The book ’100 Belgian Beers To Try Before You Die’ by Tim Webb and Joris Pattyn is one of the better new books on Belgian beer. It is published by CAMRA, available through their website. Both authors are acquaintances of mine, but the book is still pretty good. The concept makes me cringe a bit, the whole thing about lists and must-dos is a bit over worked, but I think you’ll find that the execution of this book is superb. The book is a great read, and not a bad shopping list.
Last Sunday, April 26, Novare Res offered an opportunity to try four of the “100″ beers on draught in Portland. In addition, Eric had both the brewers and the importer on hand all day Sunday to chat about the beers. It was a truly notable event…
Cantillon was represented by head brewer JeanVan Roy. Of the “100″ Eric offered the Iris, the Framboise, and the Vigneronne. He threw in the Kriek and the St Lamvinus for good measure. My favorite in this group was the Iris, an incredibly subtle and complex lambic beer. The Framboise was a stunner: bold, brash, massive nose, tart, and truly an impact beer.
The Brasserie de la Senne was represented by owners Yvan de Baets and Bernard LeBoucq. Their “100″ beer was of course the Taras Boulba. Eric also poured the Equinox, a delicious Winter beer. The Taras is an incredibly tasty and complex beer at about 4.5%.
Also present were Jean and Nassim from Moeder Lambic, one of the more interesting beer bars in Brussels.
On hand as Guide and Den Mother for this crew were Dan and Tessa Shelton, importers and zealous proponents of Belgian beer. One tends to remember conversations with both of these wonderful people.
Many thanks go to Eric Michaud for putting this day together.