another Christmas Ale

I can't get enough of these things. They have so much flavor and so much alcohol. You get a buzz after one. This is Bush de Noel. I haven't tried Bush's regular offering, but it appears to be a cheaper blond beer here. Not to knock them, I haven't tried it yet.

As for the xmas version, it's great. Lots of malt, and a maple syrup smell/taste. I am going to have to pick up a bunch before it goes. Fisher's is still my #1 though.

change of direction

i've decided i don't enjoy writing that much, so i'm going to take this festival crowd to the next level. i hope you enjoy my jazz freestyle. On the left we have a Veltens lager from Germany which I enjoyed at the Brauhaus in a hotel in Abu Dhabi. Pretty good bar, six German beers on tap. Next is a Kronenbourg at PJ O'Reilley's in Abu Dhabi. Also in a hotel, which is where all the bars are located. It was okay as was the bar, more of a high school hangout. On the right is a Gordon's Bierre de Noel which was very similar to the Fischer's Christmas beer that I had in Strasbourg. This was delicious, glad I picked up a four pack.

Luxembourg

It's armistice day in both France and Belgium so everything is closed. We were driving through Luxembourg and noticed their stores were opened (I guess WWI did not involve them) so we stopped by a Walmart type store.

I happened to check out their beer selection and saw it was very impressive. I then looked at their prices and was shocked. They were selling most 4-6 packs for 2-4 euros and 750 for 2-3 euros. I picked up a 750 of:

Chimay Grand Reserve (Bleu) and Cinq Cents (Blanc)
La Vieille Bon Secours- Blonde
McChouffe Brune

also got a 22 of Lindemann's Gueuze and a 4 of Leffe Christmas and Timmermans Lambic Kriek.

This stuff was dirt cheap, not sure if it was because I was in Luxembourg, the gas was also a lot cheaper- Belgium is about $8 per gallon and Luxembourg was $5, or if because the stuff is just this cheap over here.

I'll let you know what I think about the beers, after the Fischer de Noel I am eager to try the Leffe Christmas though I don't think it can live up to it. Pictures soon too including the Kronenbourg brewery, I had no idea it was a Jewish brewery, there were stars of David all over the place.

Strasbourg- France

Nancy and I went to France this week-end to a region that has been part of Germany previously. I am planning on visiting the Kronenbourg brewery on Monday and will let you know how it is. Today, we went to a bar/restaurant in Strasbourg called les brasseurs (The brewers) that had some delicious beer and even better tarte flambe (similar to pizza except with a creamy sauce rather than tomato). They had four beers on tap: blanche, blonde, brune and ambree. I had the brune and the ambree. The brune was not as sweet as I expected, thinking it would be more like a leffe or grimbergen. The ambree was awesome and had a lot of flavor, but not overwhelming. They were both served in liter mugs which are pretty big compared to the beer sizes we've seen everywhere else. Nancy ordered a flambe with tomato, garlic and goat cheese and I ordered the classique. It had a word in it that I did not know which turned out to be bacon, scrumptous bacon. We would definitely go back to this place. We went to a cafe afterwards for dessert and I had a Fischer Terroir, which was a not so good blonde beer. I think it is made locally. Gonna check out the cathedral tomorrow and then some more beer. Since we are in a white wine region of France, might check out a winery as well.

What I've tried to date

De Koninck Rating: Brooklyn
5% Belgian

Delicious

Leffe Dubbel Rating: Queens
6.5% Belgian

I remember liking the other Leffe beers more than this one, I'll rerank it after I have another.

Amstel Bock Rating: Brooklyn
7% Netherlands

When I ordered this one I asked for an "Amstel Bock" pronounced like Bach. The bartender told me in clear English that he didn't understand what I was ordering. I guess they pronounce it like "Boke". They only serve three other beers there none of which are from Amstel so I'm not sure why he was so confused. The beer was very good though.

Dommelsch Pilsener Rating: Staten Island
Netherlands
Tasted like a bland lager

Wieckse Witte Rating: Bronx
Netherlands
Decent white beer, nothing special about it, good session drinkability

Heineken Extra Cold Rating: Queens
Netherlands
This was on tap at the hotel I am staying at, surprisingly good. You could actually taste some hops. I noticed all the Heineken here says Pilsener on it, I don't remember seeing that in the US.

That's all I've had to date

Introduction

I intend to be sampling many beers during my tenure in Europe. I thought I would put a list together so I can keep track of what I liked and did not like and give my friends an idea of what they are missing out on.

I'm not the most creative writer or critic so I've decided to rank the beers based on the chance that I would drink them again. Below is the explanation of what the rankings mean:

Manhattan- No problem going here at all

Brooklyn- Happy to go here based on a positive review

Queens- Happy to go here based on a personal recommendation

Bronx- Don't mind going here, but would prefer to have a local with me (need someone else to drink this one with)

Staten Island- Has to be a special occasion for me to go here again (nothing else available).