Volume 15 Issue 11

BBrasserierasserie DDupontupont TTourpes,ourpes, WWallonia,allonia, BBelgiumelgium

AAvecvec LesLes BBonsons VVoeuxoeux

In reflecting on the provenanceovenance eextendingxtending back to the mid-1700s. Its has maintained its time-proven and characteristics off classic ssuccessuccess oonly grew in subsequent methods and attention to detail. Belgian in his Greatat BeBeersers yyears.ears. OOlivier Dedeycker, the Their extended bottle-conditioning of Belgium, our Club’s ffounderounder ffourthourth ggeneration of the Dupont periods provide their with a Michael Jackson wrote,e, ““TheThe ffamilyamily ttoo serve as head brewer, fine-bubbled effervescence and the most famous Saison sstraintrain is ccurrentlyurrently runs the show. Since potential for lengthy cellaring, while that of the .wery. ‘‘AA tthehe mmodesto (now-legendary) their direct-flame kettles continue to brewer with the Dupont yyeasteast is DDedeyckeredeyck began there as an instill that (seemingly magical) touch touched by God,’ I was ttoldold bbyy eengineernginee in 1990, Brasserie of caramelization. Details matter. a proud possessor.” It’s pprettyretty DDupontupont has gradually expanded Brasserie Dupont is regularly cited as difficult not to be enamoredmored its prproduction,o initiated regular one of the planet’s finest breweries. by the beers of Brasserieserie expoexport (we’ve been drinking Men’s Journal previously declared Dupont. mumuchc better since 1992), their Saison Dupont “The Best ddevelopede a rigorously in the World,” and we’d have a hard The Dupont brewery wass ccertified lineup of organic time arguing with that. Offerings like formally established in bbeers, and branched out the core Saison, the Moinettes, and 1920, when the father further with beers like the featured Avec les Bons Voeux of agronomist Louis Monk’s Stout and Posca continue to challenge both American Dupont purchased Rustica. We featured the palates (via that spicy Dupont yeast) it for his son to latter, a mind-blowing (Continued on next page) discourage him from Gallo-Roman beer, moving to Canada. back in 2011, followed SPECIFICATIONS Their loss is the beer by Dupont’s La Bière De Style world’s gain, and Louis Beloeil (a glorious strong Strong Holiday Saison found himself with saison) a few years Alcohol By Volume an historical farm- afterwards. 9.5% brewery renowned for Serving Temperature its seasonal and honey Through all of this, 50–57° F beers, with a heritage Brasserie Dupont Suggested Glassware Chalice, Goblet, Tulip or Pinot Glass and American brewers (who make yeast-driven set of aromatics lands Dupont profile across so many of their great efforts to replicate its effects as soon as this gets poured: pepper, delicious beers. A pepper-forward here). We are pleased to offer our dough, honey... approach, the resulting leanness—the members this especially tasty offering way it feels like one of those magical from Brasserie Dupont, one of the The phenolic top notes in the aroma bags that you can fit a million things world’s truly inspirational farmhouse arrive as white pepper plus a touch in but also fold up into your pocket. breweries. of clove—held aloft by pillowy This is one of the magic, black-hole sourdough, vanilla, almond and pouches. Honeyed, peppery depth. So Avec Les Bons Voeux candied orange. There’s an abundance many kind Rare Beer Club members of fruit, all the way from fresh apple have expressed their enjoyment of our We’ve had the opportunity to sample and banana to elements more like Belgian beer features in the past, and many different limited releases from sweet lemon. Its sweetness, as a we’re super excited to offer up this Brasserie Dupont over the years— whole, never weighs heavy, even at once-a-winter offering from the world- but we always make a point to keep nearly 10%. There’s that crackling, renowned Brasserie Dupont from coming back to one in particular. peppery profile of Dupont’s house Belgium’s Wallonia region. This 9.5% We’re huge fans of Dupont’s seasonal, yeast all over this. Avec’s incredibly ABV seasonal seems to float, like the limited-release Avec Les Bons Voeux: expressive, streamlined, regal but very best examples from the country: a gloriously generous “super saison,” refreshing. An endearing front profile hefty—yet somehow managing to crisp and massive all at once. This of complex pepper shapes everything. stay refreshing. Brilliantly fermented, annual holiday offering isn’t always As pairing-ideal as things get. robust, and vibrant all at the same one of easiest to track down (when time. Drink up! it does arrive each year), and we For those who’ve had it, that first sip’s couldn’t imagine a more perfect beer almost too good. Everything about AGING ƭ PAIRING NOTES: to toast the holidays with than the the aroma follows through fully in reliably cheering-inducing Avec Les the flavor, from the ballast of white- We’ve enjoyed various vintage Bons Voeux. and black-pepper yeast qualities to examples of Dupont Avec Les Bons the complexity of fruit and baked Voeux over the years, all of them This pours beautifully. Avec Les Bons elements underneath. It’s toasty, still immensely generous, nearly Voeux is a bright, mostly clear golden for sure. All kinds of spruced up with regardless of age. Keep an eye on color that leads into more honeyed, its zesty punch of carbonation, an cellared bottles to make sure the orange-tinged hues at the edges. effervescence that lands right beside dried-caramel character of oxidation Capped by a vibrant, thick foam of the pepper. There are almost baklava- isn’t building too much. For pairings, tiny white bubbles, this looks far like layers of honeyed pastry and we can’t help but find its pepper, lean more modest in alcohol and subtle in vanilla and breadiness beneath. We’re fruit and carbonation perfectly tuned expression than proves to be the case. constantly struck by how incredibly to plump turkey and holiday fare. Pop A dense foam lingers even after some drinkable this remains, despite the a few bottles to ease winter along. Or length in the glass, often replenished potent ABV. set some down for future greatness. from below. This can be nicely effervescent in texture; Champagne There’s something almost indescribably parallels are totally on-point. A rich, special and crowd-pleasing about the

MonthlyClubs.comtm Volume 15 Issue 11

BBrouwerijrouwerij VVanan SteenbergeSteenberge EErtvelde,rtvelde, EEastast FFlanders,landers, BBelgiumelgium MMonk’sonk’s CCafeafe GGrandrand CruCru

From the wellspring of greatt oasthouseoasthou (the name for a Today, Paul Van Steenberge (II), son of that is Belgium comes ththee Van traditionaltradition hops drying building). Jozef and grandson of Paul Van Steenberge Steenberge family brewery. FFoundedounded JozefJozef SSchelfaut:c builder, brewer, (I), heads the brewery. He entered the in 1874 by Jean-Baptist De Bruin,ruin, tthehe maltster,maltster harvester of hops, and family business in 1978, and in 1985 took brewery has remained in thee ffamilyamily shrewdshrewd businessman, able to get over the management from his father. since. Jean-Baptist set up the bbreweryrewery his beerbeers featured near and far, next to his farm. Despite his mmarriagearriage helping ssecure the success of his Today, the brewery produces some very to wife Angelina Schelfaut, thee couple ffamilyamily bbrewery.r highly acclaimed beers, most quite difficult remained childless – never iidealdeal fforor to find (you may have come across their those with visions of keepingping the Jozef’sJozef’s daughter, Margriet, famed Piraat, a well-hopped, Belgian IPA- family brewery going. Fortunately,tunately, wed PaulP Van Steenberge, a style beer, and their classic Gulden Draak Angelina’s nephew, Jozef Schelfaut,helfaut, chemicalchemic engineer who became beers). Some of our long-time Rare Beer had learned the art of brewing,g, and a professorpro of microbiology Club members might recall Witches’ Brew: upon Angelina’s death (at thee age at theth Sint-Lievens brewery the brewery’s delicious (and Halloween- of 92!), she entrusted Jozef wwithith schoolscho in Ghent and at the ready) tripel that we featured some years running the family brewery. AgricultureAgr Faculty of the back. This time around: we snatched up one UniversityU of Ghent. of Van Steenberge’s limited-edition, barely The benefit of being a farm- WhenW Jozef Schelfaut distributed products for our members— based brewery is that, in died in 1922, Paul Van the highly limited Monk’s Cafe Grand Cru. theory, you can produce Steenberge had gained just about every ingredient enough knowledge Monk’s Cafe Grand Cru necessary for the brewing to take over the process. But it’s no small family business, and Monk’s Cafe Grand Cru is a very limited feat to do so. These days, eventually became one-off release from Brouwerij Van nearly all brewers order the mayor of Ertvelde. their grains already malted Being busy on the (Continued on next page) and already kilned, and mayoral front, it was their hops already plucked largely thanks to his SPECIFICATIONS or even pressed into pellet wife Margriet that the form. But this was not the brewery stayed alive, Style route that Jozef Schelfaut particularly as Paul Blended Flemish Sour Ale took. In order to provide moved from mayor to Alcohol By Volume for the production of the senator. Paul’s son, 5.5% necessary ingredients, he Jozef, studied law but Serving Temperature (admirably) set up his own still ended up in the 48–55° F two-hectare hops field and brewery, taking over also constructed a malt the business after his Suggested Glassware Tulip, Teku or Pinot Glass house and accompanying father’s death in 1962. Steenberge, as only about 50 twelve- an abundance of oxidation and more The subtle touch of influence from oak bottle cases will be making it to the U.S. sweetness than sourness, but this one just provides a hint of vanilla and welcome outside of the club. This one’s especially stood out to us for how lively it presented tannic structure. rare, and absolutely delicious. It starts as itself. This has definitely seen some careful a blend of carefully aged and fresh tripels, aging, but there’s a ton of fresh red fruit Monk’s Cafe Grand Cru from Brouwerij before being aged for six months inside of and engaging malt character that never Van Steenberge is just a beautiful and oak casks. Right before things get bottled, oversteps. This blended release from unique take on Flemish sour ale, remaining a high-fermented lager gets blended in as Brouwerij Van Steenberge is one of the quite crisp and drinkable at its 5.5% ABV, well to bring the ABV down to a refreshing most engaging examples of the style we’ve while offering up an immense amount of 5.5%. encountered in what feels like forever— fermentation character, fruit and caramel, and the aromatics come through with all plus just a ton of flavor for this modestly Monk’s Cafe Grand Cru is a beautifully kinds of engaging fruit, nicely orchestrated sized beer. For us, this is a brilliant presented take on Flemish sour ale, packed tartness, and complexity that just keeps showcase of a style that can be tougher with dark fruits and intricate tartness going. to find stateside, and it fully captures how and subtle accompanying caramelization incredibly complex and drinkable these throughout. This pours a caramelized The flavor and mouthfeel here are beers can be. amber color with golden edges, capped by something else. There’s just the right level light tan bubbles. It appears pretty clear of carbonation, combining an impressive AGING ƭ PAIRING NOTES: aside from the very end of the bottle; just display of fruit, caramelization and tartness be a little cautious with the last portion if with engaging bubbles that makes this feel Putting further age on this will depend on you prefer to avoid cloudiness. (We found honeyed but still nimble. At its finest, a your affinity to oxidation. We found a lot of this a touch more expressive without the world-class Flemish sour ale will combine well-developed (but not too far) oxidative yeast.) the robust acidities and caramelized malts characteristics already from the three-plus into something that magically manages years of age certain parts of this blend There’s a ton of aromatic expressiveness to be incredibly refreshing, as well as have seen. For how rarely we’ll encounter right from the start here. Vibrant red fruits one worth savoring. This is one of those Flemish sour ale of this caliber, we’d be and a streamlined, refreshing sourness beers that works that magic. There’s a inclined to go with roasted duck—or a arrive first, followed by accompanying rich, honeyed character that reminded traditional carbonnade flamande. notes of caramel, cola, and subtle hints of us of Sauternes, plus additional layers of brown sugar. Some examples of Flemish maltiness beyond the expected, including sour ale can feel a bit stale, packed with notes of brown sugar, figs and dates.

Beyond the Bottle: Enjoy It While It Lasts By Ken Weaver

All About Beer Magazine had been one of the leading beer publications to what I’m inclined to believe were some of its brightest years. And in the country for 39-ish years. While I wouldn’t be surprised if the Hartis and I had some awesome theme issues planned that never saw brand re-emerged in a diff erent form, you can read more about what’s the light of day. been going down over at Jeff Alworth’s Beervana blog—“After 39 Years, All About Beer Magazine is Dead”—or via the Forbes article For those of you who read the mag—thank you for supporting “RIP All About Beer.” independent beer journalism. If you’re looking for something else to read, Holl’s an editor at Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine these days. I’ve It’s been a weird couple years. got my fi rst piece for the revamped BeerAdvocate Magazine in their latest issue. Support those publications that serve you well. They’re I was one of the last folks to depart the All About Beer editorial not going to be around forever. team, though I kept doing my Trending column over there through the magazine’s fi nal printed issues. That editorial team, led by John Ken Weaver (@KenWeaver) is a beer writer and cartoonist based in Holl and then Daniel Hartis up until the end, was the most supportive Petaluma, California. He makes a weekly webcomic about a brewery at group of beer writers and editors I could’ve asked for. Managing the end of the world at massivepotions.com. editor Jon Page and our designer Jeff Quinn helped steer the mag

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