Euro Beer #24 - Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij

In the fall of 2007 my wife and I traveled through Europe for 10 weeks. We ate a lot of food and drank of a lot of beer (and wine). Not enough food, not enough beer. One more in Brussels:



Ok, I lied. I forgot about Cantillon. This was where we had our last beer in Brussels. We stopped by on the way to the train station for a tour and some tastings. Love this place.



Empty coolship.





Funkin.





Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij
Rue Gheude 56
Brussels

Now off to Paris.

Oaklander

I grew up in Winter Garden, FL (and Windermere, but mostly Winter Garden). The next town over was Oakland. Stuck between two large lakes and chalk full of mighty oak (duh) trees, it is quite the picturesque town. But they ain't got shit going on beer-wise.

Oakland, CA is a different situation. Whilst in SF last week, I took the quick trip over to Oakland to meet up with a college friend at some of their finer beer joints. The Trappist was our first stop.

Sorry for the shitty photo. All I had was my video camera. This is a still grab from a video. Anyway, the Trappist was a tidy, pretty little bar. Great beers on tap and in bottles, belgian heavy. It was a bit overwhelming, because I knew I could only have 2-3. Must choose wisely.

We grabbed a few, before heading over to Beer Revolution (more on that later). I had a Cantillon Iris and a Black Albert. Both stellar. The Iris was the standout. I want more, much more.

Speedy McFeely

Postman left a mysterious package at my door today.



Hidden inside were two brews: Long Trail Pollenator and Cantillon Kriek.



The Cantillon was bottled in October 2007, which is awesome, because we visited the brewery at the same time.

Proof:

Mostly Good

Sunday some local BeerAdvocates got together for our monthly tasting. The Flying Saucer was kind enough to host us this month. Some notable appearances:



3 year old Duvel. The crispness of a fresh bottle was long gone. What was left was fruity and musty. Muted. Interesting.



Midnight Sun Descent Imperial Abbey Ale. WTF, imperial abbey ale? Hogwash. Marketing. Still, pretty tasty. For almost 9 percent, it “drank good.”



Schlafly Reserve Barrel Aged Imperial Stout. This one reminded me a lot of the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, but better. Others did not agree. But come on, who are you going to believe? Me, right? Bourbn-y, obviously.



Cantillon Saint Lamvinus. Cantillon never misses with me. I’m a Cantillon whore.



Allagash Victor. This is on my list cause I brought it. That’s it. It was good though.

Bell’s Third Coast Old Ale. Wow, this was my favorite. Not sure which vintage it was. It did have some age on it for sure. Delicious. Smooth, butterscotch-y, dark fruits. I want more.

Lou Pepe Kriek

We should have named our kid Lou Pepe. Sofia would have loved that. Awhile back I traded for a bottle of Cantillon Lou Pepe to help celebrate the arrival of our first born. It was specifically for Sofia and meant to be her "official" first beer after pregnancy. Tonight we drink it.