Reading: Pete Brown, "Three Sheets to the Wind"

I had to write about Mr Pete Brown in this blog as a sign of saluting.  It is he who demonstrates so well that beer is not only for drinking but could be a subject for writing about.  I found his book "Man Walks into a Pub" in Page One (Festival Walk) several years ago, bought it and read it right away.  It was so well-researched that you did not expect drinking beer is so complicated from the perspective of culture and social history.

In those years in-between, I continued to drink a lot, visiting pubs regularly.  Eventually I have a more peaceful mood in the recent year, and I could search for more of his works (in a pity, his books could not be easily found in any bookshop in HK).  And "Three Sheets to the Wind" is his second book on beer-drinking, first published in 2006.

The sub-title of the book, "300 bars in 13 countries: one man's quest for the meaning of beer", basically tells all about its theme.  I admired this man, who did his extensive traveling in a cause surely not shared by many. It is indeed interesting or intriguing to ask, in a certain geographical or cultural context, what beer drinking means.  It is a pity that Brown did not come to Hong Kong (he did go to Shanghai, which formed a very interesting chapter), and guess what he would find out about drinking in this metropolitan city.  I do think the phenomenon of drinking in those "upstairs bars" will sure be a striking experience to him.

Brown travelled to Barcelona and Madrid of Spain, Czech Republic, Dublin of Ireland, Belgium, US, Australia, Japan, China, Oktoberfest (Munich), Denmark, and eventually back to Barnsley of England.  He visited breweries, bars and met PR persons of various breweries, drinkers, etc.  I enjoyed the reading so much and I imagined I will actually visit those places, with my buddy, of course.

It is not possible to retrace the journey of Brown here, as it was too fascinating.  I could only reiterate the paragraphs he talked about treasuring beer, that I shared so much:

I'm not suggesting we do away with the pint - our national symbol - but we really do need to treat beer with a bit more respect, and celebrate its diversity and variety.  If someone offers us a beer that's 6 per cent ABV and tells us that it should be drunk slowly in small measures, we should listen.

Yet the best drinking is about a middle state.  It's about having had too much to drive, feeling the effects, being more relaxed, loquacious and funny, but still being a long way off losing control of your faculties, doing anything you definitely wouldn't do sober, or forgetting your address, your pants or your belief in a basic level of decency and respect.  In English, we'd usually describe this middle state as a 'bit pissed', defining it only in relation to the greater state of intoxication we soon hope to achieve. ...

In most of the places I've visited this middle state is an end in itself, and comes with its own special name.  The Spanish have la chispa.  The Germans have Gemutklichkeit.  The Danes have hygge.  The Irish have the craic.  None of these words can be translated directly into English, but when people helpfully try to do it for us, they always use words like cosiness, friendship, warmth and buzz.

The more you read Brown's passages, the more you find drinking fascinating and enjoyable.  And I am now very easily reach this state of cosiness when I just drink a a glass of good beer, and that's really wonderful.

Cheers, fellow serious beer drinkers!!

Pauwel Kwak

About the beer

Source: Brouwerij Bosteels, Buggenhout, Belgium
            - a family-owned brewery in the Dendermonde area, founded in 1791 by Evarist Bosteels and is run today by the seventh generation of the family.

Strength: 8.4% ABV

Style: Extra strong top-fermentation beer

Colour: Amber


Tasting at The United
           330ml bottle

Rating (out of 10): 8.5

Notes: Simply speaking, this beer is delicious.

First of all, its taste is malt - a characteristic of top-fermentation beer, which I love - and with a spicy note, simply clicking your taste-bud instantly when you drink for the first mouthful.

Of course, you have to take it slowly (be cautious of its 8.4% ABV!).  Anyway, it is satisfying.  It got a bit of everything: maltiness, fruitiness, aroma, and the body of beer itself.

A really nice work of balance at the end.

Next time if you ask for this beer at a decent bar, be prepared to see something more special.

Orval (1)

I am intrigued by this trappist beer.  I have never heard of it before until I read it in the beer menu of the Frites (Belgium on tap) and I said to a waitress that I would like to have a try.  Then another bartender appeared in front of me holding a strangely-shaped glass (more like a long-stemmed bowl) and poured the beer in some kind of professional demonstration (he told me later in the evening that he won the second prize in a worldwide bartender contest held in Argentina - I found out that was the Stella-sponsored worldwide event).

I tried the beer, and the only word I could describe it is "special".  The taste is really special, I was not just being courtesy as that bartender praised Orval as one of his favourite beer.  But apart from that, I did not know how to describe the taste since the beer is quite complicated indeed.

So I ordered Orval again last Sat at The Globe and tried to convinced myself that I should be better at describing the taste of a beer.  But I ordered my second round after a frustrating finishing of the first glass.  Why?

Anyway, the experience did not frustrate me, but aroused my interest in finding more about this beer, the brewery and the abbey.

About the Orval Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval)

Before the beer and the brewery, there was the abbey in the first place.

The place where the abbey stands is a densely wooded countryside in the Ardennes, on a sharp bend in the old Roman road that runs from Trier in Germany to Rheims in France, one of the important salt routes of the earlier times.  Simply speaking, the southern part of Belgium, close to France and Luxembourg.

The abbey followed quite a tragic path as follows:

First foundation

• Founded in 1132 by a group of Cistercian monks from Trois-Fontaines Abbey in Champagne and a community of Canons Regular, who formed a single community within the Cistercian Order.
• Around 1252, the monastery was destroyed by a fire; the rebuilding took around 100 years.
• In 1637, during the Thirty Years' War, the abbey was pillaged and burnt by French mercenaries.
• In the 17th century, the abbey converted to the Trappist branch of the Cistercian order, but reverted back to the Rule of the main order in around 1785.
• In 1793, during the French Revolution, the abbey was completely burnt down by French forces, in retaliation for the hospitality it had provided to Austrian troops, and the community dispersed.

Difficult to get your reward of peace even you are willing to retreat yourself in densely wooded countryside, right?  (just like in Hong Kong?!)

Second foundation

In 1887, the land and ruins were acquired by the Harenne family, who donated the lands to the Cistercian order in 1926 so that monastic life could resume on the site.

Between 1926 and 1948, the new monastery was constructed, and in 1935 Orval regained the rank of abbey. On 8 September 1948, the new church was consecrated (the ruins of the medieval buildings remain on the site).

Legend

An icon, showing a trout jumping upward holding a ring in its mouth, could be found on the beer bottle and the glass.  It tells quite an interesting legend connected to the origins of the site.

According to it, the overlord of the region, (widowed) Countess Mathilda, the Duchess of Tuscany, came here in 1076 visiting the small group of Benedictine monks who had made the arduous journey from Calabria in Italy to build an abbey site.  Matilda was in mourning, sat by the side of a small lake when her wedding ring was slipped from her finger into the water.  She prayed for the return of the ring, and a trout appeared on the surface of the water with the ring in its mouth. She exclaimed "Truly this place is a Val d'Or (Golden Valley)", from which the name "Orval" is derived, and in gratitude made available the funds for the foundation of the monastery here. The abbey's coat of arms shows the trout and ring. The spring still supplies water to the monastery and its brewery.

If that is a made-up, it is a beautiful one and I am willing to believe it as truly happened.

Brewery

Compared to the abbey and the site, the brewery's history is much more straight-forward:

(from the website www.orval.be) the Orval Brewery was created in 1931 to finance the enormous reconstruction works of Orval.  It has hired lay workers from the outset, including the master brewer, Pappenheimer, who invented the recipe.  The brewer’s commercial policy is adapted to the values of the monastic community.  Income from Royalties generated from the brand name go to social welfare works and the maintenance of the buildings.

One special point to mention, there is only one brand of beer being brewed in the site.  Therefore, it is just named as "Orval".

Intrigued

I am really intrigued.  I will go and try the beer for the third time, and only after time will I write my tasting notes (to be fairer in that case).

(to be continued...)

Chimay Bleue

About the beer

Source: Abbaye de Notre-Dame de Scourmont, Forges-les-Chimay, Halnaut, Belgium

Strength: 9% ABV

Style: Trappist Beer
Explanation of a Trappist beer from the Chimay website (www.chimay.com) goes like this:

Chimay is an authentic Trappist beer. That means that it is brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery under the control and responsibility of the community of monks, and whose revenue is devoted to social service.

The “Authentic Trappist Product" logo is granted by the International Trappist Association.

Colour: dark copper

Some more features highlighted by its own brewery:

The Chimay Blue Cap, "baptized'
"Grande Reserve" in 750 ml bottles is a dark Trappist beer with a powerful aroma, the complex flavour of which improves across the years. It was first brewed as a Christmas beer, explaining the presence of a "vintage".

This authentic Belgian beer, whose tinge of fresh yeast is associated with a light rosy flowery touch, is particularly pleasant. Its aroma, perceived as one enjoys it, only accents the delightful sensations revealed by the odour, all revealing a light but agreeable caramelized note. 

It is served ideally at cellar temperature (10 to 12°C).

• Taste : Relatively dry with caramel note
• Type of foa : Thick, creamy brown
• Alcohol content : 9% alcohol by volume
• Shelf life : may be kept several years

Tasting at The United

           330ml bottle

Rating (out of 10): 9

Notes: One of the numerous reasons I like beer so much is its variety, and this Chimay Bleue is a crystal-clear statement demonstrating this very nature of beer.

For people who may not be very familiar with beer: 1. wine and beer are completely different thing, with (so advertised that) wine referring something more elegant and refined and beer much rougher; 2. simple no association between a brewery and a abbey.

For me, or any of you who have tried a bottle of Chimay Bleue, the above two impressions would probably be swept away.  For the second one, it is clear when you read its website that the abbey fully owns its brewery.  Of course for a reason.  I could easily guess that monks simply love drinking beer.  Okay, more seriously, there were some occasions that abbeys need to raise money (for renovation of buildings, or others) and for this case of Chimay, the story goes like this:

(as told by Roger Protz in its wonderful book "300 beers to try before you die!")

"In 1850, 17 monks at the Westvleteren abbey were given permission by their abbot to leave the community and build a new one on land donated by the Prince of Chimay.  The monastry was built 10 miles from the villages of Forges-les-Chimay in the Ardennes.  Building work was completed in 1864, but a small brewery had been constructed two years earlier to provide sustenance for the monks and raise funds.  The importance of brewing to the monks were underscored by the fact that abbey and brewery were built on the site of a well that provided copious amounts of pure water."

"German troops occupied the abbey and its brewery during World War Two, and vital brewing equipment was removed for the Nazi war effort.  After the war, the monks sold their beers more vigorously to help pay for rebuilding work."

It's fascinating tale, isn't it?  Read some stories behind while you are drinking your glass of beer.  Isn't just much much more interesting?

Before saying about the taste, I just want to point out the time I took to drink that glass of beer: 2.5 hours.

That is not normal, I know.  But the point I want to raise is that different type of beer does require you to spend different duration of time.  Such a strong (in alcohol and taste) beer deserves more time and patience.  Another good thing about Chimay Bleue is that it needs not to be cold, especially in the winter days.  I opened the bottle at 6pm and think it will be fine before the dinner.  I was wrong after my first sippings (you should eat something before drinking it).  So I had a quarter of a glass, then keep it at the lower compartment of the freezer.  And took it out when I start eating at 7.15pm.  It tastes just like wine in your meal because of its enormous vinous fruitiness. Took it slowly, and it lasted even after I finished my dinner and went very well all along.

Chimay Bleue is very rich, smooth, strong impact on your palate but very nice and a bit spicy aftertaste.  Its enormous vinous note will impress you.  Who said that beer could not be elegant?

London Pride

About the beer

Source: Fuller's Chiswick Brewery, Chiswick, West London

Strength: 4.7% ABV


Tasting at The United
           500ml bottle
           poured  into brand-labeled pint glass

Rating (out of 10): 10

Notes: Yes. the score is some kind of religious nature. I know there is nothing perfect in our flaw world, but my prejudice urges me to have the rating of 10 to this all-time favourite ale of mine.

Nothing could give you more satisfaction than holding your pint of london pride in an afternoon, drinking leisurely, looking at the setting sun and enjoying yourself.  Come on, what else could you ask for in your miserable life than sitting back with your favourite pint of ale?  In that sense, my life is not that miserable.

The first thing strikes you in your first mouthful is it aroma and hoppy taste, so well-balanced that you will need a second as soon as enough.

But stop the haste, take a look at the colour, especially under the sunlight.  It is radiating, golden (not that pale), and simply beautiful.

London pride goes extremely well with curry dishes, a perfect match!  (And of course, also when you are watching Manchester United playing against Liverpool, and suddenly a trick of magic by van Persie, and it's 1-0 to United!!)

Strangely enough, it has to be your first drink when you are drinking the pride so that taste would not be polluted.  I have to say that also pride is not good for binge drinking, as the second pint is absolutely not so appealing than the first one.  That's simply its character, and telling you quality is much more important than quantity (if you go for the volumn, simply pick a bucket - six bottles - of Becks or Foster).

Furthermore, the experience was also very much satisfying when I visited the Chiswick Brewery last summer, with my best mate.  (the tour should and will be another new post, in due course.)

The Black Grouse

Beer is great.  But from time to time, you do need a break and wish so much to have a beaker of scotch in that afternoon. And my choice would be The Black Grouse.

My mood was a bit low, so I took a walk to Tai Wai, then Sha Tin.  I tried to distract myself by looking in the shelf of sake in SEIYU (I simply cannot remember the name of the present-day department store in New Town Plaza Phase III), but in vain.  Eventually I popped into Cheung Kee, and that arrogant boss again.  I just said, "I want a 黑雀仔, and how much is it?" He replied,"whatever amount you paid for (previously in Cheung Kee)."  Anyway, it's HK$268 (some lucky numbers in Chinese).

I brought it home and took out my favourite pewter beaker, so that's it.

Much stronger than beer and that's so great!!

From time to time, you just need a shot or two to boost yourself up.

In this afternoon, I had three. hahaha...

God Bless The Queen.

Yebisu (All Malt Beer)

About the beer

Source: Sapporo Breweries (東京都涉谷區惠比壽)

Style: Dortmunder

Colour: Pale gold

Strength: 5% ABV


Tasting at The United
           350ml can in a Sapporo clay mug (a souvenoir actually)

Rating (out of 10): 6

Notes: I am not particular fond of the country, or you may say culture, of Japan.  I've been to Tokyo once, in a Hong Kong guided tour, more than ten years ago, and I have not traveled to this country since then.

You may probably say the electronic home appliances manufactured in Japan are of great value to us.  The rice cooker, the air conditioner, washing machines are all good examples to that.  You may say that almost all the popular songs of Alan Tam and Lesley Cheung in the 80s are adapted from their original versions in Japanese.  But I am still reluctant to say that I am fond of this country anyway (I know, I know that is prejudge and thus unfair).

But after reading a chapter by Pete Brown talking about his trip to Tokyo and Asahi brewery, I am curious to have a try again on some Japanese beer.  This time I found packs of beer (Yebisu all malt and Asahi dry) in a supermarket nearby and I just bought a pack of six cans of Yebisu all malt beer.

First thing, it has not to be too chilly.  If it is too cold, you could simply taste nothing.  The hoppy ones of English ale should be better protected but not the Japanese ones.  I opened a chilled can and poured it into a Japanese clay mug.  Eventually, I have to open another warm can, and mix the two cans so that a more balanced temperature could be obtained.

Secondly, I still cannot taste much indeed.  All you can say is that it is authentic wheat beer, while still refreshing ( I think it is what you ask for after a long hard-working day and goes with grilled food), with quite long slightly bitter aftertaste.  

Try to be fairer, the beer is easy-drinking and refreshing.  It should go well with oily food or bbq.  It should go well in social drinking...

But, I am sorry that I cannot provide another paragraph of tasting notes. (I am just thinking how I could consume the rest of four cans of beer...)

Mezquita

About the beer

Source: Cervezas Alhambra, Granada, Spain


Reddish abbey beer of the highest quality brewed in Cordoba. Ideal for drinking in winter, although lends itself as a long drink is the summer.

Dark amber garnet colour similar to old copper. Very intense, complex and characteristic; dry earthy with a light smoked touch, prolonged warm broad finish. Ideal for high quality beer lovers.

Type: Superior Red Beer.
Dry Primitive Extract:    16.8%
Alcohol Content: 7.2% Vol.
Serving Temperature: 6 – 8ºC
Flavour: Intense and complex.
Colour: Reddish similar to old copper.


Tasting at The United
           330ml bottle

Rating (out of 10): 8

Notes: Wandering in the world of beer is simply full of surprises, so is browsing the shelves in City'super.  This time, it is really a good surprise for me.  Complex flavour, but still refreshing.  Relatively high ABV makes sure that the tade is intense enough.  Satisfying visually for the reddish brown colour (pale is just not that appealing to me).  Good!

Pilsner Urquell

About the beer

Source: Pilsner Urquell Brewery, Pilsen, Czech Republic

Founded: 1842, by the brewmaster Josef Groll

Style: pilsner (actually a style of its own) - a golden lager

Strength: 4.4% ABV

Tasting

at The United
330ml bottle

Rating (out of 10): 7

Notes: It is quite difficult to uphold a fair assessment on Pilsner Urquell because some may say a legend should not be subjected to (your) (over/under) assessment.  That is true, partly, as you can see a style of beer - pilsner - being named by this product of 170-years-history.  It is first of its kind, offering a so refreshing, eyes-pleasing experiences to drinkers at that time.  We could all imagine the stir it created.

But, I still want to taste it, against a somehow different background (when you think of someone started to drink beer from his age of 18, and all he drank is basically lager).  Yes, that's the fact and that's the difference. We are all used to the beautiful golden colour of lager, being trained to get accustomed to its crispy taste (of course until we know there is another word "ale" meaning similar things).

Pilsner Urquell is crispy, very crispy.  Also very refreshing, with its low bitterness.  It will be great to have a glass down during those hot summer days.  But what else could you say of this pilsner, then?  It is difficult, due to my limited pool of adjectives.  Maybe that's heritage, and that's legend to be treasured and appreciated.  In the real world, you have a battle to fight against others remarkable golden lager as well (say, Stella Artois, and Budweiser Budvar)

Duvel

About the beer

Source: Moortgat Brewery, Breendonk, Beelgium
            (a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871)

Style:    Golden Ale, re-fermented in the bottle

Strength: 8.5% ABV

Hops:   Saaz-Saaz and Styrian Golding

Serving: Served in tulip-shaped Duvel glass at 6 degrees Celsius

Checked with Duvel's website, and it is quite amazing just to watch its introduction of the "90 days of brewing" for this delicate bottle of beer. Water drawn from the brewery's 60m-deep well.  6 days of first fermentation, followed by 20 days of first maturation.  Beer is bottled after that, and secondary fermentation goes on 2 weeks in the brewery's warm cellar and then   6 weeks in the cold cellar.  You can see how the beer bottle plays such an important role as where the brewing actually takes place.


Tasting: at Fatt's Place
         330ml bottle, in Duvel-branded glass(tulip-shaped,  almost like a brandy balloon)

Rating (out of 10): 8

Notes: First of all, the beer tastes lovely (that is the whole point of drinking): refreshing on the one hand while still complicated and refined on the other hand.  Just slightly bitter in aftertaste. Slightly hoppy (in my over-demanding standard).

       I usually found bartenders in HK not taking seriously in pouring beer into a glass (there is a video in Duvel's website on how to create those thick foam), as you could in the picture, the head just collapsed.

Val-Dieu Triple

About the beer

Origin : 
Originally inspired by a monastic recipe from the abbey of the same name, which as already produce a pale and a brown ale.

Type of beer:
Abbey triple pale ale, unfiltered and unpasteurised, brewed by a layman in the right wing of the abbey.

Aroma : 
Both delicate and full-bodied. 

Alcohol content: 
Strong 9% 

Colour: 
Warm yellow, slightly cloudy. 

Flavour: 
Its full bodied taste is progressive but never excessive. A slightly sugared flavour in the middle of the mouth - a perfect combination of alcohol, bitterness and sweetness. Finally accentuates an aromatic and alcohol bitterness. Excellent and highly digestible, particularly when accompanying a good meal.

Head : 
Nice white head, not too oily because of its high alcohol content.

Glass : 
Flared goblet, rounded at the rim.

Packed in : 
Bottle 33 cl with cap
75 cl, 1.5l and 3l (all three with wired stoppers)

Tasting:  Frites (Belgium on tap)
          33 cl bottled, poured in brand-named goblet

Rating (out of 10): 9

Notes: Very balanced among bitterness, hoppy-ness, crispy-ness, while remaining its "vintage" feeling of high ABV.  Very refined, especially compatible with a hearty meal.