Eddie

Tonight's second little snifter...

Samichlaus Schwarzes (and South Park on the tv).
This black monster is 14% abv, and it is a lager. And it's black, and very, very awesome. Sorry about the glassphemy (it's in the Gulden Draak 'dragon egg' glass - I don't have a Samichlaus glass, but I'm hoping that Samichlaus might bring me one.

Prediction - you will post on here next week that Rochefort 10 is the best beer you have ever tasted in your life (or not far off it).
Saisons have a sour edge to them, but they are nowhere near as sour as some styles (gueuzes, lambics and Flemish red beers and Oude Brunes). It's a bit like a mild drinker having his first taste of bitter - you just don't see how anyone could ever like that muck. Dupont is considered to be the marker against which all other saisons are judged, but it would be a dull world if we all liked the same thing.
So, recommendations. 6 dark, 6 blond/light, 6 oddments...
Dark beers: Achel 8 Brune, St Bernardus Abt 12, Chimay Blue, Straffe Hendrik Quadrupel, Corsendonk Pater, Malheur 12
Lighter beers: Brugse Zot Blond, Triple Karmeleit, LeFort Tripel, Tongerlo Triple Prior, Kappitel Watou Tripel 10, La Chouffe Blond
Oddments: Kwak (an amber beer, usually served in a glass that looks like a yard of ale, but smaller); Barbar (best honey beer I've ever tasted); Barista Chocolate Quad (the clue is in the name - all 3 bits of it, coffee, chocolate and strong); Peche Mel (a fusion of peach juice and Bush Tripel - either magnificent or awful, and sometimes both at the same time); Bush de Noel (utterly fabulous spiced seasonal beer); Troubadour Magma (it's sort-of a blond, sort-of a tripel, sort-of an amber beer and sort-of a fruity, hoppy IPA all at the same time).

I like Maibocks and Doppelbocks. 
OK, I am obsessed with Belgian beers, but other countries do get a look-in occasionally.
Tonight, I am drinking one particular beer for the first time. It's Austrian, and technically, it's a lager (which means that suddenly, I've got the interest of more than half the people on here, so I'll try and give you a proper review.
First things first, the beer is Samichlaus Helles. All Samichlaus beers are brewed on one day of the year only, and that is (predictably) St Nicholas's Day, December 6. They are brewed by Brauerei Schloss, at Eggenberg Castle, and there's about 5 different varieties. All of them are aged in oak for almost a year before bottling. They are not cheap - the one I'm currently sipping cost me £6 for a 33 cl bottle, but it tips the scales at a liver-worrying 14%.
Appearance: Absolutely crystal-clear bright amber liquid, the colour of sunset. It almost sparkles - it's a glorious colour. There is no head - it burst into life when I poured it but then disappeared instantly. Consequently, there is no lacing.
Smell: Freshly-baked bread - a wonderful wheaty aroma reminiscent of the bread my Granny used to bake 60 years ago. The crusty type of loaf that she used to hold under her arm, butter and then cut a doorstop off. The greatest bread I ever tasted. It's malty too, with a very pleasant fruitiness - think over-ripe pears.
Taste: Initially sweet and boozy. This is like a barley wine on speed, but all the time the maltiness is struggling to break through - and then it does, all at once. But it's warming - as it trickles down the throat, it feels more like a whisky on the way down than a beer. It's huge, and it lingers an awful long time after each sip.
Mouthfeel: Slick and oily. There is a word in Derbyshire which describes how a pie feels when it is almost magnetically drawn to the roof of your mouth, and that is 'Claarty' (double'a'). With a pie, it's not exactly great - but with a beer, it's almost comforting. It's definitely reaching the parts that other beers don't reach. It just seems to linger there, long after the rest of the liquid has headed South. Perhaps it's the booze, but it's lovely.
Overall: I've died and gone to beer heaven. This is up there with the finest beers I have ever tasted in my life - and I have been drinking an awful long time.
Do you know the best part? I'm only a quarter of the way down the glass, and I've got five more bottles (A couple of which I think I'll lay down for a couple of years).
 
 

I'll be good.

I might just have a small glass of this tonight as I’m rather partial to it. 

Thanks.   Nice to have you back mate. 

Yes. I got utterly fed up with the bullying and general rancour, so I asked David to delete my old account (contrary to popular opinion, I did not get a life ban, but I did catch a couple of time-outs). After a few months I set a new account up (again, I told people what I was doing) using the name 'Montgolfier' (people from way back will remember me as 'Dirigible' and 'Balloon' on the old DET site - and of course the Montgolfier brothers were the pioneers of ballooning, so it was a deliberate clue), then after a month, I changed the display name to 'Eddie'.
When I started posting again, I had nobody on 'ignore' - but now, I have precisely the same six I had on 'ignore' as back in the old days. It will stay that way, because there is something about me that winds them up - and believe me, the feeling is mutual. I don't know the people concerned, but I utterly loathe the online personas they portray. I don't think that will change, because I am stubborn to the point of intransigence, and I'm too old to change.
Enjoy your John Smiths - I did 30 years ago, although as far as Tadcaster beers are concerned, I prefer Sam Smiths.
There's an interesting story how the breweries evolved...
https://newsfromnowhere1948.blogspot.com/2009/08/battle-between-brewing-smiths.html

No, the old one was grumpy and tended to snap at people.

Just ordered another 16 LaTrappe tripels. Delicious and so drinkable right up to the point when I fall asleep! 

I started the spreadsheet (checks Excel) about 3 months ago. As well as the freezer boxes, I keep a record of packet sauces for quick and dirty meals (the Memsahib is in and out the kitchen in minutes whereas I live in there for hours), stir-fry sauces, herbs and spices, orders and deliveries etc. Each beer order goes in there (a master index links to the file containing the order), and I can then add tasting notes for future reference. It's a rudimentary stock control system for my beer.
Like I said, I have become rather anal - far too obsessive for my own good really, so it's no surprise I piss people off on here. The lockdown is now officially getting to me.

I started the spreadsheet (checks Excel) about 3 months ago. As well as the freezer boxes, I keep a record of packet sauces for quick and dirty meals (the Memsahib is in and out the kitchen in minutes whereas I live in there for hours), stir-fry sauces, herbs and spices, orders and deliveries etc. Each beer order goes in there (a master index links to the file containing the order), and I can then add tasting notes for future reference. It's a rudimentary stock control system for my beer.
Like I said, I have become rather anal - far too obsessive for my own good really, so it's no surprise I piss people off on here. The lockdown is now officially getting to me.

And there you have it, @Steve How Hard? - we both have big problems, you are sympathised with, and I am mocked by the same two people.

And there you have it, @Steve How Hard? - we both have big problems, you are sympathised with, and I am mocked by the same two people.

I started the spreadsheet (checks Excel) about 3 months ago. As well as the freezer boxes, I keep a record of packet sauces for quick and dirty meals (the Memsahib is in and out the kitchen in minutes whereas I live in there for hours), stir-fry sauces, herbs and spices, orders and deliveries etc. Each beer order goes in there (a master index links to the file containing the order), and I can then add tasting notes for future reference. It's a rudimentary stock control system for my beer.
Like I said, I have become rather anal - far too obsessive for my own good really, so it's no surprise I piss people off on here. The lockdown is now officially getting to me.

I started the spreadsheet (checks Excel) about 3 months ago. As well as the freezer boxes, I keep a record of packet sauces for quick and dirty meals (the Memsahib is in and out the kitchen in minutes whereas I live in there for hours), stir-fry sauces, herbs and spices, orders and deliveries etc. Each beer order goes in there (a master index links to the file containing the order), and I can then add tasting notes for future reference. It's a rudimentary stock control system for my beer.
Like I said, I have become rather anal - far too obsessive for my own good really, so it's no surprise I piss people off on here. The lockdown is now officially getting to me.

I am addicted to Ikea meatballs, and I've been getting a bit twitchy of late, being unable to get any.  A few weeks ago, they released the recipe, so today I had a go.

We ate one third of them today. The rest are now in the freezer, in boxes 9 and 10. I keep a spreadsheet of what's in what box, when it was made etc. Yes, I am that anal.

Wicked.  So tender. 

I am addicted to Ikea meatballs, and I've been getting a bit twitchy of late, being unable to get any.  A few weeks ago, they released the recipe, so today I had a go.

I am addicted to Ikea meatballs, and I've been getting a bit twitchy of late, being unable to get any.  A few weeks ago, they released the recipe, so today I had a go.

I am addicted to Ikea meatballs, and I've been getting a bit twitchy of late, being unable to get any.  A few weeks ago, they released the recipe, so today I had a go.

Well, I've just ordered 14 storage jars (8 x 200 ml and 6 x 100 ml) because I'm running out of places to keep my spices.

Public Service Announcement
Man cannot live by Belgian beer alone (well, this man cannot) - sometimes, my taste buds scream out for English beers (Robinsons Old Tom, Tynt Meadow, anything from Eyam Brewery etc), and rather frequently, German beer. So I was quite interested when a friend of mine (yes, I have at least one friend) told me about a website who specialise in beers from the Munich district. I love Doppelbocks, Maibocks and Oktoberfest beers, and the Memsahib loves Hellas/Hell, Pilseners together with the aforementioned Doppelbocks, Maibocks and Oktoberfest beers - especially when she doesn't realise that I've counted them into the crates.
The website is http://www.web-bier.de/shop/
Anyway, the first thing that you should know is that they only ship multiples of 24 bottles - but that can be any 24 bottles - 24 singles all different if you like. The second thing you should know is that the delivery cost is €16.90 to ship said box of 24 bottles to the UK. At this point, I had a look at what that looks like in real terms, adding on basically 70c to the price of each bottle, taking the exchange rate into account and comparing that price to my usual supplier of German beers, Beers of Europe.
The answer was - extremely favourable.
So I ordered the following:
6 x Paulaner Salvator 50 cl 6 x Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock 50 cl 6 x Augustiner Beer Munich Edelstoff Export 50 cl 2 x Spaten Muenchener Hell Lager Beer 50 cl 2 x Andechs Lager Beer 50 cl 2 x Augustiner Heller Mai Bock 33 cl Total cost, including shipping and allowing for the current very stingy exchange rate through Paypal - £51.33.
The same beers through Beers of Europe (which is based in Kings Lynn and offers free shipping for orders over £60) was a little over £75. So basically £1 a bottle cheaper - and it's coming around 800 Km.
It would have been rude not to.

The brisket is on... ?

No
its not half cut, it’s into quarters.
 
 
 
im here all week, try the Peroni