Glazen Toren Ondineke Tripel

Glazen Toren Ondineke Tripel Ale.

Here's one I first tried on my birthday last year, courtesy of Brad the Beerguy. He just pulled out a 1.5 liter bottle of this (!), and I shared it with friends. Then, the Beerguy went back to his car and brought another one! This I saved in my fridge for months (on it's side, above the fruit tray...too big to stand up!) for a special tasting with a couple of friends. I tried to take notes (something I don't like to do among company), but never posted them, because they just didn't make the cut. (Wait, I just found them on my computer! You ready? Here they come..."Ondineke

Hazed amber. copper…slimmed ring of whitish head.

Aroma: spice, fruit, yeast. dry, even-tempered. all in check. 

Taste: dry and spice, wild and funky, crazy, messed up and earthy. Malt aplenty, chalky, aspirin, high hops…")

Yup. Didn't make the cut. 

Luckily, the distributor came through with some kegs for me, and this one is the final beer of this Belg-a-Rama #10 that I have yet to cover. (It's the fourth in the series so far, after Angelique dubbel, Jan de Lichte wit, and Erpe Mere saison.)

A unique beer, an atypical tripel, (full name: Ondineke Oilsjtersen Tripel (Tripel from Aalst) with an unusual name, and label art. After much searching, I learned it's named for a character in a book by a local author, and the drawing is a depiction of this "Ondineke" character. Still looks extremely odd. Did they ever translate it from the Flemish. I'd be interested to know why this beloved heroine is pigtailed, nude and possessed of strangely long fingers.

 Alas, this might not be the perfect glass for a tripel, but it is the only one I have with the Glazen Toren logo. So, I'm using it.

Gorgeous golden cast, with a constant stream of bubbling, and big snowy white head, starts large, drifts down, leaving lace.

Aroma: a perfect marriage of spice and citrus, soft and sensual. Some pepper, some coriander, geting close with orange and lemon, sliding into the nose and tickling it. Sharp, tangy, then a little sweet.

Many things in the mouth. Sparkling, spicy, sweet, juicy, then dry as she goes. Fruit goes hand in hand with spice, and it quits the palate with a quickness, drying off, yet enticing another sip. Gets more and more lemon-y as we go deeper in. Each new meet and greet on the tongue smack the lips and palate again with small amounts of spice, large amounts of fruit, that swiftly turns dry and begs it's pardon on the way. Lingers lightly. Spreads just enough of it's particular pleasure along the palate to urge on further consumption, and spread further delights.

I'm liking these Glazen Toren beers. Though expensive, they're definitely worth the drinking. There's a few more out there I haven't tried, but they won't escape my grasp, I can assure you.

Brasserie d'Achouffe Biere du Soleil Saison

Another from the latest Belg-a-Rama, and the one I'd never had before. Never seen a bottle, or ever heard of it. All the label imagery I can find online shows very old artwork and design. Looking at reviews, the latest I see is from 2006. So, why have I never seen/heard of this before these kegs were made available?
I just don't know!

But here's what I wrote about it...

Brasserie d'Achouffe Biere du Soleil, saison.

Huge, pillowy head, lacey and lovely, above a deepy amber-colored brew. 

Malt-driven aromatics, earthy, nutty, lightly spiced. Rustic, with faint fruit. Special Belgian yeast must is a plus. 

This is a darker saison than we're accustomed to, but it's not in the Belgian way to cling to fast to styles. How's it taste, though? Slides in smoothly, easily, and yummily. (It's a word, look it up. Or, don't.) 

A very different version of a saison, and not one I'd expect from d'Achouffe. The beer are consistently good, and this is, as well, but it certainly defies expectations for the style. Light-bodied, lower alcohol, tasty, but unobtrusive malt character. Lacks a certain citric spark or spicy zing, but makes up for it with particular characteristics of it's own. 

The distributor made me a tap handle, which calls "Beer of the Sun" a "pale ale". I guess it is more of a malty pale ale, than what we typically think of as a saison. 

I find it hard to be very critical of this one. It really does more resemble a Belgian pale ale than a by-the-numbers saison, but any way you shake it, it's a nice beer. A sessionable Belgian ale, for sure, at a mere 4.5%, but, again, not quite what you expect when you think "saison". There's still plenty of citric snap, and slight hoppy/spicy twang that gives the palate something to do, and think about, but there's not so much challenge in it to worry anyone too much. The sort of beer I'd want one more of, and then, another. 

Corsendonk Christmas Ale

I remember the last time I had Corsendonk on tap at the Nile. A beer geek friend saw the handle from his seat at the bar, clearly marked "Corsendonk Abbey Pale Ale", and asked "is it the Christmas Ale?" This was in June, that he asked this. No, it's a perfectly fine pale ale, you ninny, but, no, it's not this. This is awfully nice, and this is the first time I've gotten a hold of a keg.
The notes I look back on are from a bottle, of course, and from January, 2003. I'm not sure if I was writing "live" yet, on a laptop hooked up to the internet. Or if I was writing notes, and tranferring them online later. Probably the latter, due to the brevity of the notes. But, they still stand, so, here they are:

 A color that straddles eggplant and plum, underneath a lovely tan head. 

Intense aromatics: raisins, plums, port, cinnamon, ginger cloves. 

A generous buzz on the tongue fueled by a great array of hops,and held up by solid malt base.

 Overall, one gets a feel of holiday breads, cakes ginger cookies. 

Very tasty, warming, delicious.

Caracole Nostradamus Strong Dark Ale

Another Belg-a-Rama has begun, number ten. Six more Belgian kegs we haven't tapped since these mini-events began. Two of them have already been covered in this blog (St. Bernardus Pater 6 and Wittekerke), 2 are new to me and need a proper review, before they depart the taps (Brasserie d'Achoufee Biere du Soleil and Glazen Toren Ondineke Tripel), and 2 have been covered in my online reviews elsewhere, but not here. Let's tackle Nostradamus from Brasserie Caracole, and peek at notes from a bottle, back in December, 2004. It's one of those let loose and let 'er rip, ramblin' type of reviews. Maybe if I were editing these for a book, I'd cast a keener eyes at these stream of consciousness tastings, but until that happens, I'll own them, and embrace the crazy that spills out of my brain when tossing back beers like this:

Bright crimson color, hazy, and gorgeous, huge, luscious head, a beigey-near-green thing, altogether a picture of beauty...urging me for the next sensory experience...


ah, this is the stuff, the nose is tickled by this deliciousness, dark fruit, vibrant spice, grape and clove in harmony, alive and sizzling...perfectly plays out exactly what is desired..cheers to that... 

A repetition on the palate, a revisitation by these same full flavors, a big buzz on the tongue, a rich, sumptuous repast, unmatchable...well, maybe...but i'm so content that I toss about hyperbole with utter abandon...spicy, zesty, rich and fruity, a tangible tingle all throughout the duration...zam, bam, boo-ram!!! 

This is my first taste of this excellent ale, and I'm damned glad to have drunk it. "Belgian brown ale" says the label, but it's not like any other brown ale, from anywhere...possesses a zest that only the luckiest and happiest should take as their succur...and no matter what you were before, when you have it, you are one of them...I said "yum" already, right? No? Well, to nail it in the shell of the nut, ...there you go...yum, yummy, yummers...

Glazen Toren Cuvee Angelique Dubbel

Kleinbrouwerij de Glazen Toren, Erpe-Mere, Belgium.

Lovely russet brown coloring, bright ruby red highlights, beautiful off-white foam, lace-leaving. 

Aromatics: soft and creamy, vanilla and spice. Some caramel, a little date. Nice. Very nice.

Taste: Mellow, rounded and groovy. Flavors of apple, molasses, brown sugar. Caramel. Spice, pepper. Raisin and plum.Keen malty flavor, with a great buzz of hoppiness, matched with yeast character. This is a great little tango, medium malt body, sweetness kept in check with hop bitterness, dark fruit and mild cocoa flavor dominates. 

It's hard to really make a clear call on this one, for it's unlike any other beer I've ever had, and doesn't fit any style there is. A conundrum, a challenge, and a call to clear the mind and seek out every aspect.

It seems close to an abbey dubbel, but lacks the depth or sweetness. Not that that should be a detriment, not everything has to be thick and rich. This is elegance, it's classic, it's sui generis. 

At first I thought I had the key to this, when I read of it's origins as a doubled version of an old style called "speciale belge", and how it wasn't truly an abbey dubbel. But now, I'm getting just enough like one, and a whole lot apart from that, that still spells a terrific Belgian dark ale, regardless of the label. 

This is elegant, sophisticated, clean, clear and purposeful. It just is. Damn good, that is. Wow. 

Every Glazen Toren beer I've had has been like this, utterly unique and colored outside the lines. This is what's great about Belgian beers, and Kleinbrouwerij Glazen Toren is an excellent example of the non-conformist spirit of Belgian brewing. 

Brasserie Caracole Saxo Belgian Blonde Ale

This one found it's way on tap, part of Belg-a-Rama #9. Caracole's Saxo Blonde. Here are my notes from March, 2005, to accompany my photo of right now:

A pic from a bottle in 2018, much better from the one
on tap in 2011, to go with those notes from 2005.

Besides beautiful beer, Belgium can be proud of bringing into being another exceptional invention, the saxophone, courtesy of Adolphe Sax. So, I lift this glass and raise it to Bird, Lester, Coleman, Coltrane, Sonny, Ornette, "the Jug", and the other giants of the golden horn. 

Straw gold color, half opaque, immense head, incredible effervescence...gorgeous. 

Nose is mostly spice and a little sidecar of fruit, pleasurable enough for repeated sniffs...airy, angelic...lovely. 
Taste? I'd say "yum", but I've run that into the ground lately...big, juicy citric flavor matched with tingly spice (cardomom, coriander, ?) Ripe fruit, develops beyond citrus into peach,. apricot....delicious. 

Mouthfeel is warm, full, if finally fading, and always replete with flavor, a ciric kick, and zesty effervescence. Never tastes like 8% abv, until the end...you want another, and another, but it'll make you feel it tomorrow! 

All in all, a very satisfying golden ale...one to luxuriate in while drinking in the complex and glorious beauty in a Ben Webster solo.

Kasteel Rouge

When this beer was first introduced, four years ago, I did several 30 liter kegs in a row, and moved on to the next one. It was a hit, but I only have 12 lines, and I can't have one beer tie up the footprint of a 1/2 barrel forever. I'm sort of stupified that I haven't gone back to it since. It's been a favorite all over, and some bars have tried to monopolize this cherry-aged brown ale from Ingelmunster, Belgium. And I moved on from one beer to the next, even while some of my regular customers and employees reminisced about it's wonders. Not enough of them, apparently.

So, it's been since July that I did a Belg-a-Rama, and since last June that I did a Battle of the Belg, and I decided to combine them. 6 Belgian brews I haven't tapped in the past year, paired with American-brewed counterparts. It was hard to find any U.S. equivalent to Kasteel Rouge, but I found one...or did I? We'll get to that later. For now, I enjoy the deep and dark tartness of the Rouge, and look back on my notes from exactly four years ago:

Fresh off the tap and into a Kasteel chalice. Dark crimson color, light at the bottom, smallish, very pink head. Pinky, pinky, pink. Sweet and tart cherries, all up and down and over and out. With a brown ale base lurking beneath. Yup, I can smell it. Taste: fresh and fruity, bright and tart. Rich and rounded. Lip-smackingly delicious. Big-time pucker, brisk and refreshing. Rich malt flavor right below, cherries on top. Nice. Long finish, full presence on the tongue, hangs heavy in the mouth. good stuff. nice for dessert, or a relaxing nightcap.

Brasserie D'achouffe McChouffe

Here's Belg-A Rama #8, beer #2, a Scotch ale from Brasserie D'achouffe, those keepers of the gnomes (but everyone thinks they're Santa Claus on the tap handle!).
The review I did was another early gusher, from January, 2003, way back 8 1/2 years ago, when I was a scruffy lad of 35. Here's what I wrote:
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Deep dark murky brown color, small, but simmering, tan head.
Aroma: mollasses, nuts, butter, cream, dates, raisins, dark rum, all the rich flavors one can imagine.
Thick, full, hot mouthfeel, full body, tingly hops.
Super-charged with hops, the flavor keeps on coming, simmers and stews, with a long lasting, rich, satisfying finish!
Takes the cake for all brown ales everywhere, past, present, future.
Round, delicious, sensuous, and utterly lip smackin'!
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that was from a big, bad, brown bomber bottle. Drinking it now, on tap...yeah, it's still pretty damned good!

One not so hidden fact about this blog, is that I try to have the appropriate glassware whenever possible. This is why I haven't boxed any glasses up for my upcoming move. And this is why I didn't choose Brasserie des Rocs Tripel Imperiale, because I know for a fact that there is one BdR glass here somewhere. And same for Poperings Hommel Ale, I know there has to be at least one. The others? Kasteel Cuvee de Chateau, I have the glassware, but it will require a full review. Not feeling like it tonight. Delirium Tremens is also part of Belg-a-Rama #8, and if you recall my entries on the other Delirium brews, this one calls for a rewrite. Stay tuned as I search for those glasses, and buckle down for some serious scrutinizing.