Lambic

Lambic (style beer)
(5 gallons)
5/10/2008

9.0 lbs Belgian Pilsner
6.0 lbs torrified wheat
? SRM

4 oz Crystal (180 min)
(whole leaf hops, baked in oven @ 200 for about 2 hours)
? IBU

Yeast: WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix

Step mash:
Protien rest 30 min @ 130
Sacc rest 30 min @ 150
Mash out 10 min @ 165

180 minute boil

1.080 OG on 5/10/08
1.008 FG on 3/26/09

Went for a more traditional grain bill and mash than my prior lambic. The 1.080 was higher than I was shooting for.

Westvleteren

We visited the Westvleteren monastery - or at least the adjacent bar - in summer 2007, and we picked up a few bottles, at a very reasonable price, in Bruges, which we finally broke into in May 2008. The beers are widely reputed as being among the world's finest, although we do sometimes wonder if that's as much because they are hard to get as anything else.

We started with the Westvleteren Blond (5.8% abv), which is the beer that the monks themselves are apt to drink. It has a wonderfully intense aroma, with hints of honey, and there's a faint hint of honey in the taste, too. It's a complex beer, crisply carbonated with a large number of bubbles on the tongue. There were some disagreements as to whether it was sweet or dry, and while we agreed that it had some herbal/spicy qualities, some chose coriander and others cardamom as the dominant flavour. 

We moved on to the Westvleteren 8 (8% abv) next. Again, the beer is intensely carbonated, and there was no disagreement this time that it was a much drier beer. The most prominent flavour was that of raisins, although there's no mistaking that this is a beer. Given the jump up in alcohol content, it was surprisingly light, even refreshing, in taste. 

We concluded with Westvleteren 12 (10.2% abv),which has an exceptionally intense flavour, more obviously alcoholic even on the tongue. The beer had strong hints of sherry and port and fruit flavours. It was much sweeter than the other two brews, and tasted like a real after-dinner beer rather than a beer to drink with food. It wasn't as carbonated as its less alcoholic siblings.

After much mulling and swirling and glass exchanging, the consensus favourite was the Westvleteren 8: the final few sips from that bottle were in notably high demand.

Saison Noire

Saison Noire
(5 gallons)
5/4/2008

10.0 lbs Belgian Pilsner
0.5 lbs CaraFa II
1 t gypsum
20.8 SRM

2 oz Liberty (60 min)
1 oz Willamette (15 min)
0.5 oz Willamette (2 min)
46.2 IBU

Yeast: WLP570 Belgian Golden with starter

Infusion mash 150 degrees for 90 minutes

1.055 OG on 5/4
1.015 secondary on 5/10
1.008 keg on 6/9

Raftman

Rating: 2

Unibroue

Chambly, Quebec, Canada
Style:
ABV: 5.5%
341 ml bottle

One of the beers we brought back from the great Gaspe road trip of 2008, though I think you can get this in the states. Orange color with plenty of tiny bubbles. Lighter in alchohol and body than many other Unibroue beers that I've had. Light smokey taste, but I'd have a hard time saying this is whiskey inspired.

Very drinkable for a Unibroue, but still has that distinct taste.