say is I'm sorry and I hope you have recovered and have moved on to other, albeit less distinguished blogs.

Having said all that let me begin by saying Hi! How are ya? I'm not bad, thanks for asking. Skin's a little dry. I have experienced some massive changes since I have last visited this blog that I originally created with the intention of keeping my loyal readers (thanks mom!) updated on the happenings and events in the Michigan beer industry and beyond. In addition, I wanted to fill this blog with many reviews because tasting good beer and appreciating the handcrafted nature of this very artisanal and wonderful product is winning half the battle to becoming a true beer geek! Whether that is a battle anybody wishes to fight, is another blog I meant to write but haven't - yet.

But wait, before you tar and feather me I have excuses! Ah, where would society be without the art of making excuse? Well, here it comes - I had a baby. Well not me personally like the title character from Alien Nation or somebody I saw on Oprah once, no it was my lovely and super-duper wife, Susan, who gave birth to our even more lovely and super-duper daughter, Lucille Isabelle, on Oct. 4. After that, it is safe to say that I had a little trouble keeping up with my poor, neglected blog although I was somehow able to keep current with the local beer scene. How lucky for you!

But seriously folks, before we had the baby that was one of my many, many questions was whether I would have time to continue pursuing my hobbies and maintain at least a muted social life with my wife and friends by utilizing a small network of family, babysitters and sentient robots. Now, almost a year later, my daughter is "walking," (I use the quotation marks because there is a lot of falling involved here, not sure if she is meeting the dictionary definition of walking yet), my house is not a total wreck most of the time and I have only sobbed in the bathroom from total exhaustion a handful of times. That in my book equals a big wad of success!

Looking back on what has been the first year of my kid's life, there have naturally been ups and downs, moments of pure joy followed by longer moments of sheer terror, but somehow in the middle of it all I have had a lot of fun. Believe it or not, Susan and I even made it to Founders Brewing Company - Founders Fest in June.

Founders execs chose this summer festival to debut the much anticipated Blushing Monk, which marked the first bottling Founders has ever done using 750 ml wine-like bottles. Called the Backstage Series, Founders will be bottling popular brewery only beers into the 750s and selling them through special events at their famous taproom in Grand Rapids (aka the best city in the universe) and through limited distribution to select accounts.

I am proud to say I was one of the first people to try the 2011 Blushing Monk having arrived early enough to get one glass of the lone barrel they supplied for the festival. Although there was some grumbling through the rank and file of beer geeks staked throughout the festival, there was plenty of Devil Dancer, Kaiser Curmudgeon and the elusive and world-class Cashew Mountain Brown to help collectively un-bunch everybody's underwear. Monk is a fruit beer made with a classic Belgian yeast strain that shows off notes of cranberry cocktail, fruit juice, strawberry daiquiri and, of course, very fresh and tart raspberries which is the beer's main component. Don't kid yourself on this one, this is definitely a raspberry-forward beer and the Belgian-like quality takes a backseat to the fruit.

Beyond that, drinking Devil Dancer super fresh from the barrel was an other-worldly experience and there was plenty to be had. Described as a "Triple IPA," if you are not a fan of bitterness and hops, than you should move on down the line sir or madam. This beer slammed your senses with big notes of pine, hemp, hop oil and some green onion oddly enough.

So as you can see from our Founders Fest experience, fun can be ha even with a brand new baby. Just make sure you have a mother-in-law nice enough to keep the baby overnight while you and the missus attend a beer festival. You can maybe borrow mine for a weekend!

Jolly Pumpkin to host rare beer auction

From left to right are Rachel Duggins, kitchen manager; Dave Horchem, manager; and Maggie Long, executive chef at the Jolly Pumpkin café and brewery on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor. They will be hosting a rare beer auction on Dec. 7 in the upper level of the café starting 7 p.m.


Craft beer lovers interested in donating to a worthy cause can attend a rare beer auction starting 7 p.m. on Dec. 7 hosted by the Jolly Pumpkin Café and Brewery, 311 S. Main St. in downtown Ann Arbor.

Head brewer Ron Jeffries has been cellaring an array of rare beers for the event which will benefit the Peace Neighborhood Center in Ann Arbor. Participants will be able to wage bids on Jolly Pumpkin beers and blends that have never hit retail shelves – a very rare opportunity in itself.

“It’s a nice event open to anybody who might be interested in bidding on some really cool, funky sour beer,” said Rachel Duggins, one of the managers at the Jolly Pumpkin Café.

This will be the second year for the event. In 2009, more than $2,000 was raised for the Peace Neighborhood Center, which is a community resource center for children and families.

Duggins said the most expensive bottle was auctioned for more than $80 and went to Jolly Pumpkin Executive Chef Maggie Long.

For more information about the Peace Neighborhood, visit www.peaceneighborhoodcenter.org. For more information on Jolly Pumpkin and the rare beer auction, search for Jolly Pumpkin Café on Facebook.

Jolly Pumpkin nabs gold medal at GABF and La Parcela review

Jolly Pumpkin's Ron Jeffries should be used to winning awards at this point.

But having started one of the more unique brewery operations by selling artisanal sour beers all aged in oak barrels some seven years ago, he remembers when times weren't always so good.

"It's still difficult to sell sour beer, it was even more difficult seven years ago when we first opened," says Jeffries, fresh off winning a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival for his Belgian-style, gluten-free India Pale Ale, "Belipago."

Jolly Pumpkin over the years has won a good amount of hardware at the GABF, held annually in Denver, including a gold medal for their Oro De Calabaza, a strong Belgian ale brewed in the Franco-Belgian tradition of a Biere De Garde, just four months after the downtown Dexter facility was opened.

Jeffries says it feels good to be recognized at these types of events but those medals are also backed up with feedback from dedicated fans of Jolly Pumpkin beer.

"It wouldn't be a lot of fun if we won all these awards but then everybody said, 'We just don't like your beer,'" Jeffries says. "It's fantastic to have everyone enjoying the beer than to have that validated, if you will, by a group of judges. That feels pretty nice too."

Jeffries says with the Belipago, he set out to create a beer that could be enjoyed by everybody and not just those who suffer from Celiac disease (gluten intolerant). The tricky part of course being that they couldn't use malted barley or wheat in the recipe. Gluten is the protein in grains such as barley, wheat and rye - all traditional brewing ingredients.

"We sort of were developing and tweaking the recipe, we wanted to make sure that we didn't end up with big batches of beer that nobody wanted to drink," Jeffries says. "Plus, brewing gluten-free was all new to me. I didn't really enjoy the flavor of other gluten-free beers out there. It was important to me to brew something that craft beer drinkers could enjoy."

In the end, Jeffries employed a combination of sorghum, agave, chestnuts and other components. The beer imparts floral hop character and spice and is definitely hoppier than most other beers in the Jolly Pumpkin lineup.

The beer was entered into the "Specialty Beer" category at the GABF. Jeffries says the most satisfying part of winning gold this particular year was that his gluten-free beer competed against beers made with traditional malted barley.

"I think we succeeded in accomplishing what we wanted to do with the beer. To win against regular malt beers with a gluten-free beer, that was very satisfying. I wanted to make sure that people wouldn't say, 'Well, that was good for a gluten-free beer.'"

There were nearly 80 different categories of beer styles at this year's GABF, held Sept. 16 to 18, and will certainly grow next year and beyond as brewers continue to push the collective envelope on flavor profile and style. There are gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to beers for each category.

Other Michigan winners at the 2010 GABF included a silver medal to Grand Rapids-based Founders for "Curmudgeon," a gold and a silver to Warren-based Kuhnhenn for "Fourth Dementia" and "Simcoe Silly" respectively and a gold medal to Bellaire-based Short's Brewing Company for their "Key Lime Pie."

Jeffries plans on expanding distribution for Belipago first by way of local drafts and then eventually bottling. He said they are experiencing some technical issues bottling the beer but they will try to get it ready as soon as they can.

"We have had a lot of interest about Belipago," Jeffries says.

La Parcela 2010

(Starting last year, Jeffries brewed a pumpkin ale for the Halloween season in a very limited production, just 2 batches which equates to about 18 barrels. Based on the continuing popular demand for JP seasonals, they brewed 13 batches this year thus making Parcela much more widely available. In it, he uses more than 30 pounds of fresh pumpkin per batch and of course is aged in oak)

Appearance: This beer pours with more rocky, pillowy head than other JP beers I have had. It's an impressively clear and firm copper to burnt orange.

Smell: Black pepper, carraway, cumin, some waxy phenol, and suggestions of fresh mint. It is deeply herbal and spicy, reminds me of Christmas potpourri. And of course, as with all Jolly Pumpkin beers, there is a distinct and refreshing background of red wine, oakey sourness from the barrel aging (love it).

Taste: More black pepper spiciness, mint, pumpkin pie spices, cinammon and nutmeg. Again, the nose follows the taste in that it seems to be a pretty herbal beer but the interplay between the spice notes and the refreshing, sour acidity is lovely.

Drinkability: I have to say not one of my favorite JP beers simply because they do "refreshing" saisons better than anyone and that's what I love about this brewery. I could certainly drink more but this beer is probably not for everybody.

Weekly Beer Thoughts: Oktoberfest and Random Reviews

While all of you dedicated craft beer connoisseurs were out there partying this past weekend at several Oktoberfest parties throughout our lovely Washtenaw County brewpubs, your truly was doing house projects. Yeah, that's right - I'm lame, you got a problem with that?

As some of you out there are aware, my wife and I are expecting our first child in a few weeks. I feel that I have officially crossed over into fatherhood as apparently this past weekend I was more concerned with my yard (Damn crabgrass!) and various house projects on my ever growing "honey-do" list than with sampling fresh Oktoberfest and Marzen-style brews during some area Oktoberfest bashes like at Corner Brewery (Friday) and Original Gravity in Milan (Saturday). Yes, pretty soon I will be wearing bermuda shorts with very thin, long black socks hiked up to my boney knees, and saying things like, "A penny saved is a penny earned," and "Cold enough for ya?"

So I hope you all enjoyed it you lucky sacks - I do love Oktoberfest and this time of year and I believe this is the first year in a while where I haven't visited at least one place and listened to polka while drinking gigantic liter-sized mugs of traditional German brews like Marzen, Oktoberfest, classic Pilsener, Dusseldorf Altbier, Dunkels and wheats. Going completely off topic for a sec, if you ever find yourself in the Newport Kentucy area (or you know, like Germany), I suggest very strongly to visit the Hofbrahaus where it feels like Oktoberfest year round.

As a consolation, there are some pretty awesome local events coming up in October:

- Oct. 2, Ashleys in Westland will be holding their Oktoberfest party

- Oct. 2, the Corner Brewery in Ypsi will be celebrating John Lennon's birthday with a concert fundraiser. Funds raised will benefit the Peace Scholarship program for the Local Veterans for Peace chapter. And then on Oct. 5, the Corner will be releasing their seasonal Dusseldorf Altbier, Olde Number 22. In my opinion, probably the most well-rounded beer in Matt and Rene Greff's portfolio, I very much enjoy the fruity/estery notes balanced with roast and caramel coupled with the somewhat low-alcohol session beer style.

- Oct. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m., Arbor Brewing will be hosting their "Best of Michigan" beer tasting...sounds wonderful! I wanted to weep when I found out I couldn't attend their Belgian tasting a few months ago, this should be fun.

Random Reviews

Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo

(This first review was written by my friend and partner in beer, John Zengel. He is a Seibel Institute grad and has been in the beer and retail industry for most of his adult life. He recently wrote a spot-on review on Samuel Smith's Yorkshire Stingo...Stingo is an old English term for strong or double beer)

I love Samuel Smith beers but the $10 price tag has kept me away from this beer but, while visiting a friend in Michigan I found a retailer selling it off for $4.99 a bottle!

The beer pours a cloudy reddish-brown color. With a nice creamy, dense somewhat dusty brown head of foam. The nose is strong almost brandy-like the alcohol is evident. Smelling of cherries, plums, and raisins. There is a little sourness going on with the oak, a lot of dark fruits. Very complex nose, suggesting a heavy, warming brew.

The taste and body of this beer was crazy. One of the few brews I've had that didn't drink the way it smelled. It was smooth, and creamy with that characteristic Samuel Smith fruitiness. It was very easy to drink with lots of dark fruits, toffee, some sourness, a good vanilla-mellowness from the oak.

All around a very drinkable, not to heavy, complex brew that hide it's 8 percent alcohol quite well. I could of easily drank this beer all night. Glad I got it for the price I did but, I would defiantly purchase this beer again at regular price. Wish I would of tried it sooner. Has good aging potential.

Founders Nemesis 2010

(This next one is from yours truly on the highly sought after Nemesis from Founders Brewing. It is a seasonal beer that changes every year, last year they brewed a very delicious wheat-wine and this year they decided to up the ante with a super malt, super hopped and super alcohol barley wine)

Appearance: Pours flat, as the beer warms a foamy sticky head forms as you swirl the glass. A deep, beautiful dense crimson to dark chocolate color. More sticky, yeasty lacing appears on the glass.

Smell: The nose is absolutely massive. The aroma fills the air around the glass with very thick notes of brandy, chocolate, old bannanas, leather and a very distinct hoppy cedar backdrop. The gathering of these very complex aromas was probably the most impressive thing about this beer to me. As the beer warms, however, the booziness becomes a little overpowering maybe could have used some more carbonation.

I suggest very strongly to use a large brandy glass or a roamy wine glass to drink this beer, it really encapsulates the smell - helps distinguish between the varying and overlapping aromas.

Taste: More brandy and chocolate up front along with sugar-coated figs, vanilla bean. For a beer with so much alcohol in the smell, 100 IBUS and 12 percent alcohol by volume, this was amazingly smooth to drink. As if they were going for a big malt and alcohol-forward beer that you can drink more than just one of (devious bastards).

The cedary hop complexity I got in the nose was pretty much absent in the taste, a little disappointing I guess but a very small blip on an otherwise wonderful fall seasonal. There was a fresh cedary hops bite in the finish and the lingering after taste.