Beer blogging: New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

Ben's folks bought a mixed 12-pack for a party, and this was left in their fridge. Being adventurous, I decided to try it. (If I didn't like it, Tom might!) The label described it as a dark, malty ale with chocolate flavors, so I figured I couldn't go too wrong with that.

I poured it into a glass with Charlie Brown characters on it (only non-wine glass I could find... WTH.) and found it to be quite black, almost stout-like in appearance, except with more head. The taste was also stout-like, with a nice malty chocolate aftertaste. It's only 5.6% ABV, so it doesn't pack too big a punch.

It's a pretty tasty brew, and if you like stouts or would like them better if they weren't quite as heavy, give this a try.

Beer blogging: Delirium Tremens

Delirium tremens (or DTs) is the medical term for the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. It's also the name of a 10% or so ABV Belgian strong pale ale by Brouwerij Huyghe. I've been wanting to try it for ages, but at $16.99/4 pack, it's daunting, so when I saw it on the menu at Blueberry Hill, I had to get it. (It was $6.50 for the 11.2 oz bottle. I can handle restaurant prices on that.)

It pours a nice pale amber, similar to a Hefeweizen, only less cloudy. The head dissipated rather quickly.

The taste was nice; slightly hoppy but not horribly bitter. I'd drink it again if given the chance, though it's more of a summery brew than winter. I'm finding it difficult to recall precisely the flavor of this beer, but that doesn't mean it's an unassuming, bland beer. It's kind of like if a white beer didn't have the spices in it and had twice the ABV. It doesn't have the yeasty sweetness of a Hefeweizen, either.

Nice, drinkable beer.

Beer blogging: Duvel

(I drank a lot of beer on vacation. I like beer. Speaking of which, if you also like beer, Beeradvocate.com is an awesome resource.)

This was called "Duvel Golden" on the menu, but according to my searching, it's regular old Duvel, which is another Belgian strong pale ale. It's got a different flavor than DT, fruitier and maybe slightly spiced.

It's a lot like Hoegaarden, if it were less yeasty and twice as alcoholic. Considering that I'd be content to drink Hoegaarden forever, that's saying a lot.

Also, I'm incredibly thankful to the folks at pop the cap for getting the 6% ABV law repealed. Thanks to their efforts, the variety of beer accessible to North Carolinians widened considerably.