Served in a tulip glass (they called it a chalice) on account of being 8.1% alcohol (can you imagine a couple of pints of that?), it sure is a pretty beer. Dark amber, red hues, clear like a ruby, with little head retention (a little foam around the rim of the glass). The up front aroma is of alcohol then warm malt and a hint of spice, like cloves or nutmeg.

It has a bubbly medium mouthfeel appropriate for the style, not too creamy or flat, but not too effervescent for the flavor. There’s a lot of malt and spice flavor, with a little caramel sweetness. A bit rich, but not overwhelming. There’s a slight tartness or tang in the finish that clears the palate and keeps the beer from being too sweet and sticky.

The Dubbel Suplex is pretty right-on for abbey style, and has matured nicely. I almost wonder what it would be like if aged in a bourbon barrel, but that might be over the top, making it too sweet and rich to drink in any quantity.

8.1%

At any rate, it’s not that often that I see Hoegaarden’s witbier on a beer menu. Usually, it’s Celis White or a local hefeweizen. Not at the Press Club where I ended up for lunch today. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever had the Hoegaarden version.

It’s a very pale – think ginger ale – slightly cloudy beer as you’d expect from a wit. After pouring, it retains a nice thin foam on top, with champagne-like bubbles. Good champagne, not cheap brut. The aroma is of yeast, coriander, and spice with a little citrus tartness thrown in. The flavor is much like the aroma, crisp and pretty refreshing, though the yeastiness keeps the beer from being too light. It’s a great lunch time beer – not heavy, not too alcoholic, better than a sweet soda or some plain old water.

To be honest, I’m not sure I could tell this from Celis White, though I think it’s maybe a little lighter and more refined in the end. In the grand scheme of choosing beer based on speciality or location, both are owned by megacorporations, so it’s a no-win proposition. I’d just pick whichever is least expensive and available.

A friend gave us a bottle of Rogue’s Double Dead Guy as part of a wedding gift. Most excellent choice! I love the regular Dead Guy and it’s caramel-malty flavors. Double Dead Guy weighs in at 9% and thus is a heavier drink. Kind of a dessert beer, if you will, without being sweet. Rogue suggests you pair DDG with pork, so perhaps it also works with pork barrel politics. This beer will numb the pain of the election season and ensure you have a happy Fall.

Then, while perusing beer at the Tillamook Fred Meyer, I spotted Rogue’s Mom Hefeweizen. That sounded like a delicious pairing with the fresh crab we’d garnered at an oceanside dock! It’s a gorgeous pale honey colored beer with a bit of wheaten haze. Brewed with coriander and ginger, it has a lovely crisp wheaty flavor and a zesty ginger finish. It tastes like summer in a bottle! Forget the $700 billion bailout plan, we should just send everyone a Mom Hefeweizen and their troubles will melt away just like their financial stability.

So forget so-called mavericks, stick with the well-known Rogues!

Luckily, there are lots of other beer styles to enjoy! Let’s just hope I can keep my Wits about me in the future.

As for my second duvel, it’s pretty much done fermenting, right on schedule. I’ll have to wrangle some more bottles for that one.

Next up: another batch of kolsch because, well, I’ve consumed much of the last one. Oops!

On the other end of the fermentation spectrum, the duvel is quite active which I find a little surprising and worrisome. The last few times I’ve made this recipe, the yeast takes a good 3–5 days to get active in the wort. This time, I had solid fermentation within 24 hours. Unbelievable! I’ve brewed this recipe at least five times before, and each time the fermentation was so slow to start that I thought my yeast might be dead. Because this is abnormal in my experience, I’m definitely going to make more duvel next week just in case the first batch of the season doesn’t turn out right.

This brewing endeavor will have all three of my carboys in use for who knows how long. I may have to borrow one from a friend if I’m going to make more kolsch and possibly some porter for the wedding. So much beer, so little time!

If you’re not familiar with the duvel style, it’s much like a Belgian golden ale with an alcohol level of around 8%. Strong, devilish stuff indeed! Starting with Brewferm’s Diabolo extract kit, the recipe calls for 2 pounds of honey to be added to the boil. Simple and delicious!

This duvel has long been a favorite in our house, and its delicate sweet spiciness and crisp flavor make it an excellent toast beer. This beer won’t be ready to drink 9-12 weeks since it ferments for 3 weeks and conditions for 6 in the bottle. Now I just have to decide if 5 gallons of it is enough or if I’ll need to make more…

I was worried that Roots was too small a location for the event, but it turns out that they’ve taken over the retail storefront and warehouse next door, so there was plenty of room. The breweries set up a long table with taps in the warehouse, and people milled about sampling beers or found tables in the main Roots dining space. We found a table just on the edge of the crowds, so we could still hear each other talking.

The way the Cheers to Belgian Beers event works is that last year’s winner (Roots) is the host of the next year’s event and gets to choose the yeast strain that all the breweries use. Neat! 15 breweries used the same yeast strain to create different Belgian-style beers. I got through 9 of the 15 beers before my taste buds tired out and all the beer started to taste the same.

Up first was Lompoc Brewing’s Le Diablesse, a Belgian Red Ale. I have to admit that I started with Lompoc because Jon, the brewer from the Fifth Quadrant, was pouring so it was a great chance to say howdy. I play soccer with his wife and get to sample Jon’s homebrews from time to time, which are pretty awesome. La Diablesse was a lovely ruby brown, with a malty flavor and clove, banana, and coriander notes. The finish had a mild coffee bitterness, and almost a dry chocolate flavor to it.

For something completely different, I tried Philadelphia’s Flemish Brown next. It was much as expected; a tart, sour beer with an increasingly sharp flavor as it warmed. While nearly true to the style, there were some strangely chocolate notes to the flavor that made it taste like a mix of of a Flemish Brown and a regular ale. I think it just wasn’t quite fruity and sour enough for my liking. It was exciting to see a local brewery trying out the style, though!

Back to the malty side of things, I had the Lucky Lab Malt Bomb. It’s just that! A very strong, sweet vanilla nose, malty flavor, and very smooth. What it wasn’t is very Belgian. It lacked any of the esters or spicy flavors and aromas I associate with Belgian-style beers. I did enjoy it, and would certainly have it again, but it wasn’t a winning brew for the event.

Lompoc Brewing brought two beers along, so I had to try their second option. Mon Cheri is a Belgian Golden ale, and it truly exemplified the style. Lovely clear, golden color, banana esters in the nose, plenty of clove and coriander flavors and aroma. Malty and sweet, but balanced, warmed nicely. It went down like smooth liquid gold and I wished I had more of it.

Since Roots was the event winner last year, I had to try their brew for this year. Sadly, the Farmhouse Bruin was pretty lackluster. Some sweetness and clove flavors, but ultimately not that exciting. It was kinda just a beer, more farmhouse than Belgian, and not even an interesting farmhouse style.

By 3pm, Hopworks had finally arrived and set up their keg of El Diablo. I hadn’t tried that last week when I went to Hopworks, so now was my chance! They served up a very generous taste (nearly a full glass) of lovely golden elixir. It had a strong cereal and malt aroma, plenty of banana and clove esters, and was quite drinkable. For an 8.9% beer it went down awfully easily. Dangerous!

Alameda Brewing’s Lucky Devil Belgian Golden Strong ale was pretty good. I don’t typically love their beers, but this one was better than most. Sweet, malty, a light citrus flavor and aroma to it. The sweetness was stronger as it warmed, which I didn’t love. It was a touch cloying.

By my 8th and 9th tastes, my taste buds were pretty fatigued. Max’s Fanno Creek Brewpub brought The Reverend’s Daughter, and it was simply thin and unimpressive after the Lucky Devil. And BJ’s Redrum Belgian ale just tasted like plain ol’ beer. That’s when I knew it was time to pack it in and ride my bike back home.

In the end, I cast my vote for Lompoc Brewing’s Mon Cheri as the winning beer of the event. It was the most authentically Belgian, enjoyable, and memorable of the bunch. I hope it wins!

Bison Brewing’s Belgian-style ale

This Belgian-style “tripel” ale is brewed with coriander, though I don’t really smell or taste it much. It does have a nice golden honey color, and it’s super clear. The aroma is crisp, slightly of honey, and has a cereal aroma I associate with Belgian beers. It’s like a hint of Grape Nuts, which sounds weird but really isn’t so bad. It’s nicely carbonated; fine bubbles on the tongue, but they don’t cover the flavor of the beer.

At 8.1% alcohol, this beer has that “warming” quality I like in a Belgian tripel. It seems to add to the malty flavor, and it heightens the banana and spice flavors in the finish. Kathy said this beer tastes grapey, which I don’t taste, but there you go!

I think I’d buy this again if it were on sale. $3.29 for 22oz isn’t so bad, especially for an organic beer, but on sale it would be even better.