San Francisco Oct 2006

While visiting San Francisco with my Wife, we stopped in the Fisherman's Warf for a snack at Aliotos and they had a few local beers on tap.

Bear Brewing
345 Healdsburg Avenue
Healdsburg, California, 95448, USA

Racer 5 Pale Ale.
2004 L.A. Commercial Brewing Competition, Silver Medal Winner; 2004 World Beer Cup, Silver Medal Winner; 2001 Real Ale Festival, San Diego, Gold Medal Winner; 2001 Real Ale Festival, Chicago, Gold Medal Winner; 1999 Great Amercian Beer Festival, Gold Medal Winner - og 1.070, ABV 7.0%, IBU 69. California State Fair Bronze Medal, 1997 Beerfest Invitational. - og 1.070, ABV 7.0%, IBU 69.

Not only is the brewer a fan of hops, but for somereason I thinnk he was a fan the classic comic show speed racer! That was the first thing I thought of when I saw the label. Enjoyable beer, if I remember correctly I had two.

Belgium Beer Tastings: Trappist Ales

The following beers were tasted in Belgium, the photos were added later.

Brouwerij Westmalle (Adbij der Trappisten van Westmalle)
Antwerpsesteenweg 496
Malle, 2390
Belgium
phone: +32 (0)33 12 92 22

Style: Trippel
9.5% ABV
Golden copper in color and a slight haze, with a thick head formed by tightly packed bubbles. Malt and fruit on the nose, hints of pepper. Very smooth for such a high alcohol content.
Available in Austin: Yes

Brasseire d'Orval
Abbaye de Notre-Dame d'Orval
Villers-devant-Orval, 6823
Belgium
phone: +32 (0)61 31 12 61

Belgian Pale Ale
6.9 % ABV

Hazy golden orange in color, thick foamy head. Slight sourness behind the malt taste but still well balanced.
Available in Austin: Yes

Chimay

Corsendonk

Belgium Trip Day # Liege, Deigne

We arrive in Deigne very late. This is a small village with narrow streets, there is a large block party going on when we arrive that lasts until early morning. The weekend we are staying here, the town is closed of and there is a large festival, craft booths and garage style setups along every road. All through the day ceremonies are taking place with announcements, people in costumes, all designed for fun. Chantal and her mother cruise the jewelry stalls and a few of the local cheese and specialty food vendors. I venture out looking for the booths that looks like they pulled it out of the garage or junk pile. Lots of bier glasses for various styles of beers, most are not in photographic condition but I pick up a small Trappist glass for tastings. I found a really cool chocolate mold that makes a full size pig that is about 6 inches long, I thought about coming back later for it, when I did it was gone. My mother always says when shopping in a foreign country"You see it, you want it, you buy it", because it will not be there later.

For lunch we sent our own dishes to a food vendor and he filled them up for us to take back to the cottage. We enjoyed a paella, some local bread and cheeses, the local water is supplied from a spring in the center of town. George would take two large bottles every morning and fill them from the spring for our drinking water.

Belgium Trip Day 5: Antwerp

Today we are back in Antwerp at our family's home, relaxing before the wedding. Tonight we will be dining at the Bernardin Restaurant with family, but today we are going bier and chocolate shopping!

Shopping List:

Rochefort Trappistes 6
Rochefort Trappistes 8
Rochefort Trappistes 10
Chimay, (Very Affordable)
Duvell
Orval
Westmalle Dubbel
and any other bier that catches my eye.

I notice the usual suspect in most grocery type stores, Duval, Chimay, Jupiler, Stella, Leffe and on. A large selection of the beer aisle changes in each region of Belgium, if you see a beer you want, go ahead and pick it up, good chance you might not find it again.

Dinner was great, beautiful outdoor setting in a courtyard in the shadow of the Saint James Church. After dinner, We drove to the main square in Antwerp and enjoyed drinks in an outdoor cafe, underneath the Cathedral of Our Lady. George pointed out that one tower is shorter than the other, he says the urban legend of the towers is that the tall one was funded by the people and the short one was funded by the government. There was some sort of festival going on so the square was full of people and lots of activity. With the Catherdral being closed the outside spotlights made an interestng back drop for a street performer posing as a statue. Tonight we will sleep well.











The seating for this establishment is in an outdoor courtyard, in the shadow of a cathedral, awesome setting.

Belgium Trip Day 3: Brugge

Day 3.

Chantal, Maria, Christine and I travel to Brugge, the Venice of Belgium. We try to find a spot closest to the canal, Christine decides its worth the risk of a parking ticket and we get a good spot. We stop in a local cafe for a quick bite, giving me ample time to sample a few pints before the canal tour.

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After the canal tour, we headed to La Grande Place for some shopping, sightseeing and working up a thirst. There are a number of cafes that line La Grand Place and you can expect to pay the tourist premium when you dine. We settled into one of the cafes, choosing a table by the square I settled into a nice Brugse Tripel and do some people watching.

Brugse Tripel
Brewed by Brouwerij Palm
Well rounded malt character, nice hop aroma.
Amber color.
Top Fermented. 9% ABV

We are pretty worn out from our constant travelling as well as it being unusually warm in Belgium.

Belgium Trip Day4: Knokke-Zoute

Today we visit the upscale coastal town of Knokke. We stayed at the Hotel Carlton, just steps away from the beach, with a wonderful room view of the North Sea from out balcony. There is a large boardwalk that seems to run for miles up and down the beach. It is divided into lanes for walkers and bikes and scooters. Just past the boardwalk are rows of white storage sheds with names or numbers on them, these are personal storage areas for frequent visitors. On the beach are rows and rows of white umbrellas and chairs, just take a seat and someone will be along shortly to collect a rental fee. Large rock jetties stick out into the water every few hundred yards with people clamoring about, upon closer inspection they are fishing for crabs. I decided to try my luck after watching a few locals, first find a piece of string, then break a small mussel off of the rocks and open him up, tie the string around the mussel. Find a small tidal pool or crevice under the rocks and toss in the bait. Every few moments pull it out and a very small crab will be attached. Whole families would be catching these small crabs and putting them in a bucket, too small for bait, not sure if you can eat them, but they catch them.

Chantal and I stroll the boardwalk and stop in a few open air cafes for snacks and bier. Tonight I dined in a local restaurant with Christine, Marie, and Chantal. We enjoyed a nice glass bottle of wine and a bier. My entree was a garlic sauteed langoustine lobster or shrimp, wonderful meal.

Belgium Trip Day #2 Brussells

We borrow a car and leave for Brussels, after some confusion between Flemish/French communication problems, we make it! Today we will meet up with Juliett and Jean Christopher, the whole reason we are here, their wedding! The best way to see Brussels in a hurry is ride a double decker tour bus, complete with head phones and plenty of translation options. The tour is typical of most historical tours, famous building, bridge, house and so forth. A wonderful piece of information was presented during the tour, Belgium has 400 plus varieties of beer! With that much ground to cover, it looks like many repeated trip will be necessary.

((Post visit addition)I think visiting the oldest citizen of Brussels should be a requirement to all tourists. Something about the irreverence of it all that makes me grin, a small boy, peeing into a fountain, the manekin pis. The real comedy of the situation probably doesn't hit until you get home and look at your photos. After clamoring amongst the other people to get your clear photo in front if the fountain.....convince someone to take your picture.....show them how to work your camera....smile....thanks....flip the digital camera to view....looks good....time for more pictures...buy a souvenir.....move on. Even then you didn't catch it, nope, not until you get home and see the photos on the screen that you notice it, it looks like the boy is pissing on you! Ha!)

We take a break from buying a bunch of mankin pis souvenirs and enjoy a light lunch and a beer off a side street. A nice Hoegarden and some Greek food, street vendor style. The table are set up in the middle of the street, forcing you to walk on the sidewalks, right in front of the vendors. These polite gentlemen will even pull out a chair for you, even from 10 feet away. I suggest walking up one side and down the other and take your pick. Back to Antwerp tonight.

Belgium Trip Day #1 Brussels, Antwerp

We land in Brussels mid day after a comfortable flight, greeted by family we take a quick tour of the surrounding area and head to Antwerp to sleep off the jet lag. The ext day we will venture back to Brussels to visit JC and Juliet and tour Brussels.

Czech Pilsner, or the Sophie Pilsner

My brother is having a little girl, so in honor of her arrival I am dedicating this batch to her. He is naming him after our grandmother Sophie (Oehl) Dybala. My Grandmother contributed a mustang wine recipe and a beer recipe that I plan to use in the future. The recipes were found in a Czech Cookbook written by my mother.

Czech Pilsner

1/4 lb. Crystal 1o L
2 1/2 lb Bohemian Pils 45 minute soak at 155 degrees.
5 lb Extra Pale Extract Boil
1 oz German Magnum Hops for 60 minute boil.
1 oz of Saaz hops the last 5 minutes of the 60 minute boil.

California Labs Pitched yeast.

6/19/06: SG 1.10

SG 1.013 at bottling, I got a late start on this is the season, the temperature is a little warm for brewing. Nice refreashing Pilsner, I will be sure to crack one open when she is born, and distrubute the rest to family.

Beer Spa in the Czech Republic

Chodovar, Czech Republic.

The Chodovar Family Brewery has been offering a rejuvenating beer spa treatment. The major bath ingtredient is a dark bathing beer, produced from original and traditional methods. During your soak it is recomended that you drink unique non-pasteurised Rock Lager, the active yeast are supposed to help your digestive system while you relax. This all takes place in the vintage cellars of the brewery.

A two person bath will cost you around $50 US, this includes your drinking and soaking beer but not a bathrobe, that costs a little extra.