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Going from a full month of Flagship beers to just one single day for the world classic of Orval. I’m glad that at least this day is around to remind me (and you) to drink this damn fine beer. Make sure you get one today, should be $6.00 or so but well worth it.
Maybe, like star signs, each month should have a beer like Orval as the totem for that month. And make Saison Dupont the one for February.
I still have not checked out the British themed Stalking Horse from the Artisanal Brewers Collective (ABC) and now they are introducing a Belgian addition to the family.
Bluebird Brasserie will open in Sherman Oakson April 2, 2018. This Belgian pub will have “beer brewed on site, themed cocktails, and a traditional menu featuring delicacies like Beer Cheese Croquettes, Moules-Frites and Liege Waffles for dessert.”
Noah Regnery will be concocting the “house beers” “while the remainder of the tap list will be replete with 10 taps of Belgian-style beers from known breweries such as The Lost Abbey, The Bruery, Allagash, Ommegang and more. A curated bottle list rounds out the beer menu with Belgian offerings such as Duvel, St. Bernardus 12, Deus, as well as some Trappist beers such as Orval, Chimay Red and Westmalle Tripel.”
But plan ahead because this new Pub/Brasserie will have limited reservations and allow in limited walk-ins for dinner only for the first two weeks of opening- starting at 5pm. Once that phase is complete they will be open from 12:00pm-12:00am on Sunday-Wednesday, and 12:00pm-2:00am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
…is coming and I suggest you buy a bottle to celebrate earlier rather than later.
Last March, I went a’lookin’ for a bottle to pop open on the appointed day and found empty shelves at my local and at two BevMo’s.
Orval is such a fun beer and one that I should have more than once a year and you should too.
https://www.rasselbocklb.com/
This month, i gave a lukewarm review of one German tinged restaurant only to find out that there is another down in Long Beach and from a quick perusal of their tap and bottle list, it seems a little better.
I saw the following strong choices:
Kloster Andechs Dunkelweizen
Brouwrij Rodenbach Grand Cru
Weltenburger Kloster Asam Bock
Though it is hard to break out of the Beer Belly, Beachwood, Congregation core. This might be worth the trip.
So Guinness is big on Nitro, so is Sam Adams and other American breweries, but how about taking a solid Belgian beer and giving it the nitro boost?
Gulden Draak Nitro is coming to our shores on draft only, making the beer, in their words, “richer and creamier than previously possible.” What they call a dark tripel just might be a great candidate for the different dispense. Latching onto the dark malts could bring out a new side to the beer.
For those who bemoaned the paucity of beer related emoji’s and who are fans of Belgian beer. You can now Palm and Orval your e-mails with abandon now.
Now we just need to get some L.A. brewery emoji’s out there.
Now this is more like it. Annual beer days should be for Hall of Fame beers. Not a style or a beer that is just released but beers that we should drink more of. I am thinking of Saison Dupont as one example but another is Orval and finally, in 2016, there will be the Inaugural National Orval Day and it is tomorrow!
Orval is an iconic Belgian Ale under the Trappist nom de guerre. It falls under the pale category but with brettanomyces and dry hopping. You can usually find it in better beer stores for $6-$7 bucks for a smaller bottle and if you just drink it once a year, start making it a habit and do it tomorrow.
After the haterade that was Session 90, we have moved on to a wide open discussion on Belgian beers for Session 91.
The topic comes to us via our host, Belgian Smaak.
Many of the suggested writing prompts piqued my interest but I thought I would just take a chance and see what Belgian beer I first rated on Ratebeer.
And I found it within five ticks, Golden Valley French Prairie Blanche. A witbier brewed in my ol’ college town of McMinnville (Go Wildcats!). Sure a saison from Portland favorite Upright followed soon after and the requisite Bruery beers were there in the early days of craft beer fandom. But what some may call a starter Belgian was the first for me.
My brief thoughts back in 2009 were as follows, “Nice spice smell on this one. Possibly a little too dark for a wit. The taste is spot on. Light with many different notes.” I gave it a score of 3.8 out of 5.0.
Nowadays, I am more apt to drink a tripel or an American tinged Saison then I am to have a Witbier. But the wit style, along with the German Hefeweizen have flavor profiles that I can easily identify and enjoy. The coriander from one and the clove of the other are familiar guideposts to lean on.
Whereas a Belgian Strong ale may be too heavy on the palate or a Belgian IPA may be tilted too far towards yeast in one direction or hops to the other. The simpler Wit along with the Belgian single seem to always work, if I can generalize.
And I say that after participating in a Wit Bier tasting.
Story Tavern is new this month to the craft beer scene and they have joined the fun that is L.A. Beer Week so I headed over to Burbank for the first chapter of the story.
The theme was Rocket to Flanders. Belgian beers and punk rock. The locale was all Craftsman styled except for the fake fireplace below a big screen TV. They had the cool Beer Week posters up though so I sauntered in and since the bar seats were filled grabbed a seat at one of the communal tables.
The prices were a bit high for Burbank but they had Beachwood’s Uno Belgian single so that is where I started. I ordered the Belgian stew that promised vegetables and delivered onions only which was a bit of a letdown but it was from the special appetizer section so not a total loss.
A decent flight to celebrate Belgian beer but I didn’t get much in the way of “selling” the flights or L.A. Beer Week. And it looked like the flight was from bottles which meant extra work for the bar staff and beer that might sit for a bit waiting for the next flight order.
All in all, I didn’t get a vibe of special event nor much education. (I went without saying that I was a beer blogger just to see what sort of help I would get). So I can only give a very mild thumbs up. The beer list was fine. No complaints. Just pricey and below standards that I have set for L.A. beer bars.
Maybe they will grow and upgrade but Golden Road is just down the road and better so they need to up their game.
There is a new westside beer stop. Steingarten LA.
Check out what the UrbanDaddy blog introduced them as….”Introducing Steingarten, a bold new German hall of unusual meats, regal cocktails and strong European beers, opening Tuesday on Pico.”
Sounds a little medieval but any LA Beer Bar is a friend of mine. (not just FaceBook friends either.) They will also be showing up on the FoodGPS beer blast so you can get the beer scoop.
Here is the location and hours:
10543 W Pico Blvd. Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA, 90064
Mon – Sun: 11:00 am – 2:00 am